Community leaders from 37 communities benefiting from the Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP) in Ekiti have described the road intervention as life-saving, citing its impact on agriculture, education, commerce and rural livelihoods.
The leaders commended Gov. Biodun Oyebanji for facilitating the state’s participation in the World Bank-co-funded project, which aims to improve rural road infrastructure and access to agricultural markets.
They made the remarks at a two-day community engagement meeting held in Ado-Ekiti at the weekend, where they recounted the hardship residents endured before the commencement of road construction and called for decisive action against contractors handling projects without appreciable progress.
Speaking on the Ido-Ipere-Iludun road, Dr Olusola Ogunsina, Chairman of the Community-Based Grievance Redress Committee for the project, said the intervention had restored hope to farmers and communities previously cut off by poor road infrastructure.
Ogunsina, who is also President of the Ido Progressives Union (IPU), said the improved road had encouraged farmers to return to their farms with renewed confidence in the profitability of their agricultural activities as evacuation of crops and produce from the farms have become easier.
He added that the intervention had restored access to schools in Ipere-Ekiti, which had previously faced serious difficulties due to the deplorable condition of the road linking the community with neighbouring areas.
According to him, the poor road network had, for years, prevented some secondary schools in the community from participating in national examinations because examination officials could not conveniently access them.
*He attributed the recurring damage to the road to the volume of water flowing across the route from major rivers around the Ewu and Ilejemeje axis.???* *Is it the recent flood??*
“Over the years, conducting national examinations in schools within the community became difficult because there was no motorable road to access them.
“Today, we are happy that our schools are accessible again and our students can write their examinations without the challenges they previously faced,” Ogunsina said.
He described the road as a lifeline for the community and thanked Oyebanji for fulfilling his campaign promise by addressing the infrastructure challenge and improving residents’ livelihoods.
Similarly, Chief Tunde Aluko, a community leader along the Ikole-Isaba-Ikoyi-Igbemo road corridor, praised the governor for partnering with the World Bank to facilitate the project.
Aluko said improved accessibility had rekindled economic activities in the benefiting communities, adding that previously moribund markets and struggling schools were beginning to regain vitality.
He also commended the RAAMP State Project Coordinator, Mr Sunday Adunmo, for responding promptly to complaints from benefiting communities.
Meanwhile, some community leaders called on the state government to terminate the contracts for the construction of the Are-Oye and Iye-Isapa-Olopomeji-Ikun roads over what they described as a lack of appreciable progress.
One of the leaders alleged that the contractor handling the Are-Oye road had been absent from the site for almost a year, adding that the prolonged abandonment had subjected residents to hardship and exposed lives and property to risks.
“We appeal to the government to terminate the contract and re-award it to a more competent contractor who can deliver the road before the closure of the project next year.
“The contractor’s lack of commitment could undermine the purpose for which the contract was awarded,” the community leader said.
Responding, Adunmo assured the stakeholders that the concerns raised at the meeting would be addressed.
He attributed the completion of 11 of the 18 road projects to the support of the Oyebanji administration and the cooperation of the benefiting communities.
The project coordinator also sensitised the community leaders on the engineering specifications of RAAMP roads, explaining that they were designed as low-volume roads and required restrictions on heavy-duty vehicles to ensure their durability.
He said barricades were provided on the roads to regulate access by heavy-duty vehicles and protect the infrastructure against premature deterioration.
