The Worsened State of Ife Roads, Blame APC Past Administrations, Not Governor Adeleke
By: Arewa Oluwaseun
For over a decade, Ife has been subjected to untold hardship due to the reckless abandonment of infrastructural development under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administrations. Today, when residents groan daily over dilapidated and impassable roads, it is only fair and honest to place the blame where it truly belongs, the past APC governments who had every opportunity to fix these roads but chose to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
In twelve long years, APC controlled Osun State, siphoning resources, making empty promises and turning Ife, an ancient city of global historical and cultural significance into a shadow of its potential. The roads linking our communities, markets, hospitals and schools have become death traps. Economic activities are suffocated because traders, farmers, transporters and ordinary commuters are forced to navigate potholes and flooded pathways daily. These are not problems created yesterday; they are legacies of negligence rooted in APC’s misrule.
It is hypocritical for APC loyalists to now attempt to shift blame to Governor Ademola Adeleke, barely two years into his administration, when the rot is a direct outcome of their own failures. The Adeleke administration inherited a backlog of infrastructural decay, unpaid workers’ entitlements and collapsed social services. Yet, despite the heavy financial mess left behind by APC, Adeleke has rolled up his sleeves and begun the difficult work of rebuilding Ife.
Today, we can point to specific roads in Ife East and Ife Central already receiving attention under Governor Adeleke. Several inner-city roads that were long abandoned by APC are now rehabilitated, easing traffic flow and boosting economic activity. Most significantly, the ongoing construction of the Lagere Flyover stands as a confirmation to a government that prioritizes action over excuses. This landmark project, the first of its kind in Ife, is designed to decongest traffic and modernize the city’s infrastructure.
Unfortunately, the pace of these projects has been slowed down by the deliberate withholding of funds meant for local governments by the APC-led Federal Government, a calculated political move to frustrate development in Osun state. If not for this sabotage, many of the roads would have been fully completed and commissioned by now.
Still, Governor Adeleke has reassured the people of Ife that, against all odds, the flyover at Lagere and other ongoing road projects will be completed and commissioned before the end of the year. That is a mark of true leadership, facing inherited challenges, battling political obstacles, yet refusing to abandon the people. Ife deserves better, our roads should mirror the prestige of the cradle of Yoruba civilization, not the disgraceful scars of political betrayal. APC had twelve uninterrupted years to transform Ife but left it worse than they met it. Their propaganda cannot erase the lived reality of every resident who wakes up daily to the nightmare of inaccessible roads.
Governor Adeleke cannot be crucified for a problem he did not create. Instead, he should be supported as he mobilizes resources to repair years of deliberate sabotage. If Ife must rise again, the people must reject APC’s deceit and stand firmly with leadership that prioritizes human welfare over selfish gain. History will not forget the ruinous APC years in Ife and no amount of false narratives can rewrite that fact. The truth remains very simple, the worsened state of Ife roads is the handiwork of APC misrule, not Adeleke.
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