By Maroof Asudemade

When Oba Rashidi Adewolu Ladoja initiated the Ibadan Circular Road project as a governor, he provided a corridor of 150 metres—75 metres on each side of the road. The project was conceived to improve transportation and facilitate the development of Ibadan, not to turn thousands of residents into victims of government policies.

Under Governor Seyi Makinde, however, the corridor was expanded to 1,000 metres, comprising 500 metres on each side in designated areas. This dramatic expansion has triggered widespread anxiety, dislocation and hardship among residents whose homes and properties fall within the affected corridor.

What justification can outweigh the suffering of ordinary people who have invested their lifetime savings in building their homes, only to face demolition and the prospect of homelessness?

Reports from affected communities paint a heartbreaking picture of families thrown into confusion, residents rendered incapacitated by the trauma, and allegations that some people have died following the shock of losing their only homes. For these families, the Circular Road controversy is not an abstract argument about urban planning; it is a painful struggle for survival.

A government that genuinely cares about its people should not be indifferent to such suffering. The governor must understand that behind every affected building are human beings, families, dreams and years of sacrifice.

The question residents are asking is simple: why should a road project conceived under Ladoja with 75 metres on each side require an additional 425 metres on either side, exposing so many people to displacement and uncertainty?

Oba Ladoja deserves recognition for initiating this important infrastructure project and establishing the original corridor. His approach provides a compelling basis for examining whether the subsequent expansion was necessary, proportionate and sufficiently considerate of the people whose properties would be affected.

Makinde’s administration must explain the justification for the expansion and demonstrate that the acquisition process respects the law, property rights and the dignity of affected residents.

Development should improve people’s lives, not destroy them. No government should pursue infrastructure at the expense of compassion, fairness and humanity.

The anguish of displaced residents raises serious questions about whether enough consideration was given to the human consequences of this policy. To many affected families, the government’s actions have demonstrated a painful lack of compassion; a failure to show the milk of human kindness expected of a leader entrusted with the welfare of the people.

Governor Makinde has refused to listen to painful yearning of these residents, to review the hardship caused by the expanded corridor and ensure that affected families receive the fair treatment and compensation to which they are legally entitled.

When elected as the next governor in 2027, Senator Sharafadeen Alli has promised to bring relief to the victims of the Circular Road controversy. Fortunately, Sarafadeen Alli was an active part of Oba Ladoja’s administration which initiated the project and considered the welfare and wellbeing of the people around the corridors when doing so.

The Circular Road should be remembered for the progress it brings to Ibadan, not for the tears of residents who lost the only homes they ever owned, and some their lives.