Yusuf Oketola
POTHOLES and craters have returned to some major and networking roads in Osogbo, capital of the State of Osun.
OSUN DEFENDER observed that less than three months after the state government embarked on spot-patching of the roads, majority of the bad portions of the affected roads have resurfaced.
Some of the portholes have metamorphosed into craters, causing hardship for all the road users.
It would be recalled that the state government had in June this year fixed the bad portion of the roads after a report by OSUN DEFENDER in its April 15 edition that majority of the net-working roads in Osogbo were filled with portholes.
The medium, during the week visited different parts of the state capital and noted that no major roads in the state capital is portholes free.
Some of the major roads visited with resurfaced potholes and craters are: at Zarah spot and 7up turning of Ogo-Oluwa road, Capital, Gazal Hotel turning, Riverside, Technical and Osogbo Grammar School spots of Dele Yes Sir-Oke-Fia road.
Also, there are notable potholes on Testing Ground, Kola Balogun, GRA, Oke-Onitea, Prime, Ofatedo, Oba Adesoji Aderemi East bypass, Stadium-Lameco roads, among other networking roads in Osogbo.
Commuters have been lamenting the deplorable condition of the affected roads, questioning the quality of work done on them during the rehabilitation exercise by the state government.
According to a driver of a mini-bus known as korope, Mr. Afeez Jimoh, the poor condition of the roads was having a telling effect on the maintenance of his vehicle and that of other road users.
Jimoh who described Osogbo as a city of portholes, accused the state government of doing shoddy job during the spot-patching of the roads.
He said: “It is unfortunate that no single road is free of portholes in Osogbo. In fact, we can now refer to the state capital as city of portholes. The government needs to wake up to its responsibility.
“Few months back, they embarked on fixing portholes across the state capital but the potholes have resurfaced again. This shows that they didn’t used quality materials then. Driving has become very difficult with these portholes and it is having telling effect on the maintenance of our vehicles.
“Many of these terrible potholes can be seen across Osogbo and our dear state government is paying no or little attention to it. The one at MDS, finger liking junction, GRA are eyesore. I wish the state government can do something urgent in fixing those terrible potholes.
Narrating his experience on the poor condition of the roads, the Chairman of National Youth Council of Nigeria in Osun, Abdulazeez Ismail, stated that a particular porthole on Oba Aderemi East bypass road claimed two lives around September 2021.
Abdulazeez who took to his facebook page last weekend said he and his two friends also had an accident on the road as a result of the particular porthole.
He called on the state government to take swift action in fixing the portholes to avert further loss of lives and property in the axis.
He said: “On the 30th of September, 2021 this particular pothole claimed two lives. Unfortunately, on the 1st of October, 2021 my friend Queen Fisayo Valentina Aderemi and I had an accident caused by this same pothole and the accident almost claim our lives including Raufu Sodiq.
“We used our little efforts then to call the attention of those in government with the hope that actions would be taken but proved abortive.
“It is important to note that it wasn’t as big as it is today, 8th of September, 2022 because community around the place always patch the spot with cement and stones and at times put caution signs around it.
“I thereby call on the authority to please do something and not wait until it affects them, enough of the lives and property that the spot and some other spots on the same route have claimed.
“The spot is shortly after Ilesa Garage going through fountain University to Africa, November 27 Bridge”.
