Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has fixed many roads in Oyo State in the last few months, to ensure the residents of the state enjoy good road infrastructure and reduce road accident to the bearest minimum.
Federal Road Maintenance Engineer, Oyo State Field Office, Engineer Tunde Adepoju, who stated this during a media chat with newsmen in Ibadan on Thursday, said most of the ongoing road re-constructions in Oyo State are not being carried out solely by Oyo State Government.
“If you go to Ido Local Government, very close to eight roads have been fixed by FERMA, facilitated by the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on FERMA, Honourable Remi Oseni.
“Ordinarily it is part of our mandates to ensure that all the promises made by these lawmakers are granted to the masses. So in light of that, I will say most of the roads being repaired in Ido LG were facilitated by Honourable Remi Oseni.” Engineer Adepoju stated.
He mentioned major repair of Awo Farm Road, Idunnu, St Peter’s Road, Ido LG Road, Elebu and NIHORT Roads as part of many other roads repaired.
Engineer Adepoju noted that Oyo-Ogbomoso road is another attention-seeking federal road, stressing that FERMA is currently working on about four sections of the road.
“We are the one that fixed Fiditi by old road in front of one American school. All those places were full of potholes before.
“We are gradually moving ahead, and by the time we return from yuletide break, we will continue whatever we are doing in that axis.” He stated.
Engr. Adepoju, who described Oyo-Ogbomoso as one of the agency’s centrepieces, expressed belief that his counterpart in Kwara State has fixed all the potholes in-between Kwara and Ogbomoso by the old road.
He explained that the contractor handling the new Oyo-Ogbomoso Road has not opened it so that motorists will not spoil it because he has not been paid.
“If those section were destroyed, the ministry would not pay, so he had to used road barricade to block it.
“Road Safety Sector Commander has been here and we explained to her why the contractor has refused to open that road, because all these heavy trucks are carrying more than what they should.” He stated.
Engineer Adepoju lamented the use of road for buying and selling along Oyo-Ogbomoso axis, describing the activities of those people as part of the challenges FERMA is facing.
He decried deliberate digging of portholes on the road by those roadside hawkers so that travellers can slow down and buy their goods.
He called on Nigerians to imbibe culture of guarding and guiding public facilities, while also commending Oyo State Government for proper road markings which enhance safe driving even at night.
Engineer Adepoju also commended magnanimity of FERMA’s Managing Director for giving attention to Oyo/Ogbomoso, Challenge/Molete/Mamu, Challenge/Ogunmakin.
“I told you we worked on Akinyele and Fiditi in-between Ibadan and Oyo. We can’t work on the new Oyo/Ibadan road because of overlapping contracts.
“Everything we are doing is part of Operation Connect Your Destination which started last year due to Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu” He reiterated.
He also charged some local government chairmen to pay attention to the roads within their local areas, stressing that collaboration with local government authorities has helped the agency in fulfilling its mandate.
Engineer Adepoju said FERMA always engages the locals wherever they are working as it goes a long way to facilitate the project being done while ensuring certain level of security.
Fielding questions on Ife-Ibadan express road, the FERMA engineer said Ministry of Works has awarded the road to contractor, adding that the few patches on the road are FERMA’s efforts to ensure the road is manageable before the contractor mobilises to the site due to the intervention of the House of Representatives member in the area, Honourable Akin Alabi.
He added that Oyo/Ibadan new express axis will experience the same if the contractor does not mobilise on time. He assured that FERMA will continue to discharge its mandate according to the vision of the Tinubu-led administration’s vision.
Engineer Adepoju, who said he believes Nigeria can only be built by Nigerians, called for attitudinal change intentional parenting and not leaving parents’ duties to religious organisations or schools.
He listed other roads on which FERMA has worked on to include Akinyele, Ido, Oyo-Ogbomoso, Fiditi and Egbeda/Ona-Ara among others.
Engineer Adepoju also promised that FERMA will fix most intra-city roads in the first quarter of 2025 as most of the roads fixed in Oyo State in the outgoing 2024 are intercity roads.
He appreciated security agencies for their synergy with FERMA which has always come to their rescue from hoodlums, aggressive motorists and other security threats they encounter on sites. He reiterated that they also collaborate with communities whenever they want to work.