Way Forward FCT?
In the Federal
Capital Territory of Nigeria, word has it that the city has since become a
shadow of what it was six years ago… Mallam Nasir El-Rufai seems to be the best
thing that happened to Abuja as there was sanity in this city while he was in
power. What do you think?
Street beggars and hawkers
– Driving on the roads, one has to be extremely attentive these days as beggars
and hawkers are everywhere on the streets. At any traffic light, once the red
light stops you, they all appear. Sad part is, hand bags and mobile phones could get
missing if you have your car doors unlocked or windows down without paying
attention. Once upon a time, these people would not dare show up on the streets
as there were laws to ensure that such people were never around town.
Traffic and street lights– Getting from point A to point B gets increasingly difficult. Apart from no
respect for traffic laws and the horrible driving, the number of people who are
in Abuja today
has steadily risen notably around the outskirts of Abuja…Rent in the heart of town
is somewhat extortionate, not many make enough to afford the ridiculous prices...Especially because not
all these places match the amount paid in terms of services so people are
forced to go further out.
On the other hand, the infrastructure serving these outskirts is not
sufficient for the number of people who live around there. There are three main
entry points into Abuja
and everyone seems to be on these roads at the same time. The peak hours are
never fun on the roads; lanes are not maintained so a road that has three lanes
is automatically converted into five lanes. Fumes from exhausts fill the air,
angry drivers hurl insults at each other and all sort of drama unfolds. At
night, the roads are poorly lit or not lit at all as street lights have become
seasonal. Some parts of town have never had functional street lights.
The airport road serves those from Lugbe, Kuje, Gwagwalada while Deidei/Kubwa
axis serves for people commuting from as far as Niger state every day. Despite
this, road blocks are mounted and people are made to suffer avoidable delays
and spend much more time on the road.
The Nyanya/Mararaba axis has been the worse hit
by everything that should not be! Recently, with no warning, some plastic lane dividers filled with sand were put on the road. My guess would be that a lane
‘is meant’ to be dedicated to buses, please correct me if I’m wrong… However, there
have been no indications and at night, the roads are not properly lit so these
make shift dividers have been constantly run into by drivers. Some are broken and
litter the roads but have not been removed.Already on the road and all broken |
But a whole lot more are waiting to be put on the road....I wonder where! |
IMHO, whoever
sold this idea to the government just needed to make some fast money, they are
totally unnecessary! I have to add that this part of town has not received much
attention but on the other hand, it is the largest serving area for
accommodation. The roads are narrower than the other entry points but made even narrower by the road side
Nyanya market and the Nyanya bus stop! This is the major cause of traffic as
buses stop indiscriminately to pick or drop off passengers + numerous shacks
are erected to serve as a market. A few meters away, road blocks/check points get mounted from time to time by policemen or soldiers. A few days back, this was done after the announcement of Abubakar
Shekau’s death for two days! Unjustifiable knee jerk reaction as always! I
wonder, is the body expected to be brought into or taken out of Abuja?
It has been a
cycle, road blocks/check points at the border of Abuja and Nasarawa State have been mounted many
times after an announcement of a threat…
At this evening
time, everyone is trying to get home but frustrated from the journey. Once past
the market and the road blocks/check points, the roads are free, but as long as three hours
can be spent on this road (depending on what time you get on it). This entire
journey that is made extremely difficult is normally a fifteen minute drive!
In the mornings,
the road blocks are notably absent but every other thing present so getting
past this road could take up to forty minutes. If an accident occurs, imagine
what happens! And these individuals are meant to be productive at work?
The traffic
situation calls for serious attention. Stark raving madness will soon become
the result of this building frustration.
The Federal
Government never thought and still are not thinking to decentralize the
Ministries and Agencies such that they would be spread across the different
area councils. Everything is concentrated in AMAC so all the workers are on the
road at the same time everyday heading in the same direction.
This topic also featured in Daily Trust Newspaper this week with this caption ""Nigeria's inability to deliver on environment projects in Abuja".
What is the way forward Nigeria?
You are on point Ene.Judging with the daily occurance,our govt hardly or can i say doesn't put the safety of her citizen into consideration.The traffic alone is frustrating as abuja is becoming over populated.Another problem is the insufficient power supply in some specific area of abuja and a lot more.The way forward as far as a̶̲̥̅♏ concern is a good governance.Happy weekend.
ReplyDeleteThis good governance we speak about starts with each one of you know...With waste, we have a role to play by not littering the streets. In the same we have to drive responsibly. Thank you for reading Agnes.
DeleteThank you for this piece Ene, I couldn't agree more. It is almost a nightmare driving through town these days! If one is not infuriated by impatient drivers who have absolutely no regard for traffic rules, then the harassment you endure from steet hawkers and beggars will surely do the trick. What about safety and security? The increase in crime rate these days is very alarming! As individuals, we owe it to ourselves and the state to carry out our civic responsibilities and obey the law, but then what about all the various agencies and parastatals we have to regulate waste and traffic? They need to step up their game too! Once upon a time, under the governance of a certain FCT minister, the country's capital was an ideal/model city. Sadly, all efforts have cone undone by the lack of continuity, putting out the fire and turning our beloved capital into what we see today..
ReplyDeleteEfua
Thank you for reading and sharing your thoughts Efua.
DeleteWonderful observation and I total agree with you. The F.C.T adminstration should as matter of urgency look into this issues.Henry .O
ReplyDeleteThank you for reading Henry.
DeleteGood piece. To add to the increasing exorbitant rent, the senate are in the process of introducing property tax which will definitely lead to increase in the already high rent and when one of the senators tried to dissuade them from going on withe the bill the senate president said only the rich should stay in Abuja metropolis. For all these to change we need somebody that will take drastic measure more than what El Rufai did in his time
ReplyDeleteIf the Senate President said that, it is a shame! Drastic measures and a new and far thinking FCT Minister are welcome.
DeleteThank you for stopping by.