Abeokuta-Ibadan Highway
OpenLife News reports that old Abeokuta-Ibadan road has become a nightmare.
The road — a federal highway constructed and commissioned by the Olusegun Obasanjo-led military government 48 years ago has collapsed into craters, dust and despair.
The road, which stretches through Adatan, Moore Junction, Fajol, Iyana Ebenezer, Obantoko, Somorin, Eleweran, Kotopo, Camp, Osiele, Odeda and other communities, is home to some of Ogun State’s most critical institutions. Yet it is now one of the worst federal roads in the Southwest.
Institutions Trapped On A Failed Road
Among the institutions on this corridor are:
Ogun State Police Headquarters
Federal College of Education, Osiele, FCE
Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, FUNAAB
Thousands of students, lecturers, civil servants and security personnel depend on this road daily. But what was once a strategic link between Ogun and Oyo States has become a daily ordeal.
Hellish Road For Security And Students
Police officers at the Ogun State Command are expected to navigate the dilapidated road to provide security for government officials and residents across the metropolis. Many times, patrol vehicles break down mid-route, delaying response time.
Students are not spared. Thousands of students of FUNAAB and FCE Osiele — some of whom may be beneficiaries of the Federal Government’s interest-free student loans through NELFUND — are also at the mercy of the road.
“They struggle through potholes to get to lectures. Buses charge double. When it rains, the road is completely cut off. Yet this is the route to two federal institutions,” a FUNAAB student said.
From Strategic Highway To National Embarrassment
Commissioned in 1978 under Obasanjo’s military regime, the old Abeokuta-Ibadan road was meant to ease movement of goods, students and security personnel between the two state capitals. 48 years later, it is a shadow of itself.
At Eleweran, near the Police Headquarters, vehicles swerve dangerously to avoid craters. At Osiele, the gateway to FUNAAB and FCE, the road is almost impassable during the rainy season. At Obantoko and Camp, commercial drivers spend more on repairs than on fuel.
Calls For Urgent Intervention
Residents, students and transport unions have repeatedly called on the Federal Ministry of Works and the Ogun State Government to rehabilitate the road. They argue that with NELFUND making education more accessible, the government must also make the journey to school safer.
“How can students access interest-free loans to study, but risk their lives on the road to get to class? This road is shameful,” said a lecturer at FCE Osiele.
For now, police officers, students and commuters continue to gamble with their lives on a road that was built when Nigeria was 18 years old as an independent nation.
Until urgent reconstruction begins, the old Abeokuta-Ibadan road remains a monument to neglect — and a threat to everyone who uses it.
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