By Dele Omojuyigbe
“Dr, I will be going to Iju, your town, next weekend,” Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, NIJ Provost, had told me, smiling.
“Oh, that’s lovely!”
“Yes! Professor Ladipo Adamolekun is celebrating his 80th birthday there and I am the chairman of the occasion.”
“Interesting! I wish I were at home to treat you to our traditional, hot “iyan” and “egusi soup” delicacy. We own “iyan” in that part. But I trust Prof. He will make you have your fill.”
We laughed.
The day came and I anxiously awaited Mr. Adefaye’s return from the trip. I desired to hear from him about Iju’s “iyan” which, comparably, should be miles apart in quality from the”iyan” prepared in his Ile-Ife home. Regrettably, the “iyan” news never came. His trip had to terminate in Akure. Professor Adamolekun had changed his mind and hosted his guests in Akure. Very unusual!
Prof. wouldn’t ordinarily celebrate such an important birthday outside Iju. He loves to be home. He had built his Ladipo Adamolekun Public Affairs Library in Iju and also organises the annual Iju Public Affairs Forum (IPAF) – his pet project designed for the exchange of views on governance and development – in the town. He could have chosen elsewhere.
So, Prof’s undying love for his Iju home informed my enquiry into the change of his birthday venue to Akure. Adefaye had no idea of the reason. But I could tell. I could surmise. The awful Akure – Ado Road was it! That forsaken abyss! The daily groan of commuters has been persistent and deafening. No host would put his guests through the stress.
Iju is situated on the Akure – Ado Road, barely a stone’s throw away from Akure. The alluring sounds of pestle and mortar coming from Iju while pounding their “iyan” in the evening can be heard at the Fiwasaiye Girls’ Grammar School end in Akure. But not again! Gorges and raucous thuds of broken vehicle silencers and croaky shafts have drowned all such culinary echoes.
A careful traveller must ply the 30 – km Akure -Ado Road with a mat at hand or camp bed. Sleeping till morrow can beckon, wistfully, in the bush. It is that bad! The road has never worn such shape since I was born. Even in Chief Obafemi Awolowo days as Premier of Western Region, a trip from Iju to Akure, I heard, took about ten minutes. Now in Buhari’s time, nearly 70 years after, since he said that only the FG has the mandate to fix the road, it takes three hellish hours to reach Akure from Iju. Don’t even mention going to Ado Ekiti!
Some desperate travellers attempt to beat the nightmare. Rather than go straight from Akure to Ado, passing through Itaogbolu, Iju and Ikere Ekiti, they twist and twirl, driving back as if heading for Ibadan, to take Igbara- Oke, Igbara- Odo Road, through Ilawe, and sometimes, through Ikere, to miserably return to the lurid condition which they had tried to avoid. Call it an iron pail of frustration and punishment for innocent people!
Governor Akeredolu and ex- Governor Fayemi should tell us what is going on, although I heard Fayemi say that he had wanted to fix the road with the assistance of the AfDB but that the FG refused. That sounds incredible! What’s the basis for the refusal? Although I believe Fayemi; I don’t expect him to lie so barefacedly. Now, December is almost here. Bad road is the haven of bandits. How safe are the people on that road axis? Mr. Fashola should speak. People are hurting and whimpering!
