Ekiti State people at Ilejemeje Local Government said they have lost over N5 billion of their farm produce to bad roads, poor storage in the last two years to poor roads and storage facilities.
They said that Iludun Ekiti had been cut off completely from the road Ido Ekiti axis to the town.
A spokesman of the town and one of the community leaders in the town, Elder Stephen Businuola, urged the State Governor, Biodun Oyebanji, to attend to the deplorable state of roads in the area in order to curb economic losses, stressing that the link roads to Iludun Ekiti from Ido, Ikole,
Ayetoro and other neighbouring towns have been abandoned by commercial vehicles and motorbike riders due to robbery and unnecessary loss of lives caused by accidents.
According to him, farmers have been losing their produce to animals, thieves, bad roads and lack of storage facilities to preserve perishable crops.
Businuola explained that the roads were posing hardship to travellers and commuters, adding that farmers and traders were finding it difficult to move their produce from farms to the market, thereby exposing the produce to animals and thieves.
Bosinuola said, “We want the state governor to tour the local government. Our children were afraid to come home to celebrate Christmas and New Year because of the state of the road. Robbers have taken over the road because of the poor conditions of the road leading to Iludun Ekiti.
“Our local government can feed the entire state if the roads are fixed. Crops like maize, cassava, yams, plantain, banana, and cocoyams are wasting in the farm due to a lack of roads to bring them to the town.”
Also, the Owa of Iludun Ekiti, Oba Kayode Akinola, who praised the governor for the work he was doing in the state on infrastructure, urged him to extend his good governance to Iludun Ekiti and other communities in the local government, saying that the people of the town were in support of the governor on his approach to state development.
Oba Akinola stressed that the community would support him to be elected for another term for the rapid development of the state.
He noted that his community shares a boundary with communities in Osi, Obo in Kwara State, saying that the road was the access to Abuja from Ekiti if rehabilitated.
Also, Bosinuola said that the Kwara State Government had completed the road to the Ekiti boundary, noting that from Ido Ekiti to Ipere and Iludun, which is 10 10-minute drive, was in shambles.
According to him, people from Oye Ekiti to Iludun dare not travel anytime from 6 pm on the road because of robbers and kidnappers.
