The deplorable condition and persistent nightmare the people of Akokoland in Ondo State and other commuters plying the Owo- Ikare Akoko Road, as well as Ikare- Okeagbe-Omuo Ekiti Road are passing through have reached an uncomplimentary dimension. Indeed, the continued neglect of the less than 100-kilometer federal road is indicative of a failed system, instigated by the deliberate and insensitivity of the Federal Government and the Ondo State Government, under Governor Olusegun Mimiko, to unleashed agony on the people.
The action and inaction of the federal and state government to abandon the road for this long has not only raised concern about their insensibility to the plight of the people, but has also demonstrated their penchant hatred for the entire Akokoland and its people.
It is, however, disgusting for government either at federal, state or local government level, which prides itself to be sensitive to the needs of people to have neglected and closed its eyes permanently on such an important road, given its economic and commercial benefits to the people and nation in general. The road, which was last constructed and asphalted in the late 90s by the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF), which General Muhammadu Buhari superintended under the regime of the late General Sani Abacha, is the only major road linking the South-West to the Northern part of the country, apart from the Ibadan-Oyo-Ilorin Road.
In actual fact, Owo-Ikare Road has in the last few years served as the only connecting route for motorists and other commuters from Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ondo states to Abuja, and for such road to remain in a total deplorable state leaves much to be desired. Of course, in a society such as ours, where the cost of air transportation is high and rail is epileptic and grossly inadequate, any responsible government should take the challenge of fixing its roads as one of its priorities without recourse to any political consideration, as it is playing itself out presently.
But, like many other failed roads in the country, the Owo-Ikare Akoko Road is now a death trap and den for armed robbers and kidnappers. Given the terrible state of the road due to the level of dilapidation, commuters now ply the road with high trepidation, agony and frustration as they are being attacked at will and subjected to various inhuman treatment by hoodlums and robbers who prey on them.
More worrisome is the harrowing experience of the local traders and farmers, who are being robbed of their wares and farm produce at will by hoodlums, who now prowl the road, especially on market days.
The situation is equally precarious as travelling on the road after 7 pm or before 6 am is perhaps fretful and threatening; even when in daylight robbers lurk at some terribly bad portions on the road to rob commuters of their valuables. It was on the same road that the Regent of Akungba-Akoko, Princess Oluwatoyin Omosowon, was kidnapped along with Asala Oyewunmi and Dele Obote, her driver and an official of the Adekunle Ajasin University on June 2, 2015 while returning from Akure.
They were said to be held by their abductors for more than one week under dehumanizing conditions before they were freed after paying some ransom. Ordinarily, the road, which would have taken less than 30 minutes for commuters or motorists from Ikare to Owo, now takes more than one and half hours with the commuters holding their heart in their mouth apparently for fear of being robbed or attacked. More than one year after the President Buhari administration came into power, it is sad that the government has neither done anything no matter how insignificant nor has any plan to reconstruct or carry out palliative repairs on the road.
Provision of good road is one of inalienable rights the government owes to its people, and which to serious government at all levels should be sacrosanct. However, the failure of government to provide the people with good roads across the length and breadth of the country is tantamount to lack of seriousness of the state and federal government. The need to fix Owo-Ikare and Ikare- Okeagbe-Akoko road should be a matter of urgent consideration, at least to save the people from the harrowing experience of robbery attacks, kidnapping and damage to vehicles road users go through daily.
