Woleola Estate Residents Embark On Self Help
By Francis Ezediuno
Residents of Woleola Estate comprising of Markson, Onirodunu, Omomeji, Hassan Sunmonu, Baruwa and other adjourning streets through their joint efforts started to carry out community based efforts to patch the Baruwa street, which is the only arterial road that linking the Gbongan-Ibadan road from the Gbodofon bridge axis.
The residents who trooped out enmasse on Sunday morning, started filling up potholes which littered Baruwa Street from the Gbongan-Ibadan entrance to its end.
The residents filled discarded cement and polythene bags with sand and also used broken cement blocks as a fill.
Upon being interviewed, they stated that the reason for doing so was because they could not wait anymore for the government.
A resident, Kamil Ayodele, stated that the need for resorting to self help was that several times, they had requested government help in rehabilitating the road and also politicians have promised to repair the road all to no avail.
He stated that the patience of the residents of Woleola Estate had been stretched to the limits and they decide the only way to get things done was to resort to self help.
Also, Sunday Olowofela, a footballer stated that before the 22 September gubernatorial election, many of the contestants were constantly coming to them but at the end of it, none of them was able to fulfill their promises.
Some of the residents who owned cars also complained that slowly the road was becoming a nightmare especially during the rainy season
According to them, due to the muddy nature of the exposed soil, the potholes are not able to absorb water and hence store up on the road thereby causing many vehicles to break their shock absorbers.
A resident called Daddy Paul stated that many times, his Honda car had the front wheel broken because he was trying to negotiate a pothole on the road.
During the dry season, the condition is much worse, as the mud would have turned to fine dust and spread thinly all around.
The drainage system is also affected during the rainy season, Mama Tope, a resident complained that most shop owners decided to employ private hands to help them dig up sand deposited by the rain.
She said this is because if the sand is left in the drains, water will not be able to flow freely and it would divert into people’s homes and shops.
Meanwhile, investigations revealed that the effort to patch the road was funded by unidentified persons
