Residents of the communities along the Adigbe-Opako road in Obafemi Owode local government area of the state have cried to Governor Dapo Abiodun to urgently reconstruct the collapsed bridge to avoid a major environmental disaster.
The bridge had collapsed after a heavy down pour which lasted several hours few weeks ago.
The governor with a team of engineers from the state Ministry of Works had inspected the bridge to ascertain the level of damage done and ordered that the bridge be closed temporarily to hasten reconstruction.
Governor Abiodun while addressing the residents said, “You will have to be patient with us, we will have to close this road because we don’t want any bad thing to happen to you. We will now begin work here and do it very well. What happened yesterday must not happen again.
“I have pleaded with the community to allow us close that road and we are going to close that road immediately to enable us employ a more aggressive solution to ensure we permanently address flooding in the area,” he added.
A visit by our reporter to the bridge last Thursday showed that the road had been reopened as government had done some palliative works on the bridge to allow commuters access it.
Speaking to Blueprint, Joseph Kolawole, a motorcyclist plying the road commended the state government for the quick intervention but urged the government to find a permanent solution to it.
He said another heavy down pour could do a more severe damage not only to the bridge but also to houses around it.
“We commend the government for its quick intervention in alleviating the suffering of the people through the palliative works done so far but what we need is a permanent solution to prevent a major disaster in the future,” Kolawole said.
A resident of the area, Mrs. Funke Adewunmi lamented the current state of not only the bridge but the entire road.
She said the bridge is a disaster waiting to happen and appealed to government to urgently reconstruct the bridge.
