Osun Rural Communities Wallow In Hardship, Neglect
Rural dwellers in Osun State have continued to suffer hardship and neglect due to the absence of basic amenities in their respective domains, OSUN DEFENDER gathered.
Findings by the medium revealed that many roads in rural communities are presently in a deplorable condition, with collapsed bridges, while farmers watch their produce rot because they cannot move it.
Residents in the rural areas have accused the current government of focusing exclusively on urban areas while leaving the rural population—who form the backbone of Osun’s economy—to fend for themselves.
Recently, the Chief Imam of Erin-Osun, Sheikh Fatai Aladewura appealed to Governor Ademola Adeleke to help fix the poor roads in the community Sheikh Aladewura made the appeal while addressing congregations during the Juma’at service at the town’s Central Mosque.
The Islamic scholar said the poor roads in the community have damaged lots of vehicles and caused health challenges to motorists.
In a video obtained by OSUN DEFENDER, Sheikh Aladewura, said, “We are now changing tires every time. A tyre costs N50,000. Apart from that, even the drivers are feeling the problem health-wise.
“Our politicians, please relay our message to the Governor. He has done Ede roads and we are happy about that and praying for the Governor to succeed.
“Help us to fix our road in Erin-Osun also. We need a good road and we will appreciate it a lot. Our roads are bad and need urgent government attention.”
Also, lending his voice to the situation, a governorship aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State, Omooba Dotun Babayemi raised alarm over what he described as the “shameless exploitation” of Osun’s mineral wealth, especially gold, by private interests while rural dwellers, who bear the brunt of the operations, live in worsening poverty.
Speaking to reporters after he submitted his expression of interest and nomination forms at the APC national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress on Monday, Babayemi said his findings reveal a stark contradiction between the state’s enormous natural resource potential and the crippling neglect of its rural communities.
“Osun sits on one of the richest ends of Nigeria’s gold belt. We have about 75,000 miners operating today, yet the state gets zero value. Everything goes into private pockets. Nothing comes to the government. Nothing comes to the host communities,” he said.
Babayemi, who toured 299 out of Osun’s 332 wards, described the mining environment as chaotic, unregulated and exploitative, adding that the people in rural areas where the mineral is extracted “remain in darkness, poverty and abandonment.”
He explained that his ward-to-ward tour exposed what he called “a humanitarian and economic crisis,” adding that over 65% of Osun’s population are farmers, yet they are unable to transport produce from farm to market because of collapsed rural infrastructure.
“We travelled over 120 kilometres inside Osun. People still move by bicycle and on foot. Roads are gone. Bridges have collapsed. Farmers watch their produce rot because they cannot move it,” he said.
He argued that a government truly concerned about citizens’ welfare would prioritise rural infrastructure, agricultural access roads and community development—yet none of these exist today.
“Rural Osun has been abandoned. The government is only present in urban centres. Meanwhile, the rural areas that produce the food, the labour and the natural resources are ignored.”
He added that this imbalance explains the rising migration from rural areas to already overstretched urban centres.
He insisted that development must begin from rural areas if Osun is ever to unlock its true potential.
“The people in our rural communities are the engine of Osun’s economy. Once we reconnect them, reform the mining sector, and open up access roads, the entire state will rise again,” he stressed.
Yusuf Oketola is a trained journalist with over five years of experience in the media industry. He has worked for both print and online medium. He is a thorough-bred professional with an eye of hindsight on issues bothering on social justice, purposeful leadership, and a society where the leaders charge and work for the prosperity of the people.
