Stakeholders call for reactivation, completion of Maiduguri-Bama-Banki road project (Photos)

Stakeholders call for reactivation, completion of Maiduguri-Bama-Banki road project (Photos) 

Stakeholders have expressed dissatisfaction with the way Spectrum Engineering Company abandoned reconstruction work on Maiduguri- Bama- Banki link road for the past seven months.

Describing the development as worrisome, they lamented that the Maiduguri-Bama- Banki-road reconstruction, which started at a good speed has stopped at Konduga Local Government with no possible sign of progress.

The stakeholders appealed for the reactivation of the project, revealing that the situation of the highway is getting worse on a daily basis due to the heavy rainfall experienced in recent times.

Maiduguri-Bama – Banki road was once a busy link serving as a commercial hub where goods and services were transported through the route and even exported to neighbouring countries.

The road is about one hundred and thirty kilometres, a gateway to the Banki international market in addition to facilitating the reintegration of inhabitants of the Lake Chad region of Chad, Cameroon, and even the Central African Republic, who are making enormous economic transactions along the route.

It is also one of the major economic routes linking other countries of the Lakechad region  – Nigeria to the republic of Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic.

If completed, the road would enhance the economic potentials of Borno State, Nigeria, and that of the other Lake Chad countries, hence the appeals by the residents of Bama Local Government Area to the federal and Borno governments to complete the reconstruction and ensure hitch-free movement of goods and services that will boost the economy of the state.

Also making similar appeals, members of the Road Transport Workers Union, Ka’ana Ali, Modu Moroi, and Umaru Umatte lamented that motorists plying the route are subjected to untold hardship which constitutes so many health hazards and economic backwardness.

Lamenting further, motorists and road users revealed how the deplorable road makes them spend huge sums of money on maintenance of their vehicles and other related challenges encountered plying the road.

The Maiduguri- Bama- Banki has witnessed a lot of setbacks, including the activities of Boko Haram insurgents which crippled the viability of the road causing huge damages to the once business booming area.

This report is part of CMEDIA, under the Collaborative Media Engagement for Development, Inclusivity and Accountability Project.