Opinion: Tell this to Kwara’s Chancellor; His Streets are Dark at Night.

By Issa Mutolib Ayobami.

Streetlights aren’t installed just for its aesthetic benefits, it also serves to promote security in urban areas, as thieves, miscreants, hoodlums, and their ilks are known to operate efficiently at night, especially when darkness has taken over the cloud, not only that, it also improves the safety of pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers during the night by helping them to safely navigate through the darkness of the night.

It’s however unfortunate that the streets of Ilorin is an acute opposite of what an urban area should look like at night – overwhelming darkness. Major areas within the metropolis are covered by the spirits of darkness, citizens now walk in fear, and the men of the night are emboldened to carry out their dastardly actions, recently, news had it that someone was kidnapped at night, whether the person has been found or not, we’re still awaiting the news to break it for us, our prayers should however be with the victim and his family at this moment of trial.

For anyone who seeks to carry out an appraisal of the level of darkness in the metropolis, such a person can visit Airport road, Irewolede, Asa dam, Tanke, and many other areas, a vast majority of the street lights aren’t in good conditions, most no longer switche on, some blink like car trafficators, and a few poles have fallen, the percentage of those in good conditions is minimal, how do we tell anyone that the sum of six (6) billion naira was expended on a project termed as “Light Up Kwara” during the last regime?

The “Light Up Kwara” project which was popularly known as ‘LUK’ was a project whose first (1st) phase was billed to cover over 78 kilometres of roads within the Ilorin metropolis, and when the second (2nd) phase was launched, it included areas such as Offa garage to Unity round about, Oja-Oba to General roundabout, Geri-Alimi to CAILS, Emir’s road to Post office, and many other areas, but with the recent happenings, do we say the last administration did a shoddy job or the present administration do not possess the culture of maintenance?

Whatever answer you give to the above poser, please, do make sure that you tell the Kwara’s Chancellor that his streets are dark at night and unsafe.

Issa Mutolib Ayobami is a graduate of Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, and an Alumnus of the Accra Business School. He writes from Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, and can be reached via iammegabyte@gmail.com.