EDITORIAL
For almost six months the people of Illa and Turunku in Igabi LGA, Kaduna State, have not been having it easy. In that time, the bridge that connects the two-lane road here to Zaria was washed away by flood. It was a massive gap left behind, covering a distance of approximately two hundred metres across the river.
It is obvious from the water course that this is a river that could rapidly rise at the height of the raining season, and water could cause damage to everything its path, including farmlands that are up to five hundred metres one either side of the water course. When one looked at the structure of what was left of this bridge on either side, it became clear that it was not the kind of bridge that could withstand the volume of water that travelled across this path. As such, this is a project that requires huge attention and funding when it is attended to.
But there are reasons attending to it is so urgent. Along this axis are large farming communities. They take their produce to either Zaria or Kaduna and even farther places. But now road users on the Zaria side cannot cross to the other side when the watercourse is full. They have mostly been taken other routes, much longer, in order to avoid the inconveniences caused by the collapsed bridge. As for those who still use the road, when they get to the river and drive across the water course during this dry season, their vehicles get stuck in the sand, adding to their problems. These challenges have contributed to higher cost of transportation as commercial drivers now charge more. The complication is that Igabi is known for some crops peculiar to it and which people from far places come to purchase. For instance, Ila and Turunku areas grow yam in some quantity. Vehicles owned by private schools could be seen coming to these areas to purchase this item, obviously for use for their boarding students.
Other commercial vehicles load farm produce for middlemen and take such to urban centres in many part of the north. These activities help the faming communities in these areas to survive economically. As ENM learnt, this route is safe from criminals or bandits in a way the Zaria-Kaduna expressway is not. As such commercial vehicle drivers from to other states in the north who know this route still continue to take it at great inconvenience to their passengers especially when they get to the collapsed bridge. This is even more so as the route is considered considerably shorter to Kaduna than the Zaria-Kaduna expressway.
With the ongoing work on the expressway and the traffic jam it has engendered, the Zaria-Ila-Turunku road would have proved even more useful as traffic would have been reduced on the Zaria-Kaduna expressway. But this has not been the case because the collapsed bridge has become an impediment.
The foregoing are the reasons the Zaria-Illa-Turunku route needs urgent attention, and this is where the intervention of the Kaduna State government is needed. People in this area inform ENM that they understand the intricacies involved in getting the government to intervene in this kind of situation. They said the bridge collapsed in the middle of the raining season, at a time the 2021 annual budget had been passed and so the government would have to make provision in the next annual budget. The people said they are sure the government has taken note of their plight and when it has funds it will reconstruct the collapsed bridge. They exuded so much confidence and trust in the government of the day to help them.
At ENM, we think that this show of understanding on the part of the people of Igabi LGA should be reciprocated by the Kaduna State Government. The people have been patient, believing that in Malam Nasir El-Rufai they have a governor who would not delay a day to attend to their plights, all things being equal. This is the trust and confidence that at ENM we want to see rewarded by Gov. El-Rufai.
Therefore, we hope the government has made provision for this reconstruction of the bridge in the 2022 budget and that it will come to the aid of the people as soon as the budget is passed by the lawmakers. We call on the Kaduna State Government to assure the people of the area regarding this in order to encourage the people to exercise just a little more patience. We urge Gov. El-Rufai to note the Illa-Turunku-Kaduna road as one of his government’s priority project in the new year, and we want him to put his officials on the alert regarding the matter. Such an intervention by the government will go a long way in boosting economic activity in this corridor, as well as help ensure that the current state of lack of banditry in these communities is maintained.
