Dayo Johnson, Akure

IT’S ten years since the late civilian governor of Ondo State, Chief Adebayo Adefarati, inaugurated the intervention agency – Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, OSOPADEC – to alleviate poverty in the oil-rich communities of the state. From all indications, the agency has brought succour to the hitherto neglected communities.

OSOPADEC, with the mandate to manage 40 per cent of the 13 per cent mineral derivation accruing to state from the federation account for the development of the communities, is providing infrastructure and empowering the people.

It is involved in the provision of school buildings, health centres, roads, canal dredging, construction of jetties, construction of foot bridges, award of scholarships and bursary, among others.

Contractors projects awarded by successive governments in the mandate areas are worth about N51.363 billion since inception. Previous governments awarded over N37.884 billion worth of contracts while the present government has different projects that gulped about N14 billion in the communities.

But recently when the activities of the commission slowed down, tongues began to wag as to the style of the new leadership of OSOPADEC. Things, however, have changed following the implementation of physical structures in the communities.

During a recent tour of the projects in the mandate areas, the commission’s chairman, Chief Debo Ajimuda, said that the

Ondo State Governor, Olusegun Mimiko

slow pace of work in the areas was due to “the need for the new board to do general restructuring of the commission before going into the award of contracts for physical projects.”

Ajimuda said the structure the new leadership of the agency met on ground at the inception was not in tandem with the reasons for the establishment of OSOPADEC.

“Because of the defects, the new board decided to do some restructuring before awarding the first set of projects in March 2010. And immediately we settled this, we mobilised all the contractors and they moved to sites.

“When I came on board, I saw the caricature of our intention of creating OSOPADEC. I met too many staff on ground, so we did the restructuring and moved many staff out of the place. After the restructuring, I moved to the budget and we then moved from perishable to tangible projects that people can point to.

“Then, we moved to the House of Assembly and we met a brickwall there and our bill was there for over nine months. We eventually got through around December 2009/January 2010 and we did the award of contracts around March and the contractors did not get their mobilization till around April.

Ajimuda assured that all the new projects awarded by the commission would go on as scheduled while those inherited from the last administration had not been abandoned as alleged by the opposition political in the state.

He added that they would be completed alongside the ones recently awarded. To this effect, ten of such projects would be completed and commissioned early next year to mark the third year anniversary of Governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

“ I want to assure the people that before February we will commission at least 10 of those projects and these are the model school at Igbokoda, the hospital at Agadagba-Obon, the model school at Igbobini, the health centre at Araromi, the skill acquisition centre at Ugbonla, the first phase of the sports complex and the Omuro International Market at Ode-Ugbo. All these would be ready by the third anniversary of the governor”.

The OSOPADEC boss gave the breakdown of the new projects awarded to include the N2.7 billion Igbokoda-Ayetoro Road phase 3 which covers about 4.7 kilometres, construction of two spurs, the Oke-Ipare-Olopo spur on Igbokoda-Ayetoro phase 1 and the Oropo spur on Igbokoda-Ayetoro phase 2 with the two projects valued at N247 million. The commission has also awarded the contracts for the construction of the 1.075 kilometres palace/hospital road in Igbobini, Ese-Odo with the cost of the project put at N98.9 million.

Ajimuda said the agency had awarded electrification contracts worth N3 billion.

He also said the commission leadership had awarded building projects contract valued at over N1 billion across the two local government areas of the mandate area.

It however seems the commission is yet to find solution to the problem of drinkable water in the Ondo riverine areas. The OSOPADEC boss chairman confessed : “We are facing challenges in the area of provision of water for the people who live on water but without drinkable water. The reverse osmosis method introduced is too expensive for the commission and would need the collaboration of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and the state government to make it a reality.”

Ajimuda said the commission is to establish what he described as Unity Village around Alape Bridge on Aboto-Olokola Road and would cover over 50 kilometres expanse of land to be developed by the commission and acquired by the people of the mandate areas.

He denied that government has abandoned the Adagbakuja new town developed by the last administration at a cost of N6.7 billion.

He disclosed that the commission has empowered aged persons to the tune of N165m, given scholarship/bursary awards N263m, micro credit scheme N350m, support for the physically challenged N10m, sports development N2m and entrepreneurial development N540m.

Residents in the mandate communities were full of praises for OSOPADEC for the developmental projects but were quick to express concern over the slow pace of work in the communities by the contractors.

They equally pleaded with the leadership of the agency to police the contractors who seem to have developed the habit of deliberately slowing down project.

The contractors, mostly expatriates, confessed that government had been meeting their financial needs as regards mobilising them to site but said that some youths in the areas had been a clog in their wheels by asking for the impossible before they could be allowed to work.

A leader in Ilaje community, Andrew Eniayemo, said that all the on-going and completed projects in the community are of paramount importance to the people. He cited the construction of the Okitipupa-Ayeka-Irele Road which, according to him, will shorten the trip from Okitipupa to Irele by about twenty minutes.

Also, Banji Ikuomelo, a youth leader in Agadagba Obon, in Ese Odo council area, said the near completion of the Mother and Child Hospital in the area would cater adequately for the health care of the people of the communities.