Worsening infrastructure along federal road corridors in Ekiti State is severely crippling rural economies, disrupting critical trade, and claiming innocent lives, a prominent development expert has warned.
Engr. Michael Ale, the Chief Executive Officer of Global Development Initiatives (GDI), sounded the alarm in a statement issued to journalists on Thursday, September 10, 2026.
He called on President Bola Tinubu to urgently compel the Minister of Works to declare an immediate state of emergency on the federal highways traversing the state.
Ale’s intervention follows fresh chaos on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, when a heavy-duty truck capsized across the Ifaki–Ayegbaju axis.
The accident locked down traffic for hours, leaving thousands of commuters and cargo drivers stranded. This structural failure comes barely two weeks after a similar gridlock paralyzed the Oye–Ilupeju section for nearly seven days due to deep erosion and expansive craters, forcing inter-state motorists to abandon the corridor for long, expensive detours.
The GDI Chairman emphasized that the Ado-Ekiti–Ifaki–Ayegbaju–Oye–Ilupeju route is not a mere local network, but a vital artery linking the South-West directly to Abuja and eastern Nigeria.
“A functional road network is essential to sustaining national commerce,” Ale stated. “This corridor carries significant truck traffic conveying agricultural produce and essential goods. Leaving it in this state destroys its economic viability and inflicts financial losses and emotional trauma on citizens.”
Ale particularly highlighted the plight of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), which sits right along the dilapidated route.
He lamented that the daily commute has become a hazard for students, staff, and local small-scale businesses.
He pointed out that avoidable accidents linked directly to the crater-ridden road have repeatedly claimed the lives of university students and local residents.
While praising the Federal Government for its ongoing capital commitments to the Ibadan–Ado-Akure highway and the ambitious Lagos–Calabar Coastal Road, Ale urged the administration not to let smaller, critical links in Ekiti collapse entirely.
He warned that without swift, tactical maintenance interventions, the recurring gridlocks will completely cut off rural livelihoods and suffocate the region’s development potential.
