Kaduna’s western bypass straddles across various communities in Kaduna metropolis. It is a federal road that was acceded to the Kaduna State government in 2016 before it was in 2019 recommended for the Federal Inland Revenue Service Tax Credit scheme. For many years, its decaying state has been a source of worry for residents as they describe how potholes that dot the road have made it a death trap for motorists and residents alike.
It is typical to find motorists cautiously meandering through deep potholes and eroding tarred parts of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway, otherwise referred to as the western bypass with screeching noise emanating from cars when contact is made with the surface. Amidst the swerving of vehicles along the road, residents express worry as lives continue to get lost and vehicles damaged.
The western bypass was constructed to enable travellers avoid the heart of Kaduna city which is why heavy-duty trucks have always found it convenient. But with increasing population and extension of communities along the bypass, normal day-to-day activities of residents have caught up with the bypass, making it one of Kaduna’s busiest and dangerous roads.
At the Kabala section of the road, Jamilu Sani, a resident of Kabala West, noted that the road has been in decay for years leading to the death of loved ones. He said the depth of the pothole has damaged so many vehicles, adding that as drivers attempt to avoid the potholes, vehicles, especially heavy-duty trucks often fall on their sides leading to long traffic jams.
“A motorcyclist once fell on the road but before he could get-up, a car rolled over him and he was crushed on the spot. There are lots of stories of accidents that have claimed lives due to the deplorable state of the road and the annoying aspect is that government officials know how bad it is but nothing has been done to fix it,” he said.
Sani stated that residents had in the past pulled resources together to patch the road in order to abate the recurring accidents but in the long run, the potholes reappear because the works done could not withstand the weight of articulated vehicles.
A food vendor at the Kurmin Mashi axis of the road, Hadiza Bello, said the road’s dilapidation not only causes traffic but extends the travel time for travellers as cars are forced to slow down to avoid the potholes. She said it becomes dangerous for tricycle operators to move freely on the road as they are often forced into ditches by heavy trucks.
“I have witnessed accidents due to overtaking and these accidents occur due to vehicles trying to evade the potholes. Pregnant women prefer walking to using a car to traverse the road due to how tortuous it has become,” she said.
Though the state government had late last year commenced maintenance work to patch existing potholes and layer new asphalt on the deteriorating parts of the road, one of the workers on the road told Daily Trust Saturday that the maintenance was for the Kawo bound areas that were critically in bad shape.
He said the work was routine to ensure the road is motorable, adding that “the part we fixed had been causing accidents for a while, that is why the maintenance involved removing the tarred layer of some part of the road and using new asphalt.”
Isa Mohammed, who sells cement by the road, said even with the maintenance work, more needs to be done as accidents still occur often and vehicles are damaged daily. Mohammed said a few years ago, he learnt that business mogul Aliko Dangote was to reconstruct the road but expressed disappointed that nothing has been done since then.
“This road is an old road and continues to deteriorate every year. The annual maintenance work is not the solution, the road needs a complete overhaul with gutters. We are grateful for the maintenance work but we appeal to government to reconstruct the road,” he said.
On his part, Malam Abdulkadir, who sells Irish potato and tomatoes, said: “We heard of the deal with Dangote to reconstruct the road but we have not seen anything yet and we hope something will be done soon.”
In 2019, the Kaduna State Government said three roads in the state will be reconstructed by Dangote Group under the Federal Inland Revenue Service Tax Credit scheme. The roads are the Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway, Birnin Gwari-Funtua road and the Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai had stated in November 2019 that: “We are aware and waiting for the rain to end to begin a complete reconstruction of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway into a dual lane reinforced concrete road that will last much longer than asphalt. We wish to acknowledge that under the FIRS Tax Credit, Aliko Dangote is also rebuilding Federal Roads in our state and converting them to reinforced concrete highways – Birnin Gwari-Funtua road, 100km of Kaduna-Birnin Gwari road.”
Daily Trust Saturday reports that the Road Infrastructure and Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit scheme is backed by Presidential Executive Order 007 of 2019. It is a Public-Private partnership intervention that enables the Federal Government to leverage on private sector funding for the construction or refurbishment of eligible road infrastructure projects in the country.
The scheme is to be in force for a period of 10 years and participants in the scheme are entitled to utilise the project cost incurred in the construction or refurbishment of eligible roads as a credit against companies’ income tax payable.
However, this is yet to commence as available information show that the paperwork between Dangote group and government was yet to be finalised. During a town hall meeting of stakeholders on the status of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Highway in November 2020, Senator representing Kaduna Central, Uba Sani, urged the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, to give effect to the agreement it entered into with the Dangote Group under the tax credit refurbishment scheme for the rehabilitation of the road.
Residents who continue to bear the brunt of the project delay say the recent patchwork done to the road last year has not done enough to stop occasional flooding during rainfall due to lack of adequate drainages.
Abubakar Abati, a mechanic at Badiko, said: “The major problem we face is flooding. The drainage along the road is too small to accommodate the flow of water that passes through it during rainfall. When it rains, a complete section of the Badiko lane gets flooded and homes are submerged.”
“In the motor garage I work, there was a time we spent over N60, 000 to repair cars that were submerged due to flood and last year, the water reached my waist. I think government needs to do something urgent before this year’s rainy season commences,” he said.
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