Adebayo Adenrele
Former Senator representing Ekiti North Senatorial District, Senator Ayo Arise, has lamented the worsening gridlock on the Ifaki-Oye-Ilupeju axis of Ekiti State, calling on the Federal Government to urgently intervene to restore movement along the federal road.
Arise made the call after visiting the affected area, where hundreds of articulated vehicles, including trailers and fuel tankers, have reportedly been stranded for about 48 hours following the collapse of a section of the road at Ilupeju-Ekiti.
The development has brought traffic along the busy route to a near standstill, leaving truck drivers and other motorists stranded while disrupting the movement of goods into and out of the state.
The situation has also raised safety concerns among residents, particularly because several of the stranded vehicles are tankers conveying petroleum products, heightening fears of a possible fire outbreak or accident.
Arise, who described the situation as alarming, urged the Federal Government, particularly the Ministry of Works, to take immediate steps to repair the damaged portion and ease the suffering of motorists.
He said he personally experienced the gridlock after arriving in Ekiti from Akure, noting that a journey that ordinarily takes only a few minutes from Ifaki became a prolonged ordeal.
According to him, vehicles were unable to move freely in or out of the affected communities, forcing him to remain in the area for several hours.
The former lawmaker lamented that the poor condition of the road was not a recent development, saying motorists and residents had been contending with the problem for more than 15 years.
He described the situation as a total embarrassment, stressing that the prolonged neglect of the federal road had forced motorists to seek alternative routes where possible.
Arise said the Federal Government needed to act urgently, warning that the consequences of allowing the gridlock to continue could be far-reaching.
The former lawmaker further warned that the gridlock was not merely a transportation problem, but one capable of affecting businesses, commerce and the wider economy because many of the stranded trucks were carrying containers and other goods destined for different parts of the country.
According to him, delays in the movement of such consignments could disrupt businesses, delay projects and create anxiety for people waiting for goods ordered for specific purposes.
His words, “Yesterday, I was monitoring activities on the road because my vehicle came to pick me up from Akure, where I landed at about between 3 and 4 p.m. yesterday evening. And I saw that there was no way to go in or out of Oke-Ekiti, so I had to stay in Ado for some hours.
“I was surprised that we had so many articulated vehicles parked on the road. Some are on the lane going into here, and those coming in from the likes of Lokoja, they couldn’t pass, and those going towards the same direction in Lokoja direction, they too couldn’t pass because the portion of the road had become badly damaged.
“We’ve been going through this for over 15 years because, as a matter of fact,, it’s a total embarrassment.
“If we can reach the Honourable Minister, this needs immediate attention because the effect, the multiplier effect, is just unimaginable.
“Until I saw the extent yesterday, I could never have imagined in my mind that the traffic here is so heavy. This is almost worse than what Apapa used to be.
“The articulated vehicles, the trailers, the trucks, and they are carrying goods, they are carrying containers, they are carrying all manner of stuff that the people expecting would expect to use for this, you know, for whatever they ordered those containers for.
“If we can have some permission to work on a federal road, maybe this particular portion can quickly be fixed so that these people can continue to move”.
Meanwhile, the worsening condition of the road has continued to take a toll on truck drivers who have remained trapped on the route.
One of the drivers, Akanda James Taiwo, said he had been stranded for about 48 hours, lamenting the hardship and losses caused by the prolonged gridlock.
Another truck driver, Muhammed Hammed, also expressed frustration over the poor state of the road, alleging that truck drivers and other transport workers are often remembered by government mainly when their support is needed during elections.
