By Rotimi Idris
Founder and Chancellor of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to personally inspect the deplorable Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole federal road in Ekiti State, saying the President may not have been given the true picture of the road’s impassable condition.
Babalola made the appeal in an open letter titled, “An Appeal to the Federal Government to Revisit the Road Leading to Afe Babalola University and an Open Letter of Appreciation to Senator Babafemi Ojudu”.
The elder statesman said the intervention became necessary following years of neglect of the road, which he described as a critical Federal Government route serving several major institutions and facilities in Ekiti State.
Babalola said ABUAD had, as part of its corporate social responsibility, spent billions of naira between 2010 and 2019 repairing and maintaining portions of the road as well as the old Ureje Bridge.
He said the university undertook the interventions because of the importance of the road to the institution and the wider community.
The road, he noted, serves several strategic institutions and facilities, including ABUAD, the ABUAD Multi-System Hospital, the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, the Ado-Ekiti campus of the National Open University of Nigeria, a Federal Government-owned multi-million-naira silo and the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport.
Babalola expressed disappointment over previous attempts by the Federal Government to rehabilitate the road through contractors.
He recalled that when the rehabilitation contract was awarded to a local contractor in 2019, residents and other road users welcomed the development with excitement but the optimism was short-lived because the contractor allegedly left the road in a worse condition and eventually abandoned the project.
The legal luminary also called on the people of Ekiti State, particularly professors, opinion leaders and other influential stakeholders, to join the campaign for the rehabilitation of federal roads across the state.
Babalola commended Senator Babafemi Ojudu for consistently drawing attention to the condition of federal roads in Ekiti, particularly the road leading to ABUAD.
He said Ojudu’s intervention had provided another important voice in the longstanding campaign for the rehabilitation of the road, which he said had remained neglected despite repeated representations to successive Federal Governments.
His words, “I would like to express my sincere appreciation and gratitude to Senator Babafemi Ojudu for his consistent voice on the need for the Federal Government of Nigeria to seriously look into the deplorable and impassable roads that have been the lot of the 30-year-old Ekiti State which came into being on October 1, 1996, with the overall aim of re-constructing all the Federal Roads leading to the state.
“Despite our collective efforts to see Ekiti state created and nurtured to become the showpiece among the comity of states in Nigeria, regretfully and up till now, Ekiti has not achieved the anticipated patriotic objectives of the Founding Fathers. Thirty years after its creation, Ekiti state remains a land-locked, motorway-locked, rail-way-locked, industry-locked, power-locked, and airport-locked, a development which adversely affects the economic development in the State.
“This all-important road has been neglected for several years, a development which has rendered it impassable. This compelled me to make several representations to the Federal Government and its Agencies to fix the road. But it would appear that all my were ignored.
“However, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, our University, Afe Babalola University, spent billions of Naira for the repair and maintenance of the road and the old Ureje Bridge between 2010 and 2019 when the road was awarded to a local Contractor for repairs.
“It must be emphasized here that the following institutions are situated on this federal road: Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, ABUAD, rated by Times Higher Education Sustainability Impact Ratings on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, as No. 1 in Nigeria for five consecutive years (2022-2026), No. 2. in Africa and No. 72 in the world, and the only Nigerian university rated among the Best 100 universities in the world.
“The ultra-modern 400-bed ABUAD Multi-system Hospital which has been acknowledged by major healthcare stakeholders as the most well-equipped Hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“In support of Senator Ojudu’s well-appreciated position, may I humbly appeal to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to personally visit the road because it would appear that he has not been given the true picture of the deplorable and impassable nature of the road.
“I equally call on all the people of Ekiti State, particularly our numerous professors and opinion leaders, to join Senator Ojudu and my humble self in this crusade to make Ekiti roads motorable. It can be done and it should be done”.
