• Motorists, commuters groan on collapsed Ibadan-Ife-Ilesha Highway
By Oluseye Ojo
•A portion of Ibadan-Ife highway
Nigeria, a country with vast potential and rich cultural heritage, is plagued by many persistent issues, including decaying infrastructure, and abandoned projects.
One such decaying infrastructure is the Ibadan-Ikire-Gbongon-Ife Junction-Ilesha Highway in the South West, Nigeria. It is one of the major federal roads in need of urgent attention, probably because it stands out as a glaring example of neglect and decay.
•A part of the road being threatened by erosion
The critical arterial route connects major cities and towns, including Ibadan, Ikire, Waasimi, Gbongon, Ife, Iwaraja, Ilesha, virtually all communities in Ekiti State and Akure, which spreads to four states of Oyo, Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States.
As gathered, the road serves as a lifeline for commuters and businesses, especially travellers from Ibadan to Osun, Ekiti and Ondo States, as well as vehicles travelling from Ibadan to the northern part of the country.
•A failed part of Celica axis of the road, Ibadan
Saturday Sun reporter recently navigated the road and discovered its deplorable state. The terrible state of the road is no doubt negatively impacting local communities, even as residents are crying out, wondering when the Federal Government would take action to bring some succour to the road and its users.
Vital artery
The Ibadan-Ikire-Gbongon-Ife Junction-Ilesha Road, stretching over approximately 135 kilometres, plays a pivotal role in connecting key cities in South West Nigeria.
It starts from the popular Iwo Road Interchange in the vibrant city of Ibadan, known for its historical significance and cultural heritage. The road passes through Ikire, Gbongan, Ife Junction, and finally reaches Ilesha, a bustling commercial hub. The dual-carriage way from Ibadan stops at Ilesha, while single lanes continue to Ekiti and Ondo States.
This route, which serves as a crucial link for commuters, traders, and businesses, has been facilitating the movement of goods and people across regional lines in the country. Apart from its link to the Northern parts, some travellers moving from Ibadan to Benin City in Edo State often pass through the road to Ife in order to link Ore Road.
Saturday Sun was told that despite the significance of the road, it has been plagued by years of neglect, resulting in a myriad of challenges for users and residents along its path.
State of Disrepair
Traversing the Ibadan-Ikire-Gbongon-Ife Junction-Ilesha Road is akin to embarking on a perilous journey filled with potholes, erosion, and crumbling infrastructure.
The once smooth tarmac has given way to a patchwork of uneven surfaces, making travel a daunting task for motorists and commuters.
Heavy rains have also exacerbated the situation, turning sections of the road into muddy quagmires that are nearly impassable.
The lack of proper drainage systems further compounds the issue, leading to frequent flooding plus waterlogged sections during the rainy season.
The deplorable condition of the road has not only increased travel time but also poses significant safety risks to road users, with accidents and breakdowns of vehicles becoming all too common occurrences.
The Ibadan-Ife Junction axis of the road, which used to take 40 to 45 minutes, is taking a travel time of approximately two hours.
Economic implications
The sorry state of the road is said to have far-reaching economic implications for the communities along its path. Businesses that are reliant on the smooth flow of goods and services have been facing mounting challenges due to the dilapidated road infrastructure.
Transport costs soar as vehicles are forced to navigate treacherous terrains, leading to delays, damages, and increased operational expenses.
Small-scale traders, farmers, and artisans, who depend on the road to access markets and customers, find their livelihoods being threatened by the deteriorating conditions.
The overall economic growth of the region might have been stifled in a way. The investments that might have been emplaced in some parts of the cities and towns in the three states of Osun. Ekiti and Ondo States that have connections with the road, might have been deterred by the lack of reliable transportation infrastructure.
Speaking with Saturday Sun, some private car owners and commercial drivers have called for urgent intervention by the Federal Government towards revitalising the vital economic artery and unlock the region’s full economic potential.
Social impact
Beyond the economic consequences, the deplorable state of the road has profound social implications for the communities it serves.
Investigation revealed that residents of communities along the route have been enduring daily hardships, and have also been grappling with the effects of isolation, limited access to essential services, and compromised safety.
It was further gathered that schoolchildren have also been facing arduous journeys to reach their educational institutions, especially those living in some communities along the road and attending schools in other communities.
The story is the same for many workers in Irewole Local Government Area, Ikire in Osun State. They have also been braving hazardous conditions on the road especially those of them that live outside Ikire town.
Health facilities, according to observation, have been struggling to provide timely care to patients due to transportation challenges, exacerbating already precarious healthcare outcomes.
It is believed that the lack of reliable road infrastructure has been hampering social cohesion, limits opportunities for social interaction, and perpetuates a cycle of marginalisation for the communities along the corridor.
Environmental concerns
A cross section of the stakeholders on the road said the environmental impact of the neglected Ibadan-Ikire-Gbongon-Ife Junction-Ilesha Road should not be overlooked.
Erosion, caused by poor drainage and inadequate road maintenance, has led to a sort of soil degradation.
The deforestation and land degradation resulting from ad hoc road repairs and construction have probably worsened the ecological footprint of the road, compounding the environmental challenges being faced by the road.
Plight of transporters
A commercial driver at one of the inter-states parks at New Ife Road, near Iwo Road Interchange, Ibadan, Mr. Aderemi Adetunji, told Saturday Sun that he plies Ibadan-Ife, Ibadan-Osogbo, Ibadan-Ilesha, Ibadan-Akure, Ibadan-Ekiti, and Ondo-Ore routes.
According to him, “From Ibadan to Akure, the road is not good at all. The government used to patch the road for us in the past. Now, there is no longer any repair work on that road again. I am not happy that the deplorable state of the road is spoiling our vehicles. We visit mechanic workshops often and it reduces the lifespan of our vehicles as well. It drains our pocket.
“I must say this to sound a note of warning. Any driver that plies the road for the first time in the night can lose his life if care is not taken. There are terrible potholes, ditches and craters on the road. If a driver should unknowingly or knowingly run into them, his vehicle can have burst tyres, or a spring or rod may get broken. In this state, the vehicle may spend some hours, or days on the road before it is repaired.
“If you leave Ibadan for Akure, from Iwo Road Roundabouts to Adegbayi, still in Ibadan, the road is good. But from Adegbayi to Asejire, which is the boundary of Oyo and Osun States, the road is in a terrible state.
“Then, from Asejire to Ikire, the road is also good to some extent. The danger is that any driver, who thinks the way the road is relatively good from Asejire to Ikire applies to other parts of the road from Ikire to Gbongan and Gbongan to Ife, may be digging his own grave. He can run into potholes that can lead to a serious accident.
“The stretch of the road on both sides of the dual carriage way from Ikire to Gbongan is bad. Then, Gbongan to Ife Junction is also terrible. Also, Ife Junction to Ilesha is in a pathetic state.
“Some of the terrible spots on the roads are where armed robbers often operate. But they operate there mostly in the night.
“When the road was good, we used to cover the distance between Ibadan and Ife Junction within 40 to 50 minutes. But now, we have been spending two hours or more. You can imagine how much fuel our vehicles would have consumed and the man-hour being wasted on the road.
“You will say we would spread the additional costs on the amounts we charge passengers. But we also have family members that travel too. What about our wives and children? We are all in it together.
“Based on the terrible state of the road, we usually drive against the traffic. This usually begin shortly after the flyover at Gbongan. We would leave our own lane and we would join the other lane coming from Ife axis. When we are about getting to Ife Junction, we would join our own lane again.
“At some points after Ife Junction, we would also join the other lane, come back to our lane, and then join the other lane again to Iwaraja, where the road dissolved into a single lane. The single is good from Iwaraja to Akure.”
Adetunji also spoke about the evil of driving against the traffic, being popularly called ‘driving one-way’.
“The terrible thing about joining another lane and driving against the traffic is that it has caused serious crashes. There had been serious cases of head-on collision, leading to deaths and permanent disabilities. Some vehicles, as a result of accidents, have been completely damaged beyond repairs.
“But if you are going to Ekiti, from Iwaraja to Ado-Ekiti is also another gruelling experience. Many parts of the road have failed completely.
“We are appealing to the government to have mercy on us. We the transporters that ply the road every day are not happy at all about the situation of things. The sorry state of the road has been damaging the arms of our vehicles and spoiling our tyres. We have been frequent to mechanic workshops for the repairs of the arms of our vehicles,” Adetunji stated.
In the same vein, Mr. Monsuru Ajigbotoso, who is into haulage business, said he plies the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ibadan to Akure and Ado-Ekiti, as well as Osogbo, regularly.
“The state of the road from Ibadan to Ilesha is terrible. But the other lane from Ilesha to Ibadan is better than the lane that goes to Ilesha. From Ilesha to Ife Junction, the road is bad. But from Ife Junction to Gbongan, the road is a bit okay, at least. But from Gbongan to Ikire, the road is bad. Then, from Ikire to Asejire, the road is good.
“Immediately after Asejire Bridge, the road is in a sorry state to Adegbayi up to Alakia. But from Alakia to Iwo Road Roundabouts, it is very good. The portion of the road has been completely rehabilitated.
“If you want to travel from Lagos to Ilesha, you will have a smooth ride to Ibadan. The expressway from Lagos to Ibadan is good. There is no one that will pass through the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway that will not be happy.
“When you join the Ibadan-Ilesha Expressway, automatically, you will be in another world. There is nothing bad if Ibadan-Ilesha Expressway can also be like Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“So, I want to appeal to the government to be compassionate towards travellers on this road by fixing it,” he said.
Repair works
The reconstruction of the road started at Iwo Road Interchange in Ibadan about two years ago and has reached Alakia, also in Ibadan. The stretch covered by the reconstruction is about two kilometres, which probably covered the Oyo State axis. But the stretch of the road from Alakia/Adegbayi axis to Asejire has not been attended to.
A tour of the road also revealed that a repair work was carried out on a stretch of the same road from Asejire Bridge to Ikire some years ago. This repair works covered a part of Osun State axis of the road. It was gathered that major part of the appalling state of the road falls within Osun State, especially from Asejire to Ilesha.
Efforts to get comments from the two Federal Controllers of Work in Oyo and Osun States on the plan of the Federal Government for the road did not yield positive results. But sources within the two offices said the Oyo and Osun parts of the road are major contracts that must be handled by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.
Saturday Sun also visited the South West Zonal Office of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in Ibadan to know plans for implementing palliative on the road.
An officer of the agency, who preferred anonymity, said: “The contracts for Oyo and Osun States parts of the road are within the purview of the Federal Ministry of Works. Normally, such existing roads should be under FERMA to maintain. But it has been taken over by the ministry. This is why you don’t see FERMA repairing any part of the road. If we have the go ahead, we would mobilise to the site. But we still have some federal roads that we are maintaining.”
Calls for action
The Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Oyo State Council, Chief Ademola Babalola, noted that the appalling state of the Ibadan-Ikire-Gbongon-Ife Junction-Ilesha Road demands urgent attention and concerted action from government authorities, policymakers, and relevant stakeholders.
“I am appealing to the Federal Government to take immediate measures, such as emergency repairs, routine maintenance, and drainage improvements, to address the pressing safety concerns and restore the road.
“In the alternative, a complete reconstruction of this important road in the South West cannot be overemphasised. We are not against the legacy projects initiated by the Federal Government-led President Bola Tinubu. But the legacy projects should not be executed to the detriment of existing roads.
“The Federal Government has tried on the all important Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. We are also appealing to the Federal Government to pay attention to Ibadan-Ilesha Expressway. It is one of the major roads in the South West.”