Some youths in the Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, have threatened to shut the council’s office over the deplorable state of the Gwagwalada Market Road.
Some of the youths in the area who spoke with PUNCH Metro on Tuesday said the bad road had caused severe hardship for commuters and residents for a long time.
One of the youths, Manasseh Paul, told PUNCH Metro that the youths were giving the council authorities an ultimatum of seven days to attend to the road or they would paralyse activities on the road and also storm the council office.
Manasseh said, “Gwagwalada Market Road, once a lifeline, now lies in ruins, strangling local businesses and burdening the people it should serve. The path to redemption must begin with the reconstruction of this vital road. We, as citizens of Nigeria, assert our right to free movement, as enshrined in the Nigerian constitution, and we call for the prompt restoration of this fundamental right.”
Speaking further, Manaseeh, who doubles as the coordinator of the youths in the area, said, “That road has been bad for like three to four years. Every chairman used it to campaign when contesting. It is a major road that links Gwagwalada to other areas.”
“We’re shutting the area council down after seven days. We will also shut the road,” he added.
Another youth, Promise Abubakar, said shop owners in the area had abandoned their shops because people were finding it difficult to navigate the area and patronise them.
“Many people who have shops there are suffering. Some people have left their shops. It’s not easy to navigate the road. Our demand is that they should fix the road,” Abubakar said.
Another resident, who asked not to be mentioned, said, “It’s sad. I don’t know why they decided to ignore the road. It’s like people don’t matter to them. A whole FCT, and the road is terrible like this. They should fix the road.”
Also, a civil society group, Take It Back Movement, in a letter dated Monday, requested the area council to provide it with details of federal allocations received by the council from 2022 to date and how they had been spent.
Quoting the Freedom of Information Act in the letter posted on its verified X handle, @TIBmovement, they sought “A detailed and up-to-date record of federal allocations received by the Gwagwalada Area Council from 2022 to date; an elaborate breakdown of the expenditure and use of the federal allocations received by the council from 2022 to date; an elaborate breakdown of the expenditure and use of the internally generated revenue received by the council from 2022 to date.”
The Special Adviser to the council chairman’s secretary, Abdulrahman Saba, said although he could not speak for the chairman, he acknowledged the deplorable state of the road and admitted he was also suffering from it.
He said, “I can only share my own idea and understanding of that road. I commend your efforts; it’s a good one because that road is a major road in the Gwagwalada Area Council. We’re suffering; because I’m a resident in that area. But that road is not under the area council. It is (under) the area council, it is for the FCDA majorly.”
When contacted on Tuesday, the Chairman of the Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Abubakar Jibrin, directed our correspondent to the FCDA. “Please, you can go to the FCDA,” he said in a terse response to a text message from our correspondent.
But when eventually contacted, the spokesperson for the Federal Capital Development Authority, Richard Ndul, said, “Gwagwalada Road is under the area council.”
When told that a source in the area council said it was not under the council, he further revealed, “If it is not in the area council, it is (under) the satellite towns.”
