I have read the response by one Hon. Olasupo Olakunori, DG of Opomulero Group, titled “Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe’s Attack on Aiyedatiwa’s Flyover Project is Misguided…”. A quick check shows he is the number one unofficial CPS/Commissioner for Information of Mr. Mabaja and his government.
With respect, my criticism of the project is neither an attack nor misguided. It is interrogation. And interrogation of government is not anti-development. It is Section 14(2)(b) and Section 22 of the 1999 Constitution in action.
The DG labels my letter “pessimistic assumptions” and “politics”, yet he does not answer a single technical point. For example, if the gridlock in the Cathedral/Oja-Oba/A-Division corridor is caused by roadside trading and jaywalking, how does a flyover cure human behavior? Where is the Environmental Impact Assessment, the engineering design, the project cost, the funding source, and if it is a loan, the tenure and interest? Why award a 2.38km, 3-to-5 year urban flyover to a contractor already (BALACKLISTED) by the Federal Government for non-performance when the Onyaregbulem flyover was only 55% complete in 2023 and rushed to commissioning in 2026 for optics, while Ijoka Road’s completion date is “unknown” per the Commissioner, Oda Road barely finished, and Akungba-Ikare Road and Judiciary Village remain abandoned?
According to him “visionary leaders act ahead of time”, yes, but visionary leaders also diagnose correctly before they prescribe. They carry out due diligence. Building a 2.38km bridge over Akure’s commercial heart is not vision. It is optics. Anticipating future demand is wise. Ignoring present enforcement is waste. Awarding such contract to a “black market company” through the backdoor is a scam of huge dimension. It shows there was no background check. This says a lot about the quality of men around the governor and the calibre of minds in the Exco.
The DG argues that “enforcement alone is simplistic and unrealistic”. I hasten to say that misrepresents my position. I did not argue for enforcement alone. My submission was for a combination; that is, restore the taskforce model that worked under Mimiko and Akeredolu, re-erect barricades by completing the “Odi China” that had been started over a year ago, sanction roadside trading, and simultaneously rehabilitate internal roads behind Adegbemile, behind Adegbola to St. Mathias, and across Akure metropolis as Mimiko and Akeredolu did in Ondo and Owo.
When internal roads are motorable, commuters avoid the main artery and pressure reduces without killing commerce.
If flyovers are truly needed, site them where traffic engineering demands namely; Roadblock/Chicken Republic/Orita Obele/FUTA junction, Federal Girls/Total to Agbogbo corridor, Fiwasaye/Oba Ile/Iyeoma corridor and ShopRite corridor. Those are intersection chokepoints, not market centres.
A 2.38km flyover through Oja-Oba is not road expansion. It is road removal. It removes access for thousands of traders and commuters whose livelihood depends on ground-level footfall. Apongbon in Lagos proves it, that is, the flyover did not end gridlock, it ended access, and businesses beneath and beside it withered because footfall died.
The DG or ” Mr Opomulero” says government decisions of such magnitude are based on professional engineering studies, technical evaluations and long-term development plans, not opinions. If that is true, then persuade them to publish the studies. Publish the cost. Publish the EIA. Publish the funding source and loan terms.
Transparency is the antidote to cynicism. Predicting risk is not writing an obituary for a project. It is risk management. A government that cannot complete inherited projects in three years must expect and answer hard questions before signing a more complex five-year contract with three years left in its term.
The tone of the response suggests that citizens who question government are promoting negativity and are unpatriotic. That is dangerous for democracy. The Constitution gives every citizen the right to interrogate power. We exercised that right under military rule and we exercise it under civilian rule. We will not stop now because a clout chaser who hides behind a laptop or android phone calls it attack. Some choose to be praise-singers or Vuvuzelas to curry favor from a government that promised one thousand aides. Others choose to be critics. Both are constitutional roles. The difference is that praise-singers protect office, critics protect the people. Akure needs both, but it needs more of the latter when public funds are involved.
Akure deserves modernity and infrastructure befitting a State capital. But development is not measured by the length of concrete poured. It is measured by lives improved. Under Section 14(2)(b) of the Constitution, security and welfare are the primary purpose of government. Kidnappings have increased because the Amotekun template of Akeredolu was abandoned. Make Amotekun pensionable, raise pay to N350,000 a month, equip them with modern tools, and enforce the anti-open grazing law. Hospitals across Ondo lack equipment. A functioning hospital saves more lives than a flyover saves minutes. Those investments add value daily. A flyover built on indiscipline and poor execution record risks becoming an eight-year, abandoned white elephant that outlives this government and adds cost daily.
Mr. Opomulero, you are free to support the Governor. I am free to question him. That is democracy. Let us debate facts, not labels. Show us the engineering design, the EIA, the cost and funding, and explain why this contractor, despite federal blacklisting, is best for this project. Until then, my position stands; Akure does not need a bridge over chaos. Akure needs order on the road. Enforce the law. Fix internal roads. Do more overlay, Fund security and health. That is courage. That is development. That is legacy.
Yours in the service of Ondo State,
Oloroogun Sola Ajisafe
(Fundamental Ajiology)
Lawyer/Journalist based in Akure
Saturday, May 6, 2026
