By Our Reporter, With Agency Reports
MINISTER of the FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, on Tuesday inaugurated the resurfacing 189 roads and remedial work on bridges, all in the metropolitan areas of Maitama, Garki and Utako districts.
The roads to be resurfaced cover 57 kilometres across the three districts; all in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). In 2023, Mr Wike had inaugurated the first phase of the resurfacing of roads project covering 184 kilometres in Garki, Wuse and Asokoro Districts.
The inauguration of the second phase of the project brings the total number of roads being resurfaced and rehabilitated in Abuja to 373.
However, the concept for the rehabilitation or resurfacing of the roads does not seem to consider other area councils of the FCT including satellite towns and suburbs within AMAC majorly inhabited by civil servants, whose roads are in very poor conditions.
A detailed report by National Record in November 2023 reveal that many of these working class satellite settlements are bereft of any decent infrastructure, with many of them inaccessible due to poor or total lack of access roads.
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The minister said the ongoing resurfacing project is part of a commitment to maintain and optimise public infrastructure in the FCT as well as part of efforts to renew the hope of residents in good governance in line with the “Renewed Hope” agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Wike called on Nigerians to believe in President Tinubu’s “Renewed Hope” agenda, stressing that the policies and programmes therein were not intended to make the people to suffer.
He urged residents to be patient as the roads resurfacing would cause them some inconvenience.
“You cannot talk about development without making sacrifices. There must be inconvenience. After the inconveniences you will benefit,” he said.
The minister commended the National Assembly and FCT area council chairmen for their support to deliver the dividends of democracy to FCT residents.
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Earlier, Mr Shehu Ahmad, Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, said the project would be delivered by May.
In his remarks, Chairman of Abuja Municipal Area Council, Mr Christopher Maikalangu, noted that roads in Maitama were weak because of long usage, adding that the resurfacing was timely.
Maikalangu called on the minister to address the problem of water shortage in Maitama District which had compelled residents to drill boreholes.
He pledged the support of the area council in the on-going efforts to transform the FCT.
Also speaking at the inauguration, a traditional leader, Sapayi of Garki, Alhaji Usman Nga Kupi, commended the minister for the efforts to transform the FCT landscape and the improvement of security in the territory. He pledged the support of the traditional council, and appealed to the minister to ensure the completion of the Karshi-Apo Road to address the traffic gridlock experienced there.
