Operation Zero Potholes Review Report in Oyo Federal Constituency by OGF.

The committee strongly commend the Oyo State Government for the “Operation Zero Potholes Initiative”. Like other ongoing state sponsored projects in Oyo, a good execution of the project has the potential to ease transportation challenges in Oyo Federal Constituency and increase the lifespan of our roads and vehicles of road users .

The aim of the ‘Operation Zero Potholes’ initiative of the Oyo State Government in Oyo Federal Constituency is to ensure zero potholes on roads in Afijio, Atiba, Oyo East, and Oyo West, Local Government Areas. A contract was awarded to Quickborn Nigeria Limited to achieve this purpose by Oyo State Government through the LGAs.

The ad-hoc committee, set up by the Oyo Global Forum, evaluated the work done around the constituency. The committee is led by Engr. Patrick Eyinade, other members are; Mrs. Eniola Azeez, Mr. Quadri Eesuola, Mr. Olaniyan Oladayo and Barr. Olajide Olanipekun.

Despite the huge amount of money released by the government for the project, a handful of the portions of the roads remain undone while a good number only received window dressing attention with massive potholes on major parts of the roads. Of particular attention is the popular front of State Hospital, Oyo where a number of accidents have been recorded in the past months due to the shoddy work done.

Our findings revealed that the contractor did a very poor job and most of the roads did not last a single rainy season. On Durbar-Akinmorin Road, the contractor carved out bad portions since mid 2020 and did not return to the site to fix the roads. Residents mentioned that they observed coal tar was poured in some of those areas sometimes in October, 2020.

The project was awarded around May 2020 and was said to have been concluded and delivered by the contractor.

During the visitation to the roads, the members of the committee had interactions with regular commuters who painted a vivid picture of their daily troubles plying the roads. For instance, Durbar Junction to Akinmorin Road in Afijio Local Government Area is essentially a ‘sea of portholes’. Worse still is the sordid experience of the majority of the road users who decried the frequent fatal accidents that occur on the road owing to several potholes.

OUR RECOMMENDATIONS

1. OGF should request the contractor to return to site within the next 72 working hours and ensure proper work is done up to the required standard which can stand the test of time.
2. Sustained public campaign along with liaison with the Oyo State Government.
3. If the contractor fails to return to site, OGF should consider sending a petition to the EFCC to investigate the job done with respect to the amount paid.
4. OGF should encourage the government of Oyo State to consider blacklisting quack contractors to avoid wasting public funds and embarrassing the government in future.

The Forum is closely following up on other State Government projects in Oyo Federal Constituency by the following companies; Akesan Market construction by Mortayus Construction Ltd, Silo Project by Rahvet International Limited and Gedu-Oroki-Sabo-Ashipa Road by Ahmak Engineering.