The heavy rainfall last year has cut off many communities with other major cities and townships, one of such affected communities is the Dakwa, a suburb along the border between Bwari area council, FCT and Tafa local government in Niger state. The community situated along the old Abuja-Kaduna road starts from the popularly Madalla Junction to Dei Dei. The road was regarded as a federal road by standard for crossing two states and linking the federal capital with neighbouring states along northern outer axis.
This important road has recently received a major rehabilitation by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), with construction of new culverts on some section of the road, however, many residents were surprised that the work stopped halfway without any explanation. The contractor left the site leaving some sections of the road (From Shagari Quarters Junction to Dei Dei by Express) even worse than it was before. Another part of the road unattended was a small bridge after Biu petrol filling station from Dei Dei to Madalla. That bridge has since indicated signs of stress and erosion has washed out the side of the bridge since the flood last year.
It is pertinent to note that such important road which serves as alternative to people leaving Abuja to the north and other major towns every day is left unattended for by the authorities. It is right to say that there is no alternative for Zuba Junction at the moment since the blockage of that bridge. Some good Samaritans blocked the road to avoid any catastrophic incident, however that subjected many residents in Dakwa town and neighbouring towns to hardships, many businesses along the road are suffering huge loss, workers are getting to their work places and returning homes very late. It is therefore necessary to appeal to FERMA to return to the site of this road and finish the abandoned section and reconstruct the bridge.
Muhammed Al-Amin,
Abuja
