By Waheed Adekunle
Precisely in October, 2024, the state government under the leadership of Governor Ademola Adeleke, issued a directive compelling the residents particularly motorists with heavy- duty trucks and owners of articulated vehicles to stop plying the popular iconic Olaiya flyover in Osogbo, the state capital, for purported safety reasons.
Governor Adeleke equally directed the State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure to stop heavy-duty trucks from plying the flyover, mischievously citing safety claims arising from the technical reports on the state of the flyover for the reason.
Adeleke, in a statement issued by his Spokesperson, Rasheed Olawale, attributed the ban to decision/resolution of the State Security Council meeting held in the state. The government claimed that several technical reports have been submitted to the governor on the deteriorating state of some sections of the bridge in recent times.
“As early as January, some public interest engineers approached the government to conduct an integrity test on the bridge. Similar conclusion was reached recently during a technical visit to the state by some national leaders of the construction industry”, he said.
According to the governor: “Several state leaders have also visited and examined the bridge with a verdict of urgency of action to preserve the assets while at the same time ensuring public safety. Members of the public can also conduct similar visits on top and around the bridge.
“While the technical review is ongoing, a new development in the transport sector warranted a pre-emptive action to limit load burden on the bridge. Due to road closure along Ibadan-Ogbomoso axiz, more heavy duty trucks now use Osun roads mostly passing through the bridge. Banning those trailers foreclosed any untowards happenings.
“I also want to inform the opposition that it was at the State Security Council meeting composed of security services commanders that the safety issue around Olaiya bridge was raised and resolution taken. All actors genuinely acted in the interest of the general public without political bias”, the spokesperson quoted his boss to have stated.
Reacting to the unsubstantiated claims of the government, former Commissioner for Works and Transport, Engr. Oluremi Omowaiye, recalled frantic efforts made by the Oyetola’s administration to ensure quality and standard on the flyover while undergoing the construction.
He said, the then government went through standard evaluation at every stage of its execution and challenged the Adeleke administration to provide a technical report indicating that the flyover was substandard.
“I want them to come out with the technical report that says that the bridge has a fault. I challenge any engineer that claims that the bridge has a fault to come up with the report and put his NSE number on same.
“Before work would commence on the project, the first thing we did was to carry out an environmental impact assessment, and we did traffic count to look at the vehicular movement and congestion at that corridor. Then, we discovered that the solution was to put a flyover, and we also discovered that most of the motor accidents usually happened because a lot of motorists, travellers plying that road usually travel at top speed.
“So, we wrote the Federal Ministry of Works, because the road is a federal road that we intended to do the project, following our assessment.
“As the Commissioner for Works under the Gboyega Oyetola administration, I supervised the project because Osogbo is the state capital. We looked at that project beyond structural designs. We added values to the flyover project. That was why we added fish to represent the cultural value of Osogbo, we added dancing fountains and we added solar lights because of travellers.
However, in fulfilment of the claims, the government erected bars on the flyover to prevent trailers and other heavy-duty trucks from plying the flyover, a decision widely considered to be deliberate efforts at undermining the standard, quality, durability and formidability of the flyover.
It is quite interesting that despite the outright negligence to prompt maintenance of the flyover since the inception of the Adeleke government, the quality and standard of the flyover remains intact. As of today, all kinds of vehicles including articulated, heavy duty trucks among others are smoothly plying the flyover without any hitch.
It would surprise one that since the begining of this year, the self-acclaimed bars are no longer in use and the articulated vehicles have been consistently plying the flyover, indicating that the earlier claims by the Adeleke’s government was not only unfounded or a ruse but a motive to clamp down on the good works and legacies of the erstwhile governor.
The current reality as of today has further negated whatever the pseudo-technical report of the state government as there is no justification for it other vendetta-laden motives.
The picture and video attached to this piece were taken today confirming the standard and pliable condition and formidable status of the iconic flyover.
It is not a gainsaying that the hatred and political vendetta taken too far by the Adeleke government had resorted to the negligence of the iconic flyover as no single maintenance was carried out on the flyover let alone the aesthetics and artistic artifacts around it.
It is incontrovertible that the government that was quick in action to erect substandard bars on the flyover for political gains had failed to maintain the fountains and aesthetics around the flyover, forgetting that the whole gamut was made with public funds.
Unarguably, it is now clearer to the blinds and louder to the deafs that the deliberate negligence of the flyover by the government was aimed at proning and subjecting the legacy of the previous government to natural dilapidation in order to score cheap political gains.
One would wonder what it takes Adeleke’s government to ensure proper maintenance on the flyover instead of coming up with unfounded, baseless and groundless claims of insufficient statistics and fact-check – ‘calling a dog a bad name in order to hang it.’
While it is not too late for the government to retrace its steps as to the need to protect public assets and ensure adequate maintenance of the flyover and other facilities around it, it is also sacrosanct to inform the government the constitutional duty to protect government assets from destruction and dilapidation.
The good people of Osun are not only watching but copiously taking records of events under the present administration. We are aware of the billions of naira that the present administration had received so far from the federation accounts as Allocation in the last two-and-half-year vis-a-vis other resources coming into the coffers of the state as aids, grants and other supports from local and international agencies.
We can’t forget in a jiffy how over 10billion naira was voted for the yet-to-be-completed Okefia flyover; how over 8billion naira is being spent on yet-to-be-completed Lameco flyover; how 5.8billion naira was expended on just 2.21km Old-garage-Okefia-Lameco road; how over 23billion naira is being spent on Akoda-Oke-gada road; how about 15billion naira is voted for Lagere Ile-Ife flyover; how over 16billion naira is being earmarked for just 6km dual carriage Ilesa road among other quantum of roads publicly viewed to have been inflated for no just cause under the current administration of Governor Ademola Adeleke.
The reckoning time is beaconing and posterity is eagerly and curiously awaiting in taking a stand on governance malfeasance and political quagmire in the state.
May God heal our land!