Ibadan: Residents, businesses abandon homes as Ratcon road deteriorates

More than 12 communities along Ratcon Road in Oluyole Local Government Area of Oyo have become increasingly isolated as the road linking them to neighbouring communities continues to deteriorate.

The worsening condition of the 2.7-kilometre road has forced some residents and business owners to abandon their homes and shops, while those who remain grapple with daily transportation challenges, rising vehicle maintenance costs and frequent motorcycle accidents.

The situation has also crippled economic activities in the affected communities, prompting residents to stage a peaceful protest to draw the attention of the Oyo State Government to their plight.

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Chairman of the residents’ committee, Alhaji Rasaq Olalere, described the condition of the road as unbearable, saying repeated appeals to the relevant authorities had yet to yield results.

“We want government to assist us. We have tried all our efforts. The landlords that are working in this community are so worried. The car owners are so worried. All the road users are so worried.

“We are not happy at all with it. We want government to please assist us. The rainy season is here now and the road is impassable.

“We have made efforts to the state government and the local government, and we are still hoping that they will come and assist us. The records are there.

“We have not relented in our efforts. We are still going to approach them. We are taking this opportunity to appeal to them to please assist us. We have up to 500,000 households in this community, so you can imagine the population.”

A former chairman of the community, Chief Mufutau Akintola, said residents had been maintaining the road themselves until its condition became too severe to manage.

“We have been maintaining it all along by ourselves, but because of the gradient of the road, we are no longer capable of maintaining it. It is now totally impassable. People keep falling from motorcycles.

“Those of us using vehicles are tired of repairing them almost every day. We are appealing to the Oyo State Government to please come to our aid.

“This road serves many communities, from Odo-Ona Kekere to Aba Opa, Fawe, Apadaba, Aba-Oke, Abekoko, Bare and Ratcon.

“The road stretches about 2.7 kilometres. We want the government to come to our aid because this is a densely populated area with people from different ethnic groups, including the Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Egede.”

Another resident, Mrs Bosede Arayi, said the poor condition of the road had become a daily nightmare for residents and was beyond the financial capacity of the local communities to fix.

“We fall off motorcycles every day. Those of us who own vehicles can no longer use them. Today it is the shock absorbers, tomorrow it is stabiliser problems. We are begging the government to come to our aid.

“This road runs from Odo-Ona Kekere Junction through Ratcon, Apadaba, Aba Opa and Abekoko. It also links Arapaja, Bare and Ashaka.

“We don’t have the capacity to repair it anymore. We are pleading with the government to help us.

“The condition of this road has affected our economy greatly. I have a shop here, but business has almost stopped because nobody wants to come into this area.

“You cannot even invite your friends to visit because they will refuse to come. If you organise a ceremony, you may end up eating the food alone because nobody wants to travel through this road.

“Many landlords now live alone because tenants refuse to stay here. Some tenants leave after six months or one year because of the road.

“Whenever it rains, you begin to worry about how you will get home from work. The road becomes slippery and dangerous even for pedestrians, let alone vehicles.

“We have been filling the potholes with sandbags, stones and blocks, but everything gets washed away whenever it rains.”

Speaking on behalf of the traditional rulers in the affected communities, the Baale of Odookun, Chief Isiaka Raimi Ajibola, said all previous efforts to attract government attention to the road had failed.

He claimed that about three million people were directly or indirectly affected by the poor state of the road.

Another resident, Mr Olatunji Abimbola, said the road had become a major safety concern, noting that numerous residents had sustained injuries in accidents, some of which had resulted in fatalities.

He commended Governor Seyi Makinde for his administration’s infrastructure projects across the state but appealed to him to extend similar intervention to the affected communities.

“Tenants can easily relocate to other areas, but landlords cannot. We have nowhere else to go,” he said.

Efforts to obtain the reaction of the Chairman of Oluyole Local Government Area, Engr Akeem Olatunji, were unsuccessful as he could not be reached before the report was filed.