Key points

• Residents say the Sefu-Ibafo road floods and turns slippery in the rainy season, with passengers disembarking to avoid falls.
• Okada riders report engine damage from standing water and detours that stretch a 7-minute trip to 15 minutes.
• Ogun’s information commissioner says roads are budgeted by available revenue and the community’s concern “will be addressed in due course.”

Residents of Oke Sefu, a rural community in the Ibafo area of Obafemi Owode Local Government Area, Ogun State, are pleading with the state government to rehabilitate an access road they say has become almost impassable in the rainy season.

Business owners and commercial motorcycle operators told PUNCH Metro that flooding, potholes and slippery stretches have disrupted movement and pushed up the cost and time of getting around.

A visit on Sunday found riders struggling through sections of the road while passengers climbed off at several points to avoid accidents.

“Once it starts raining, everywhere becomes messed up, and there is water all over the road,” said resident Abigail Damilola. The constant jolting, she added, makes the journey painful for anyone, and especially for pregnant women. “We are pleading with our governor to help us renovate this road because people are really suffering.”

Riders count the cost

Okada operators say the road hits them hardest. Usman Sanni said passengers complain from pickup to drop-off, and that slippery patches make a fall likely when carrying a load or a rider. “We have been complaining about this road for a long time, but there has not been any response or action,” he said.

Another rider, Adeola, said standing water damages bike engines, so riders now take a longer route to avoid the worst stretches. As a result, a trip that once took seven to 10 minutes now takes 10 to 15, with more fuel burned along the way.

Folasade Anike asked the government to pair road work with better electricity. “Our electricity supply is unstable. It is not stable at all,” she said.

Government: “No state can fix every road”

The Ogun State Government acknowledged the road’s condition but said limited resources force it to prioritize. Kayode Akinmade, commissioner for information and strategy, said on Monday that the state had already built roads in Ibafo, Mowe and elsewhere in Obafemi Owode, and that the State Executive Council approved more roads in the local government a week or two ago.

“There is no government that can complete all the roads in a state in its lifetime,” he said, adding that the Sefu road had been bad for a long time and that successive administrations had left decades of decay. Projects enter the budget based on available revenue, he explained.

Even so, Akinmade said the residents’ concern “is noted and it will be addressed in due course.” He did not give a timeline.

Meanwhile, the appeal comes as nearby Ogun and Lagos communities contend with their own infrastructure complaints, from power cuts affecting 63 Ogun communities to the stripped streetlights on the Lagos-Ibadan Longbridge a short drive away.