Seyi Makinde, the Oyo State governor, has earmarked N63,479,858,000 for the renovation of the government house in Ibadan.
The Oyo government deemed spending multi-billion naira on the renovation while more important state infrastructure like Mokola Road is flooded over and over.
Dotun Oyelade, the Oyo commissioner for information and orientation, said that the renovation was necessary because the look of the government house was embarrassing and unbefitting.
Oyelade said Makinde and his deputy have been staying in their personal houses instead of the government house due to its condition.
The government plans to renovate the building in time for the state’s 50th anniversary.
“The Council also approved the sum of N131,751,530 to employ professional gardeners for the maintenance of green areas and other designated places of the Government House,” Oyelade said.
However, due to frequent rainfall, Mokola Road in Ibadan, the state’s capital, gets flooded and becomes risky for commuters.
Idris Animasaun, a witness, shared a video clip on X showing the poor state of the road after it rained on Wednesday.
The video shows that the Uncle Joe area of Mokola is most affected.
In the video, the road is waterlogged while commercial vehicles carefully traverse it to avoid being stuck or swept away by the flood.
The strategic location of Mokola Road makes it a commercial hub in Ibadan. Apart from being an entry route to Mokola Market itself, it extends to the popular Dugbe Market and the University of Ibadan axis.
Ironically, the road is only a 7-minute drive away from the Oyo government house in Agodi.
The flooded road has been a problem for residents for over a year.
“The entire Mokola–Uncle Joe has always had terrible drainage and it’s been like this whenever it rains for so long that I can’t remember,” Sho_yeanca commented on X.
“Bro, it has been this way for ages, even before the flyover. There’s a big drainage in that axis already. The issue isn’t from Uncle Joe. All the water that is coming from Mokola uphill gets spilled onto the road,” another individual said.
The drainage has been fixed recently but the state of the road has remained the same during rainy periods.
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