Residents lament deplorable state of roads in Gwagwalada (Photos)
Story from Haruna YUSUF, Abuja
Residents of Gwagwalada Area Council in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja have expressed concern over the deplorable state of roads within the town.
Some residents who spoke with Neptune Prime on Friday, 15th July 2022, complained about the dilapidated nature of the roads, especially the FRCN/market road and Jeremiah Useni road.
They said the road is not passable whenever rain falls and when it’s dry season, it generates dust and many residents that live close to the road are affected by respiratory infection as a result of the dust emanating from vehicles and motorcycles activities.
Also lamenting, the principal of Sheikh Hamdan Model Senior Secondary School, Dr Uba M. Inuwa, said the deplorable state of the FRCN road is affecting the punctuality of students when it rains, because the commercial motorcycle (okada) can’t access the road and even trekking too has become difficult.
He appealed to the government to come to their aid and fix the terrible road condition
“This is a major road that so many people use, but the catastrophic state of the road is affecting us, we call on the government to help fix the road.” Inuwa cried.
Another resident who chose to remain anonymous said “I am a staff of Modoc Hotel, situated along the FRCN/Market Road, the deplorable state of the road affect our business so much especially when it rains, many customers would rather choose alternative hotels and that is a shortage on our income; so, I think the government should quickly come to our aid.”
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Adedamola Animashaun is one of the residents, who uses his vehicle regularly on the FRCN/ Market road, he said using the road has made him visit the mechanic regularly to fix ‘ball joint and socket’ in his car; he also said besides the road, there is Jeremiah Useni road that has been under construction but abandoned by the Alias Construction Company for years now, which is equally giving road users a nightmare especially when it rains.
Another anonymous source living along Jeremiah Useni road said “The bad road is causing us very serious problems both during the dry and raining season to an extent that Missionary Society of St Paul wanted to construct the road for free starting from the missionary building to the junction, but we heard that the Gwagwalada Area Council refused. So, they decided to tar just the front of the missionary building.
Daniel Iskhuemen, a staff of the Missionary Society of St Paul said they couldn’t condone the deplorable state of the road so the Missionary Society, through their partners constructed some parts of Jeremiah Useni road.
He said, “However, it is not true that the area council barred us from constructing the road to its completion, the reason why it stopped halfway is that a government contractor is already on the site and there was no way the government could stop the contractors for a volunteer (Missionary Society of St Paul) doing so, could cause government a lot.”
He further said it was the reason the missionary, decided to tar the road in front of the Missionary Society of St Paul.
However, Neptune Prime sought the view of the FCTA Satellite Town Development Department and the Public Relations Officer (PRO) Meme Akeh Felicia, who said that the reason why the road has not been fixed is that there’s no fund.
She said, “The Minister is aware of it and he is doing everything possible to ensure the contractors go back to the site, it is not an abandoned project.”
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