AAUA Students Bemoan Bad Road

Students of the Adekunle Ajasin University travelling through the  Akure-Akoko expressway have lamented over the hardship they go through when travelling along the route.

The road from Akure, which links to Owo, Oka, Akungba, Ikare and other cities in the Akoko territory, has been described as a death trap and declared unsafe for travel by many who use the road, daily. 

According to the students, the deplorable state of the road has allowed for incessant robbery attacks on travellers, where people have either lost their lives, property or both. Additionally, the umpteen potholes on the road cause significant damage to cars and other vehicles, leading many commercial drivers to avoid the route.

In an interview with Adefemi Emmanuel, a 200-level student of the English Education Department, he explained that the road is complicated and utilising the road is inconvenient because of the potholes, which have resulted in road accidents.

He said: “Akure-Akoko expressway is very bad to the extent that travellers don’t feel convenient in vehicles or any means of transportation they [use]. The road is somehow complicated, and with all those potholes all over, it causes a lot of traffic jam and accidents as well.”

“The bad road has resulted in robberies along the road, a lot of souls have perished, some properties have been [lost] during these incidents. It has caused a lot of discouragement for the drivers to even come to Akoko.”

While supporting Emmanuel, Oguntuwase Esther stated that the road is nothing to write home about. She recounted the discomfort she feels every time she has to use the road. 

“The Akure-Owo expressway, down to Akoko is nothing to write home about. The road is full of many potholes which cause damage to cars and might, in turn, lead to accidents on the road. Whenever I am in a bus or car on my way to Akoko, I become apprehensive because of the incessant [twists the] driver [has to make] just to avoid the potholes.”

“Drivers sometimes bump into potholes because they might not see it, it has caused a lot of damage to vehicles plying the route and sometimes it has also led to casualties on the road,” she said.

Esther went on to speak about some of the efforts the government has put into fixing the road.

“There are some parts of the road around the Akure-Owo-Akungba expressway the government reconstructed at a particular time this year, but now it is almost as it was before it was [fixed]. I think the fault lies in the inadequacy of the materials used, so the best thing is for the government to reconstruct the road with enough materials [so] that will last longer.”

Adefemi Emmanuel advised that the government can improve the situation by filling potholes and amending where necessary or reconstruct the whole chunks of the road.

“I think what the government can do for travellers to make the road passable is to try their possible best to amend it, because it will cause a reduction in transport fare and the route will be very peaceful as well.”

In his own opinion, Akintilayo Joshua of the Mass Communication Department implored the tier of the government concerned to pay immediate attention to the road so as to ease travellers’ difficulties.