NUJ urges completion of River Gurara bridge

Chairman of the NUJ, Comrade Chuks Ehirim, who was moved by the sight of children being transported through canoes to their schools across the river from Agyana- Pandagi communities, said the bridge, when constructed, would go a long way to ease the stress of the indigent school children and also promote economic values in the community.
Ehirim who led journalists from the council to Abaji on a media assessment tour of projects executed by the area councils, said the FCTA and federal government should take seriously the appeals to construct the bridge across the river because of its political and economic significance to the FCT.
He said: “If there is a bridge here, it would give impetus for economic activities, as well as enhance the economic wellbeing of the local farmers here. If the government can take this project seriously, it will equally link this place up to Niger State as well as remove some stress from the Gwagwalada-Abaji-Lokoja road, because people would prefer to travel through here to other parts of the country.
“There is no way you can expect the area council to foot this bill of N1.4bn for the construction of this bridge. So, we are appealing to the federal government to complement what the area council has done in constructing the 15-kilometre road by urgently taking over the construction of this bridge because it will help the residents living in the rural area and it would also provide safety for children who cross the river with canoes to school.”
Earlier, the council’s head of works department, Alhaji Abdulaziz Uthman, said they had made series of appeals to the FCT Administration to help them with the construction of the bridge because the council could not fund the construction, adding they had always received promises that had amounted to nothing.
He added: “We are still appealing for their assistance. The road should have continued to the other side, but it had to end here because of the river, since there is no bridge. We have valued the bridge, it would cost nothing less than N1.5bn.