Ekiti Roads Are Naturally Tarred
By Olusina Akeredolu
He was a phenomenon. Chief E. A. Babalola was the first University graduate from that entity known as Ekiti, now Ekiti state, which is symbolized as the fountain of knowledge. Chief Babalola took the first baton when he graduated from the University of Sierra Leone also known as Fourah Bay College in 1946. He stood as a unique person being the first to have a degree in a place which later became a reservoir of intellectuals in Nigeria. I learnt that the whole of Ekiti erupted in disbelief and joy to have the very first University graduate among them. A reception was therefore organized for him and he was welcomed with gun salute in Oye-Ekiti, his home town and the whole of Ekiti Division as it was known then. He was a teacher, a school principal and the Minister of works in Western Region during the administration of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. He was married with children and died around 1985.
This piece is not intended to tell the story of his life as I am aware that he wrote his own biography before he died even though I have not had the opportunity to have and read the book. I gathered that chief Babalola was the one who made the statement: “Ekiti roads are naturally tarred” as the then Minister of works in charge of Western Region which included the mid-west that later became Bendel and now known as Edo and Delta states. It was said that they were deliberating at the Regional Executive Council meeting at a time Chief Obafemi Awolowo was the Premier of Western Region. They were said to be discussing the difficulties and costs of tarring roads in the swampy and marshy Niger Delta area which was part of the old West. He wanted the Western Region executive council to consider tarring the roads in the mid-west before considering the roads in Ekiti where he came from, because, according to him the roads in Ekiti were roughly passable even without being tarred unlike the swampy land of the Niger Delta. He made the statement because he wanted the towns and villages in the mid-west to have motorable trunk “C” access roads to themselves, to Ibadan city, the regional capital and Lagos, the capital of Nigeria then.
Chief Babalola was said to have made the statement because he was not greedy and selfish and because he wanted equal opportunity in term of access roads for all the people, particularly the disadvantaged Niger Delta area, through his Ministry in the then Western Region. The Ekiti people were said to have been very bitter about that statement that they took it against him construing it to mean Ekiti roads did not need to be tarred or that he had no intention to tar them. In any case, we met the trunk “C” roads linking major towns in all parts of the Region including Ekiti when we were growing up. To me, his time was still the best period in governance for the people of the area consisting west and mid-western Nigeria.
Ikenne is on the world map today because of the character and the person of Chief Obafemi Awolowo. They said he was the best president Nigeria never had. Twenty seven years after his death, Ikenne is still a Nigerian Mecca. Everybody that matters all over Nigeria has been going there to seek wisdom and credibility. Even Prof. Maurice Iwu, former chairman of INEC, who was not able to organize even a fraud-free Council election in Nigeria in his four years in office had visited the home of the sage. The one that worries me is seeing some of our brothers in the South West wearing a replica of Awo’s cap. They wear Awo’s identical cap as a symbol of their acceptance of his principles and philosophy but apart from the cap, you cannot find or see anything Awo’s character in them as they are millions of miles far away from him in their actions, behavior and life style.
The good old days when things were done normally are gone. Our values are gone as there seems to be no more sense of shame left in us as Nigerians. Our leaders continue to steal our commonwealth with impunity while those in charge of big businesses and private enterprises in Nigeria are also stealing by trick because they want to continue to serve their narrow interests. In one of my writings some five years ago which was about the Halliburton scandal, I said America refused to release the list of Nigerian officials involved in the scandal to us because they knew that doing so will only amount to an exercise in futility. They knew that our looting leaders will cover themselves up and that was it.
From the beginning, Ekiti people knew the value of education and they embraced it. That was why they celebrated their first University degree holder and today you will find at least a degree holder in every family there. To them, education is everything you need to be successful in life. They believe in honesty and personal integrity. But it is curious that Ekiti has nothing to show for its intimidating academic successes and credentials when it comes to physical development in that part of Nigeria.
Ekiti may not come first in term of tarring of roads during the time of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Chief E. A. Babalola but like the rest of the Western Region, they eventually linked the major towns and villages in Ekiti with the popular trunk “C” roads of their time without oil money. Those roads began to give way due to long use and lack of maintenance by successive leaders. For many years now, Ekiti did not need to contend with the old mid-west and its marshy land any more. It is therefore sad that almost 60 years after this statement was said to have been made, Ekiti roads are still naturally tarred.