I saw a very intriguing news report credited to a Group known as the GSMists, concerning the rehabilitation of the 48klm Ido/Eruwa road yesterday.
The writer of the story was full of praises for Governor Seyi Makinde. He even said that the rehabilitation have been contributing to the socio-economic development of the communities along the road.
When I read through the story and I saw the clever way it was woven, I laughed. For some time, I thought about how to treat the story. My first intuition was to ignore the story, the half-truths and outright lies contained therein in it’s entirety, but on a second thought, I felt it is indeed necessary to set records straight.
For the avoidance of doubts, Governor Seyi Makinde awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of the said Ido/Eruwa road in 2023, shortly before the general election.
According to the Governor, two contractors were engaged by the state Government so as to hasten up the job. One of the contractors would start work from the Ido end of the road while the second contractor would start from the New-Eruwa end.
Governor Seyi Makinde promised and emphatically so, that the road would be completed by December, 2023. Before that time, the road was in a very terrible state and the Governor responded to the hues and cries of the road users only, when the 2023 general election was days away. I remember that I wrote a story about the fact that Governor Makinde awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the road in 2023 only as a means of deceiving the people of Ibarapa to get their votes.The events that followed actually proved me right.
A Chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Ibarapa was awarded the portion from New Eruwa and only God knows the fellow who got the Ido end of the initial contract of 2023. I heard some unhealthy rumors linking someone who shouldn’t be taking contracts from the Government of Oyo state, to the the Eruwa end of the contract.
I am working to unravel the truth behind the intriguing rumor. As I was saying, Governor Makinde had no intention of completing the project in 2023, even though, he promised that the project would be completed by December of that same year and he, himself exposed his original intentions later, albeit, inadvertently.
After he was elected into office for a second term, work suddenly stopped from both the Ido and New Eruwa end of the road project. The road became so terrible to the extent that, even the Governor’s convoys, together with that of the Speaker, got stuck in a muddy portion of the road about a year and a half ago.
Not long after that embarrassing incident, Governor Makinde admitted that he actually awarded just 12km out of the total 48km stretch of the road in 2023! Imagine that!!
12km is just a quarter of the total 48km stretch. What explanation would any reasonable person give me, except that, Governor Makinde deceived the people of Ibarapa in 2023, when, knowing fully well, that only a quarter of the road was awarded for rehabilitation and yet, promising that the the road would be completely rehabilitated by December 2023?
The worse part is the fact that none of the contractors delivered up to 6 km from the initial contract. Now, to the new contract. I passed through the Ido/Eruwa road on my way to Eruwa on Monday.
I can confidently say that work on the road have been slowing down for some time now because I travel on the road often and as at Monday, there was no contractor on site. It’s been like that for some time now. The complete absence of the contractor on site.
The total kilometre of work completed, with asphalt laid from Ido, is not up to 10km as I write this piece. A substantial part of the road have been graded. That is all for now. As for the Eruwa end of the road, I think that contract has been terminated together with the initial contract from the Ido end.
In other words, no contractor is working from the Eruwa end of the road. I challenge anyone with contrary views to let us go see the pace of work on the road and the quantity of job completed.
Thank God for the early rain, you can travel on the road now with little fear of being covered in dust. So, what is there to get excited about at this moment? Is this the first time Governor Makinde would be awarding the contract for the rehabilitation of the Ido/Eruwa road?
It will be exactly seven years by the 29th of May, this year that Governor Makinde got elected. If he couldn’t complete a 48km stretch of road in seven years, what is there to get excited about now?
Sadly, it is not a case where contractors are working day and night. No one, I repeat, no contractor was on site on Monday and it’s been so for some time like I said. The 2027 general election is very much around the corner.
I have said it long ago that Governor Makinde would return to the road when we approach the next election season and he has proven me right again on that. I remember that I cornered him with a news report when I learnt that he would be going to Eruwa for the coronation of Samuel Adebayo Adegbola over a year ago. I remember also that he said he didn’t know that the road was that terrible!
Infact, I was shocked to hear him say that. How could the Governor have forgotten that he got stuck on the same road less than a year before he went to coronate Adegbola? It was on that occasion that he made another promise, this time around, he was careful not to attach a timeline to his promise.
The Governor said he shouldn’t be allowed to enter Eruwa again if he didn’t fix the road and I asked myself, does the road to the Governor’s house pass through Eruwa? What business does he have with Eruwa beyond politics and the time for politicking is here again. We are not surprised that work has resumed on the road, no matter how terribly slow it’s going. I hope this time around, the whole road is captured in the contract.
Only a fool will allow himself to be deceived twice. My simple advice for the GSMists is, don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. Don’t get unnecessarily excited and ejaculate prematurely. Governor Seyi Makinde is very good at ridiculing those who go about, beating their chest on his behalf.
GSMists or not, you lack correct information about the number of kilometers awarded this time around and whether the contractors are adequately mobilized.
So, stay humble, eh?
Sola Abegunde.
