Jega-Birnin Yauri road: Kebbi communities lament 20 years of anguish
The Jega-Birnin YauriKontogora road was constructed over 100 years ago. From Sokoto, it runs through Jega, Maiyama, Koko, Shanga, Yauri and Warrah, to Kontogora, from where it links the North with other communities in the SouthWest, South-South and SouthEast. It is one of the major roads through which people from Kebbi, Sokoto and Niger states take their goods and farm produce to sell in other parts of the country.
There are five major markets along this horrifying road, where the governments of Kebbi and Niger states get huge revenue. There are the Dadin Kowa Sunday market, Tunga Giwa Monday market, Jega, Koko and Bagudo Friday markets, and the big Sunday market that links Niger and Kebbi at Kawo, yet the road has been left in a terrible condition for over 20 years. Accident and armed robbery have become a routine of sorts on the 186-kilometer road.
As a result of the number of years the road has been neglected, the Koko-Shanga-Yauri-Warrah parts of it had completely collapsed. On a daily basis, motorists spend up to five or more hours for a twohour journey, wading through the dangerous portions of the road amidst fear of possible attacks by armed robbers, as well as accident, especially from Koko to the Warrah area of the state.
Worried by the poor condition and dangerous nature of the road, the Emir of Yauri, Dr. Muhammad Zayyanu Abdullahi, on a number of occasions, had lodged complaints and repeatedly appealed to the state government to call the attention of the Federal Government to the deplorable state of the road. Last month, the emir paid a courtesy visit to Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu in Birnin Kebbi. He told the governor that one of the reasons for his visit was to convey the message of his people on the bad condition of the Jega-Birnin Yauri road, which has made it very difficult for his people to perform their daily economic activities.
Also, few days after his visit to Governor Bagudu, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, inspected the level of work on the road. During the inspection tour with top officials of his ministry and journalists, he was shocked to discover that the level of work on the road, which was awarded to Triacta Construction Company at the cost of N19.4billion, had not gone beyond 20 per cent since it started three years ago.
Unfortunately, perhaps due to lack of time because of his other commitments, the minister only rode through the good portions of the road from Jega to Maiyama and did not get to see how terrible and dreadful the road has become at the Koko, Shanga,Yauri and Warrah end, which links Kebbi with Niger State. The people of the communities were, therefore, disappointed.
Worried by the poor state of the road and the hardship it has brought to people of the communities and their economy over the years, the Kebbi State Government had made several appeals to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, requesting to be granted the permission to take over the construction of the road from the Warrah-Yauri end, but formal approval was not granted.
During the minister’s visit to Kebbi State, the Commissioner for Works and Transport, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku Bunnu, also made a formal request to the ministry concerning a possible takeover of the construction of the road from the Yauri end.
He said, “Hournorable Minister, the slow pace of work on this road has posed a lot of stress and difficulties to the economic activities of our people in this area, particularly at the Yauri end. The emir is worried, and has made several appeals to Governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu for its quick reconstruction. We would like to take over the road
construction from Warrah-Yauri if you will grant us the permission to do so.”
Responding, the minister diplomatically rejected the request, saying, “You will have to help us beg the emir, that work on the road is in progress and the contractors have promised to finish it on time. As for your request, the contract has been awarded already. We could only appeal to the contractors to move their equipment to Yauri if you so wish.”
The scope of the project covers construction of bridges, culverts and drainages. However, only 56 out of the 186 kilometers was so far covered from Jega to Maiyama, leaving the Koko,Shanga,Yauri and Warrah portions of the road in a very terrible and pitiable condition.
Speaking amidst pains, one of the community leaders in Yauri, who is a chief in the area and former councilor, Alhaji Nasiru Gungu Sarki said, “We heard from our fathers that this road was constructed over 100 years ago. It was made better during the Sardauna era. The Federal Government should hasten the construction of the road because of its economic importance, not only to us but the entire country.
Many communities along this road are living in pains on a daily basis because of the hardship people are facing on this road. Apart from farming and fishing, there are other natural resources here, but this road is posing a very serious threat to the economic activities of the people in this part of the country. Many of the vehicles plying this road usually go through the bush from Warrah, passing around Kamji Dam, from where they link Jebba before heading to other parts of the country. As we have been doing for the past 20 years, we are still calling again on the authorities to do something about this road. Motorists, farmers, rural dwellers, fishermen, herdsmen and others who use this road on a daily basis are suffering. Many vehicles have been completely damaged, and many fatal accidents often happen on this road, particularly on market days.
We have five huge markets where government gets huge revenue in this area, yet our road has been left in this bad condition for over 20 years. And people are dying here. From Tondi bridge to Yauri is 20 minutes, but we end up spending over one hour. From Makirin and Magama bridge is 20 minutes, but we also spend over one hour because of the bad condition of the road. It is really terrible; they need to do something urgently about this road.”
A motor mechanic, Salihu Buka Yauri, who spoke to our correspondent said, “This road is posing a great threat to us here in Yauri. I am a mechanic, so I can tell you authoritatively that not less than 30 vehicles break down daily on this road. This is barely 10.30 am, but I have already repaired six vehicles that got spoiled at various spots. And here I am repairing another one. The condition of this road is terrible. It is no longer fit for vehicles to ply on, but they have no choice. Many of them are moving from this part of the state to other parts of the country and they must use this road because it is the only road that links the South-West and South-South from here.
“As you travel from Koko, Shanga, Yauri to Warrah, you will see many vehicles that were damaged as a result of the bad road. Everyday, vehicles get damaged on this road, please help us to carry our plea to the authorities; let them repair this road for us.”
Similarly, a driver told Daily Trust on Sunday that the contractors, on a number of times, would move their machines to the road, put sands and stones at different spots, with the impression that they are ready to start work, but they would disappear, only to resurface after some months. The driver pointed at a bridge that had collapsed at Keri, near Shanga, but now under construction.
“You see those machines, sands and stones near that damaged bridge; when they brought them we thought they would commence work on the bridge so that we won’t have to be passing through this bush, but it is past three months now since they left, and they have not come. I think the government has to show seriousness on this road project because people are dying. We live in fear of armed robbers while accidents happen almost every day and innocent people die,” he said.
A top official of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) in Birnin Kebbi told our correspondent that the delay in executing the Jega-Birnin Yauri road project was due to lack of fund. However, during one of the inspection visits by officials of the agency, the director, highway (North West), Engineer Busari Sikiru, said the government was serious about the project, and fund would be made available for its speedy completion.