By Steve Omolale– In preparation for the 2026 governorship poll in Ekiti State, politicians in the state have continued to adopt different tactics to outwit themselves. While some of these tactics are tolerable, others are clearly absurd, inconceivable and disheartening.
Besides the needless and alarming violence perpetrated by desperate politicians in parts of the state in recent times, some of them within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition parties have embarked on the weaponisation of federal roads within Ekiti to not only blackmail President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, but to also discredit the Governor Biodun Abayomi Oyebanji (BAO) administration. It is worrisome, though not unexpected by the peace-loving residents of Ekiti, that as soon as thousands of political stakeholders in the state and beyond gathered in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, to endorse Oyebanji for a second term in office some weeks back, the political gladiators went to work. Also, as the ruling party in the state prepares for its primary election to pick its next governorship candidate next month, politicians whose main aim is to grab power at all costs, using every weapon in their arsenal, have intensified their satanic tactics, not minding the interests of Ekiti people.
They have suddenly woken up from their slumber to realise that some federal roads in Ekiti are bad. Perhaps if they have troubled memory, it will be good to remind them that all the federal roads linking Ekiti with the neighbouring states were in bad shape before the Tinubu and Oyebanji administrations came on board. In fact, one or two of the roads had almost been impassable as far back as during the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration, when he neglected the entire Southwest geopolitical zone for reasons best known to him, through the eight years of the late former President Muhammadu Buhari administration, when Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola from the Southwest was his Minister of Works.
Although the Buhari administration had awarded the contract for the reconstruction and dualisation of Ikere-Ekiti-Akure Road towards the tail end of its tenure, work on the road was at a snail speed until the Tinubu administration took over.
To show it means business in Ekiti, the administration has awarded the contract for the reconstruction of Ado-Ekiti-Ikare Road after resolving all the initial hitches associated with the job, just as it is also in the process of awarding contracts for its other roads linking Ekiti with other states.
The political blackmailers and busybodies were aware of all this but still chose to do what they know how to do best: misinforming and dis-informing the public.
Even while all these efforts are going on, the Oyebanji administration has been unrelenting by embarking on a lot of costly measures to make some federal and state roads motorable for the people. In fact, it has since completed the reconstruction of Ado-Iworoko-Ifaki Road, a federal road that was in a very bad shape before he assumed office, while the construction of Ekiti Ring Road, strategically aimed to decongest the state capital and facilitate economic activities across the neighbouring communities, is ongoing. Also ongoing is the massive and landmark Okeyinmi, Ado-Ekiti Overhead Bridge, which on completion will drastically reduce traffic congestion in the state capital.
The state government is not only embarking on these and other road projects across the state, it has also embarked on the continuos sensitisation of residents and travellers about alternative routes into Ekiti. This is to give the Federal Government and the contractors handling the various projects enough time and space to do their jobs.
A few weeks ago, the Oyebanji administration issued a well-publicised travel advisory on alternative routes into the state. These include Iwaraja-Efon-Ipole-Ikogosi-Erinjiyan-Ilawe-Ado-Ekiti for those coming in from Lagos and Ibadan; Akure-Igbara-Oke-Igbara-Odo-Ilawe-Ado-Ekiti for those from Akure, and Kabba-Irun-Akoko-Iro-Ekiti-Isinbode-Ikole-Igbemo-Ekiti Ring Road-Ado-Ekiti for those travelling in from Abuja.
Every Nigerian knows that bad federal roads are not peculiar to any state. Most federal roads in the entire Southwest, Kwara, Kogi, up to Abuja and other parts of the country are in very bad shape due to years of neglect by past administrations. For instance, work has been ongoing, for several years, on the Lokoja-Abuja Expressway with its attendant chaotic traffic snarls.
However, with the current efforts of the Tinubu and Oyebanji administrations, federal roads in Ekiti are now receiving the deserved attention, which will yield fruits very soon.
It is therefore preposterous for some deceptive and disgruntled politicians in the Land of Honour and their agent provocateurs to be pretending not to see all these efforts.
Deliberately blackmailing the Federal Government and discrediting Oyebanji’s administration over federal roads in Ekiti to gain traction is satanic politicking.
*Omolale, a seasoned journalist, writes from Lagos.
