By Juliana Katung
Kaduna (Nigeria)– Kaduna State Government, Northwest Nigeria in 2016 and 2017 awarded about 200 roads contracts.
A close look at the contracts awarded shows that Kaduna metropolis carried the lion share of the contracts awarded but were lopsidedly distributed.
For instance ,places like Barnawa witnessed the construction of about 75 roads, while other communities like Television, Romi, Gonin gora, Karatudu are left to their fate.
Roads in these areas pose as death traps to the residents especially during the raining season..
This lopsided award of road contracts recently promoted the State House of Assembly through its committee on Work, Housing and Transport vowed not to approve the 2018 budget of the Ministry of Works until it provides details of all the new proposed roads .
Even though the Commissioner of the Ministry, Mahmud Hassan during the budget defense exercise before the House Committee argued that the township roads contract concept was strictly on the local government headquarters, the contracts were not equitably distributed among the communities as well as the local government areas.
There are 53 roads awarded in Kabala, while Ungwan Rimi has 26 roads
Others, are four dualization projects, the eight-kilometre Zaria Road in Rigasa, which provides access to the Abuja – Kaduna train terminal and the busy Aliyu Makama Road in Barnawa, Ungwan Dosa and Sabon Birni dualisation projects.
Infrastructure development has in recent times assumed a front burner in Nigeria’s commitment to attaining social and economic growth by both the Federal and state governments.
It involves the provision of among others roads, water, housing, Power (electricity), Transport facilities to make life meaningful and movement of goods and services less stressful among the populace .
So, in Kaduna metropolis, some parts with a high population of between 15,000 and 20,000 households and situated few kilometers away from the main road lack access roads and even where they do exist they are either in poor condition or are totally impassable especially during the rainy season.
While other areas, apart from having all their roads tarred, are also favored with over concentration of road projects
The nagging question agitating the minds of most residents is, what is the rational behind awarding lopsided road construction.
A visit by Prime News to some communities within the state capital and suburbs showed that roads are becoming death traps to the residents, a situation that led to some women who reportedly lost their lives during child birth.
Angwan Bulus, in Sabo Tasha, Chikun local government area of the state, has over the years experienced difficulties, especially the women whose sometime lost their lives or their children before or during child bearing process as a result of bad road.
This community, do not have any public school, hospital or primary health care located within the area, thus, women and children have to travel about 3 kilometers or more to either attend public school or hospital to access education and health care service.
Africa Prime news revealed that members of the community always pray for the dry season even though most of them are farmers but because of the difficulties they usually encounter during raining season arising from the bad road caused by erosion.
In an interview with the community leader, Gideo Haruna Goni said the people of his Community are facing a lot of problems originating from bad road.
“If you check the landscape of the entire Sabo Tasha, it is a slope. And Angwan Matari and Angwan Bulus, the force of the erosion has affected the roads due to lack of good drainage.
“Our roads are impassable during that period, even though we are trying the best in our level to filled up the potholes every year immediately after the rain, and make roads manageable during the dry season.
“As part of our own effort, we at the community level invited the member representing our constituency at the Senate, Shehu Sani and our House of Assembly member, Mark Yeri when a bridge collapsed last year and the communities came together, gathered money to the tune of N3 million and constructed another bridge, they promised to take our problem to the government, we are still waiting to hear from them.” The Community leader said.
He stated that the State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai was also in the area sometimes ago, and saw the bridge constructed by the community along with the condition of the road but nothing has be done.
He added that there was another bridge being constructed at a cost of N6 million, and that two million naira has so far been contributed by the people.
The community leader therefore called on the government to come to the aid of the people of Angwan Bulus by constructing even if is a path, to ease the transportation difficulties facing by the residents, and for the safety of pregnant women and unborn babies.
A pregnant women in the area, Mrs Blessing Benjamin, said they always experienced difficulties moving from one place to another attending antenatal clinics as the roads linking them with the main road and others communities remain impassable especially during the raining season.
According to her, the major source of transportation is motorcycles and that she always experienced abdominal pain whenever she uses the motorcycle as a result of the bad roads, adding that she resorted to trekking to the hospital for antenatal, market or anywhere she wants to go just for the safety of her unborn baby.
Another resident, Mrs. Hannatu Umar said sometimes early this year’s rainy season, on her way to antenatal, she fell down from a motorcycle and had serious bleeding, stressing that she was rushed to the General Hospital Sabo Tasha. “I almost lost my baby, if not for God’s intervention,” she lamented.
“I wandered the kind of sin the people of these communities have committed that we are abandoned by our own leaders. Whenever I go to some places within Kaduna metropolis that is not up to our community and I see the kind of development especially roads in such areas being executed by the government, it always surprises me,” she added.
Places like Mando ward in Igabi local government area with over 1 million population has only one good road and are appealing for more.
In an interview with a resident of the area, Ibrahiman Yahabu, lamented over the bad condition of the roads and other social amenities even when, he said they have many well to do residing in their midst.
The residents of Rigasa Ward, Igabi local government area observed that their suffering for so many years came to an end with the construction of the roads linking the area with the railway Terminal and the airport.
Though they attributed it to the presence of the railway terminal and the temporary shift of the Nnamdi international airport to Kaduna sometimes this year.
Other Residents who are still yearning for tarred roads despite their advantage position in the state capital are Television, Romi, Gonin- gora, Karatudu and Kurmimashi among others.
