Ogun community excited over reconstruction of 120-year-old road

The Onimeko of Imeko, Oba Benjamin Alabi Olanite Oyeditan, has commended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the reconstruction of the long-abandoned Frontier Road.

He described the project as a major intervention capable of opening up Imeko-Afon Local Government Area and transforming its economic fortunes.

The monarch said the Frontier Road dates back to the colonial era, when it was conceived as a major corridor linking Idofoi through Imeko and extending towards other parts of the country.

He said the road, which began from Idofoi in 1900 and reached Imeko in 1906, was originally intended to extend towards Bida and Kebbi before plans were later made in 1918 to connect it to Badagry.

The monarch regretted that the original route was subsequently altered, resulting in what he described as years of infrastructural neglect for communities along the frontier corridor.

He said the present administration’s Sokoto-Badagry road project, although not following exactly the original alignment, had brought a major road infrastructure back through the frontier corridor.

Oba Oyeditan described the development as a correction of what he called past anomalies in infrastructure planning, saying the project had begun to remove Imeko and surrounding communities from decades of isolation.

“So that is part of the correction the present administration is making to correct past anomalies,” the monarch said.

He appealed to the Federal Government to complement the road project with the establishment of a tertiary institution in the area, noting that communities in Imeko had historically taken responsibility for providing basic education.

The monarch argued that the strategic location of Imeko-Afon and its proximity to the international border with Benin Republic made investment in infrastructure particularly important.

He noted that the local government had vast expanses of undeveloped land with significant agricultural and industrial potential.

The reconstruction of the road, he said, had already begun to change the fortunes of the area by improving access to markets and reducing the difficulties previously experienced in transporting agricultural produce.

“Number one, we are no more obscure. That road will bring us out of being at the backyard of the world. At least the road has opened up the area,” he said.

Oba Oyeditan added that improved road access would help farmers move their produce to markets in northern and southern Nigeria, reducing losses that occurred when farm products could not be transported quickly.

“The economic benefit of that road is that all our agricultural produce that used to get spoiled before, we now have access road either to the north or to the rest of the southern part,” he said.

He further said the improved road network could attract factories and other businesses to the area, as investors would have easier access to land and transportation infrastructure.

“Even people that want to locate factories, the road is now available. At the roadside, land could be purchased, land could be leased, they can site their factories. So, the road has opened the place up,” the monarch said.

According to Oba Oyeditan, Imeko was the headquarters of the Western Frontier Preventive Service established in 1899 and historically served as a frontier centre covering the area from Badagry to Shaki.

He said the town’s strategic location and its long association with the Customs Service, immigration, police and other border agencies justified greater federal investment.

He called for the establishment of a Federal Medical Centre in the community, arguing that Imeko’s status as a border town made such an institution necessary.

He also appealed for the establishment of a Federal College of Agriculture and Development Studies in Imeko, noting that the area was predominantly agrarian and had historically relied on communal and missionary efforts to provide primary and secondary education.

Oba Oyeditan urged the Federal Government to consider a bill sponsored by Senator Solomon Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, seeking the establishment of the institution.

“Being a border community, being a border headquarters, the first frontier headquarters in what is known as Nigeria today, Imeko deserves Federal Government establishment of a higher institution of learning. "