There is growing concern in Ilaje Local Government Area and, by extension, Ondo South Senatorial District over the perceived stagnation of the 51km Araromi Seaside-Igboedun-Akodo-Ise Road, a road network which holds the potential of opening up the Sunshine State, by way of linkage, to a flurry of commercial activities spilling from Lagos State.
The road project flagged off in 2018 by the Late Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was scheduled to be co-funded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC).
However, until Akeredolu died in office in December 2023 and Lucky Aiyedatiwa subsequently got into the saddle of leadership, not even a single stone has been dropped on the site till date.
This ugly situation speaks to the insincerity of government to spearhead long-term developmental strides which will shoot the state upward from being a civil service state to a full-scale industrialised state.
The Ondo State Government has come under heavy criticism in the face of this development, with residents calling the project a cosmetic project or a make-believe phantasm aimed at deceiving the people into the assumption that government is working.
Expectedly, there have been calls and appeals to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa, who hails from the area, to revisit the project. But up till the moment of putting this together, the prayers have so far fallen on deaf ears as the governor has neither spoken about the road project nor take any conscientious step to kick-start it since his almost-one-and-a-half year in office.
The road, if executed, would provide an alternative and faster way to Lagos State from Ondo South apart from the existing Ore-Lagos highway and the Okitipupa-Akinfosile road. This will enable Ondo State to benefit from the economic fortunes of Lagos State as it will be possible for people to be working in Lagos while they reside in Ondo State.
Sadly, this neglected road follows a trend of such abandoned white elephant projects in the Southern Senatorial District of the state.
Sometime before the Ondo 2020 gubernatorial election, some experts were reportedly brought to Loda, a community in Irele Local Government Area, by the administration of Late Governor Akeredolu to do a field study in preparation for the extraction of the vast bitumen deposits in the area. However, till today, the people are still waiting. Meanwhile, observers opined that the move was just a political gimmick to secure the people’s votes at the polls.
Similarly, congratulatory messages and celebrations almost reached the highest heavens in 2023 when the administration of Late Governor Akeredolu finally secured a license for the take-off of the Ondo Deep Sea Port. But the dream has since become a mirage as the project has been consigned into the dustbin of forgetfulness. The state government has not made any frantic effort to actualise it, no investor has been wooed, nothing consequential has been done about it.
All this failed promises, put together, points to one direction: Lack of intentionality on the part of government to effect long-term development that will turn things around for the state. All eyes are therefore on Governor Aiyedatiwa to reverse the ugly trend.
