Coastal communities seek FG’s intervention over exclusion from highway project

Residents of oil-producing communities in Ilaje and Ese-Odo local government areas of Ondo State have been urged to intensify calls for Federal Government’s intervention to address their infrastructure and environmental challenges.

Executive Chairman of the Ondo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), Prince Olabiyi Olaleye Poroye, made the call urging ministers, senators members of the National Assembly from the state to push for the inclusion of the coastal communities in the Lagos-Calabar road project.

Poroye warned that excluding the communities from the project could further limit their access to infrastructure and development opportunities.

He urged political leaders to work collectively to advance the interests of the affected areas, rather than shift responsibility to Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.

Poroye, speaking during a delegation’s visit to the Minister of Finance, Mr Taiwo Oyedele, said the highway was a Federal Government project requiring collective efforts.

He disclosed that Aiyedatiwa had appealed to President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Works, David Umahi, and Hitech Construction Company to reconsider the road’s alignment.

He called on the senators representing the state and ministers of Ondo extraction to engage the relevant authorities to restore the Ilaje and Ese-Odo axes to the original route.

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Poroye urged the Federal Government to establish a special intervention fund for shoreline protection, waterway dredging, flood control, access roads, livelihood restoration and security in vulnerable riverine communities if the highway project could not adequately serve the affected areas.

He listed the Ugbo-Oghoye road, Akintubuwa-Mahin-Ugbo-Ugbonla road, proposed Ugbonla-Aiyetoro road, Agadagba-Obon-Arogbo road, Araromi-Alape-Agerige-Lagos road and Ilutitun-Mahintedo-Itebu-Kunmi-Atijerre road among the priority routes requiring urgent attention.

The OSOPADEC chairman appealed to Oyedele to engage relevant federal authorities and facilitate funding for the proposed projects, citing the Ministry of Finance’s strategic role in the national budget process.

Responding on behalf of the minister, Permanent Secretary, Special Duties, Mohammad Sanusi, assured the delegation that the government would explore possible areas of intervention in collaboration with OSOPADEC.

Sanusi stressed the need for sustained engagement with relevant federal agencies to address the environmental and infrastructural challenges confronting the state’s oil-producing communities.

The delegation comprised OSOPADEC management officials, the Permanent Secretary of the Ondo State Ministry of Environment, Akin Omotola, who represented the commissioner, Dr Tob Loko, and chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Ugboland Host Communities Development Trust, Sir Benson Obayelu.