Pa Joseph Oyewole is a farmer and resident of Adana village, a rural settlement lying along the Iwo-Oyo road and sandwiched between Awe in Oyo State and Iwo in Osun State.

The elderly man is the traditional head of the village. In Yoruba traditional settings, two types of traditional heads, often called baale, may exist. One is determined by age, while the other is a celebrated title usually conferred on eligible individuals by a superior traditional ruler.

In the case of Oyewole, he is the eldest man in Adana village, and he has spent most of his life in this locality that falls under the jurisdiction of the Iwo Local Government of Osun State.

Over 10 years ago, Oyewole was excited when it was announced that his community would host an agricultural facility funded by the World Bank in partnership with the federal and Osun State governments. The information spread fast, and the entire village was anxious to welcome the intervention, pledging to extend friendship and hospitality to contractors.

Oyewole’s expectations, like those of the other villagers, have been dashed. Truly, the project was built to completion by the Osun State Government, but it was never put to use, much less serve the purpose of a one-stop shop for farm inputs and agricultural materials to reduce mobility challenges villages in that axis were going through before getting those materials from cities.

“It was a big disappointment and a waste of money,” the elderly man said of the World Bank intervention. “That building has been there for more than 10 years without any use or activity.”

By his estimation, FIJ figured that the facility was constructed during the administration of Rauf Aregbesola, who governed the state from 2010 to 2018.

WASTE

Once an imposing complex that drew the admiration of the villagers and represented an unusual architectural design on the long Iwo-Oyo road that is dotted with village huts and mud houses, the project has become a shadow of its former self, and even its previous lovers now feel endangered because of the danger it poses to them, particularly children.

A woman who did not mention her name and whose residence is located beside the structure said, “We don’t allow our children to stray into the place since it became bushy. My children know that they cannot playfully enter there; otherwise, I will punish them.”

The overwhelming positive feelings the community had towards the project have thinned out because the government has abandoned it with all its promised potential for the locals. Its old beauty has been discoloured and hidden by nature.

On December 14, our reporter visited the location and found that the building had wide and tiny cracks. The perforated metal gate was left ajar, and this reporter found a narrow path into the bushy, grassy compound housing the building. The interior of the building provided a peaceful world for birds, bats and wasps. Its floor was littered with animal faeces.

At the back of the building, two triangle-shaped open stores stand separately, with a tall water stanchion overlooking all of them. All of these facilities, including a generator and security guard booths, have been damaged over long years of non-use.

THE ORGINAL PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

FIJ observed that some villages are located on the roadside from Iwo to Oyo and some are miles away from the roadside. Some of these villages are Idi-Iroko, Pereseke, Kuta and Oloogun-Ebi with a mixed population of Nigerians and foreigners from some West African countries.

According to Oyewole, the government said it was interested in agricultural development and was facilitating investments in that sector. In prioritising the contributions of peasant farmers, the government decided to situate a World Bank intervention targeted at creating a one-stop shop where farmers could easily purchase a variety of farm inputs and chemicals and provide access to basic farm equipment.

All of this was to reduce the stress farmers in that axis face while travelling to cities to purchase. The long and short of it, said the village head, was to bring some basic agricultural services to their doorstep.

“They (government representatives) told us that it would serve as a place where we could buy chemicals, fertilisers, seedlings, and even rent tractors. Knowing that these are some of the things we go far to buy, we were very happy,” said Oyewole.

“I don’t think the construction was interrupted at any point. It was so fast that we knew funds were readily available to the people who handled it. They built a guard’s house and a generator house, showing how well they planned to use the place. But soon after they completed it, things started taking a turn for the worse.

“We woke up one day to notice that a Mikano generator installed in the place had been stolen. There was no attack, and there was no violence to lead us into thinking that some attackers were responsible. As the host community, we felt our property had been stolen and notified the management of the Osun State Agricultural Development Programme (OSSADEP) at their headquarters in Iwo.”

FIJ learned that nothing was done after the industrial generator was reported stolen. The building has been brutally defaced, and most of the interior and exterior fittings, including glass windows and electrical components, have been broken or removed.

“Our suspicion is that some key people who knew how it was installed came to steal it. The deafening silence that followed our report about it further strengthened this suspicion,” said Pa Oyewole.

COMMUNITY’S APPEAL

Community leaders told FIJ they had been appealing to the government to let them take over the facility to make proper use of it. Unfortunately, their request has not been granted, and the facility continues to rot away.

Speaking, Chief Emmanuel Alabi Oyewole, a son of the village head, explained to FIJ that the community had been mobilising men in the village to cut the grass in the building each year in order to prevent wildfires from razing it.

“I have gone to meet some officials at OSSDEP to seek their permission for us to take over the distressed building, even if the takeover would be temporary or come with some terms and conditions. We want them to permit us to revive the building,” Chief Emmanuel Alabi Oyewole said.

He said the community felt left behind because the project was left to rot away.

“More than 90 percent of my people who usually cut the grass are tired, having done that free of charge for years. That is why we are seriously seeking the government’s permission to use it for something meaningful. Very soon, we will still cut the grass to prevent fire eruptions during this harmattan season,” said Oyewole.

He also said that some start-up business owners had seen the facility and were interested in turning it into a productive place.

AGRICULTURE COMMISSIONER’S REACTION

A director at OSSADEP, who asked not to be named, explained that the ownership of the building shifted to the Osun State Government after it was completed, but the agency in charge did not receive funding from the government to start operating it.

“It is a funding problem. Yes, I am aware. Some officials from the ministry of agriculture came from Osogbo about five years ago, and we went to inspect the place. It was bushy then. The officials left with an on-the-site report, but we have not received any directive since then,” the director said.

“Your visit will enable me to remind the commissioner when I next meet him. It is really distressing seeing such edifice waste. But there’s nothing we can do on our own. Take a look at my office and all the OSSADEP premises. Does it look like a well-funded facility? So, that’s the problem we contend with.”

Without any directive or funds, he said, the agency can’t put the facility to good use.

FIJ called Tola Faseru, the state commissioner for agriculture and food security, on Friday. He asked our reporter to message him on WhatsApp and promised to respond at his earliest convenience. He had not responded at press time.