14 YEARS AFTER CONSTRUCTION, FACTORY REMAINS ABANDONED IN NIGERIA

It is quite disheartening that a project after completion is left unused. This can be witness in oyo state, in the western region of Nigeria.

The burnt brick factory built by the Oyo State Government is located in Oloba Village, Erunmu, Egbeda Local Government Area of the state. It was meant to serve infrastructural needs of the state yet nothing happened after completion.

When reporters visited the area, it was observed that production and other activities have been grounded for over a decade. The paths to the site had become so bushy that one could barely walk through. The only person found in the factory was the guard, tasked with protecting the sophisticated but rusty machines and the other production equipment from being stolen.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FACTORY

When the project was completed, it brought joy to dwellers of Oloba village. So many believed such factory would attract other basic amenities such as electricity, potable water and good roads; and above all, create employment opportunities.

However, the hope of the people hit rocks bottom in 2006 when the then Governor Mr Rashidi Ladoja was impeached. The impeachment of the governor brought an automatic halt to the ongoing activities of burnt brick making in the factory.

When contacting Mr ladoja, his spokesperson Lanre Olatinwo, admitted that the project was stalled because Mr Ladoja was “illegally removed”.

According to Olatinwo, “The hoodlums in the house of the assembly made it difficult for us to move on with the project amidst other political crises.”

Meanwhile workers of the factory are still been owed their salaries as most of them have not been paid since the factory was abandoned.

HOPE, AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

A ray of hope has now been offered after the chief press secretary to the incumbent governor Seyi Makinde, Taiwo Adisa has assured that the current administration is keen on reviving the abandoned project.

According to Adisa, “The governor has ordered that the company that built the place be traced because it is an Italian company which is no longer in Nigeria so that they can recalibrate the project.”

WHY IS AFRICA EXPERIENCING SUCH CONSTANT CHALLENGES 

The need for African leaders to take infrastructures more serious should be preached like a running water tap. Such challenges is faced on a daily basis but still the structure and policy needed to stop this madness is still not developed nor implemented.

The whole idea of government coming to cancel what their predecessors have put in place should be abolished as the citizens or residents pay the ultimate price for such decision. A law or policy should be develop at the national or even state level to help project like this not to suffer when a new government emerged after an election.

Source: Premium Times

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