KATSINA: The commencement of work early this year on the thirty year old dilapidated 170km Marabar Kankara-Katsina road was a great joy and relief for road users and residents of Katsina state.
However, just when the contractor had mobilized to site and commenced the scraping of the road to begin its reconstruction, the project was revoked without any explanations.
Reasons emanated on why the road project was stopped on Sunday during the flag off of the Federal Government Rice distribution exercise as the Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Political Matters, Ibrahim Kabir Masari, disclosed that the road project was stopped by no other person than the Katsina State Governor, Malam Dikko Radda.
Masari told the gathering that “the contract for the reconstruction of the road from Marabar Kankara-Kankara-Yantumaki-Dutsinma-Kurfi-Katsina was awarded but to the wrong person”.
“Therefore, the Katsina State Governor met Mr. President and asked him to revoke the contract and re-award it to another contractor that will do a better job”.
Following this revelation, Governor Radda has come under fire from travelers that ply the road, residents of the communities along the 170km road, and the Civil Society Organizations.
A commercial vehicle driver, Hassan Dandogowa, noted that despite the high cost of fuel, drivers have to go round through longer routes to get to Katsina, adding that, drivers coming from Funtua or Zaria would have preferred traveling through the Kankara axis as it is the shortest route to Katsina.
“Now we have to go through Musawa or Gidan Mutum Daya when going to Katsina considering the cost of fuel at this present time when everyone is trying to make ends meet “.
For residents of villages along the road, a cross section of them told the independent that, the stoppage of the road project has worsened insecurity in the area.
Malam Dan-Gambo Faruku, a resident of Burdugau, narrated how the activities of kidnapping and armed banditry have risen and worsened due to the stoppage of the road project.
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“As you can see, this road has been scraped as reconstruction had commenced, but from the time the project was stopped quite a number of people have been abducted and too many villages raided or attacked by bandits”.
“More than fifty villages have been attacked between Burdugau, Yargoje, Kuka-sheka, Danmarke and Kankara, all because of the closure of the road, the security agencies cannot respond to emergencies owing to the present state of the road, even when there are attacks”, he posited.
“Similarly, vehicles have stopped plying the road, making the area vulnerable, as these miscreants now attack at will any time of the day”, he added.
Meanwhile, the Civil Society Organizations CSOs, in Katsina State have also condemned the decision of Governor Radda for calling for the revocation of the ongoing road project, describing such as “political”.
Comrade Jamilu Aliyu Charanchi, the state Chairman of the Coalition of Northern Groups, who described the stoppage of the project as unfortunate, said “This road is too important for anyone to play politics with its construction, people of Katsina State have since the commencement of the project been rejoicing over the award of the contract.
“Now we were impressed by the way President Tinubu, just within a few months into his tenure, awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the Marabar Kankara to Katsina road which links seven Local Government Areas of the state”.
“Therefore, we were very disappointed to hear that it was our governor himself plotted the stoppage of the contract, it is indeed very disappointing and shameful”.
Malam Aliyu Yantumaki from Danmusa Local Government Area, on his part, said a lot of bureaucracy and delay will come to play in the re-awarding processes and releasing of funds for the project
“It might take many years, or probably the project will never see the light of the day”. Yantumaki maintained.
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