• Niger govt begs for patience, endurance
From John Adams, Minna
The on-going construction of metropolitan roads and overhead bridges in Minna, Niger State, intended to face-lift the railway town, has become a source of new pains and bruises for residents.
The initial joy and excitement that greeted the commencement of these projects is gradually setting up a legion of frustration for the residents, whose daily lifestyle and economic activities have been greatly undermined by the constructions.
Almost all the access roads within Minna are at the moment undergoing reconstruction, consequently leaving the residents with limited road network to get to their work or business places. This is even compounded by the pace of the constructions as only 30 per cent of the construction, started in 2023 and expected for completion in two-years time, has been attained.
While residents said they welcomed the construction of the township roads, however, they decried the huge inconveniences accompanying the projects. John Abdul, faulted the company handling the project for taking on the entire roads and overhead bridge’ constructions at the same time: “They ought to have sequenced these constructions in such a manner that they finish a few before taking on the others.”
No fewer than six overhead bridges, two bypasses and some the major roads, including streets are simultaneously under construction, but at a disappointing pace. The roads included 202 kilometres within Minna. The construction was flagged off by Governor Umaru Bago in September 2023.
The governor said then that his administration would spend N1trillion on roads construction in the 25 local governments. He disclosed that apart from the four major towns of Kontagora, Bida, Minna and Suleja, the remaining local governments would each get a five-kilometre road project:
“This administration will take some deliberate steps towards fixing some deplorable federal roads, and there are a good number of federal roads in the state begging for attention.” However, almost two years after the pledge, the journey has been slow, fuelling the present discontentment in the polity.
Bako Umaru works with one of the federal outfits in Minna. He lamented that the present inconvenience were unbearable, wondering why the construction company had been this slow after these years.
Another resident, Mohammed Abdullahi: “Yes the construction is a good development.
But I can tell you that people are not finding their movements easy at all because all the roads are blocked.
Rather than taking it one after the other, government decided to do everything at the same time.
“This is not how to do the work. You are subjecting the people to serious hardship. They find it difficult to access their work places and businesses. The inconvenience is just unbearable.”
A businessman, Abdulganiyu Adewale, said: “The work is not moving as expected. I don’t think these constructions can be finished in the next two years. One would have expected that they concentrate on one area and finish it and move to another.
“I don’t see the wisdom in starting the entire roads construction at the same time without consideration how people will move. This is what they called Jack-of-all-trades and master of none. You started the whole work at the same time but no one has been completed with two years down. Certainly, you should expect that the residents would complain.”
The ugly situation is being linked to a number of accidents in the state capital of late. Some of these accidents, leading to loss of lives, were due to the diversion of traffic by the construction company
A staff of one of the federal agencies, whose husband was knocked down by a vehicle moving against the traffic along the former Shiroro Hotel bypass, narrated how she became a widow after 15 years of marriage. Wasilat Akanbi told Daily Sun: “My husband was a victim of the numerous accidents that occurred due to the construction that is on going. It happened in March this year.
“He came home after picking the children from school. He wanted to buy something across the road when the vehicle knocked him down. He gave up before he could reach the hospital.
“I was at work when they called me to come to the hospital. Before I could reach the hospital, he was already dead. I couldn’t believe myself it was terrifying. I can tell you that after my husband’s death, many have been killed by accident on that same road. It was becoming like a daily occurrence.”
Many businesses along the affected roads have folded up due to inability of their customers to access them on these roads. Worst affected are businesses along Tunga-Mobil-Stadium Junction roads. All business owners were forced to close down for almost two years now as a result of the constructions.
Owner of a restaurant along Tunga-Mobil Road, Esther Obi, told Daily Sun: “This is almost one and a half years since I closed my business because of the construction. No one knows when this work will be completed. We appreciate what the governor is doing in terms of development. But the work is not moving as expected and people are truly suffering.
“Because of these constructions, I was forced to ask my workers to stop work because there is no business and I will not be able to pay them. Many have lost their jobs because their businesses have folded up temporarily.”
Special Adviser to the Governor on Communication, Media and Strategy, Jonathan Vatsa, enjoined residents to exercise patience and bear the temporary inconveniences of the construction to attain a better tomorrow: “This is a new dawn in Niger State.
“The people must appreciate this government no matter the inconvenience they are experiencing. This is the first time since the creation of the state in 1976 that Minna, the state capital, is witnessing a total transformation of its infrastructure.
“Minna was more or less like a glorified local government headquarters with all the infrastructure begging for attention. The current administration has decided to take bull by the horn and to give Minna a new face and the people are complaining.
“We want to appeal to them to bear with government in its efforts to transform the state to be at per with its contemporaries. The governor has warned all contractors handling works, especially road projects government will not compromise quality for anything.”
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