Keyp oints
- The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency has commenced its targeted safety intervention programme along major corridors in Ondo State.
- Execution teams are focusing operations along the Owo-Ikare–Akungba road and the Ekiti Southbound road networks.
- Agency guidelines confirmed the mobilization of approximately 50 local youths to carry out specialized maintenance duties.
- Comprehensive road operations are divided into three distinct units covering vegetation control, pothole patching, and drainage desilting.
- Structural programs are deployed under the second phase of the agency’s Operation Safe Guard the Road initiative.
Main Story
The Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has commenced safety intervention programme along Owo-Ikare–Akungba road, and Ekiti Southbound road in Ondo State.
The Federal Road Maintenance Engineer (FRME) in Ondo State, Abiosun Oyelami, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure. Oyelami explained that the intervention programme was part of efforts to improve safety and protect federal road infrastructure.
He said the intervention, under the Operation Safe Guard the Road (OSGR) programme, marked the second phase of the initiative in the state.
According to him, the programme focuses on pothole patching, vegetation control, carriageway cleaning and drainage desilting to improve visibility and ensure safer movement for motorists along the route.
To evaluate intermediate operational frameworks, Oyelami explained that FERMA engaged about 50 youths residing along the corridor to carry out the maintenance activities.
He said the workers were properly documented to ensure transparency and accountability in the implementation process, noting that the participants have completed their orientation and safety sensitisation before deployment to different sections of the road.
The engineer disclosed that the workers were divided into three operational teams for effective implementation of the programme, adding that the initiative has an economic empowerment component through monthly stipends for the youths engaged under the programme.
Furthermore, management divisions have deployed these units to high-risk highway sections to eliminate environmental hazards.
Oyelami said the initiative aligned with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu, and was conceived under the leadership of FERMA Managing Director, Engr Emeka Agbasi.
Oyelami reaffirmed FERMA’s commitment to maintaining federal roads in Ondo State and appealed to motorists to cooperate with workers handling the intervention exercise.
The Issues
- Restoring visibility around blind highway bends by clearing rapid overgrowth that provides cover for criminal hideouts.
- Managing highway traffic safety while active maintenance teams are executing pothole patching on high-speed corridors.
- Supplying consistent financial stipends to youth labor pools to maintain long-term accountability across the maintenance sections.
What’s Being Said
- Outlining the strategic goals of the infrastructure deployment, FRME Engineer Abiosun Oyelami stated that “The programme is designed to preserve and protect federal roads while enhancing safety for all road users.”
- Connecting the rehabilitation tasks to motorist operating expenses, he added that “It will also help to reduce travel time, accident rates and vehicle maintenance costs on the corridor.”
- Detailing the precise placement of the localized clearance crews, he explained that “The vegetation control team was deployed to bends and corners along the Owo–Ikare–Arigidi axis to improve visibility for drivers and reduce criminal hideouts along the route.”
- Describing the remaining distribution of the regional labor force, he noted that “The second team is handling pothole patching, while the third team is carrying out carriageway and drainage desilting activities.”
What’s Next
- Operational teams will transition from the Owo-Ikare axis to initiate extensive carriageway cleaning on the Ekiti Southbound route.
- Field supervisors will submit documentation logs to verify work hours before processing the first monthly stipends for the 50 engaged youths.
- FERMA officials will monitor motorist compliance to ensure safety margins are maintained during active daytime patching schedules.
Bottom Line
Deploying 50 documented local youths into three specialized operational teams under its Operation Safe Guard the Road initiative, FERMA has launched comprehensive safety and desilting repairs along the Owo-Ikare-Akungba and Ekiti Southbound corridors to enhance visibility and preserve federal infrastructure in Ondo State.
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