Residents of Wudil town in Wudil Local Government Area of Kano state have called on the authorities concerned to come to their rescue by rehabilitating the Wudil- Gaya road T – Junction which has been a source of concern to the residents and motorists plying the road.
Chronicle’s reporter, who visited the area recently, observed that several potholes that scattered on the road, starting from the T-junction down to the main entrance of Kano University of Science and Technology Wudil, and beyond, are causing serious problem to many traders around the area, motorists and other road users.
The busy junction, our reporter observed, linked the Kano-Takai- Birnin Kudu road with the Wudil-Gaya-Azare road. While the Takai road is relatively in good shape, that of Gaya-Azare is awfully bad, thereby constituting danger to road users and residents including students of Kano Science and Technology University.
Further observation indicated that, apart from the potholes that dominated portion of the road, there was no provision of good drianages in the area that will allow smooth flow of water especially during rainy season, a factor that contributed immensely to the dilapidation of the road.
Another factor that also contributed to the present condition of the road is the attitude of the traders towards refuse disposal. Chronicle noted that traders in the area have developed attitude of dumping refuse at road side, thereby making water stagnant on the main road.
A trader at the junction, Alhaji Alhassan Utai, told our reporter that, it is disturbing to see long vehicles and Trucks that came all the way from Lagos on their way to Maiduguri, having their tyres punctured at the junction.
“You often see these heavily loaded vehicles having punctures in these potholes, it has always not been easy for them and sometimes for other road users, because they often cause traffic jam,” he said
He said the situation was at its worse during rainy season when the potholes are filled with rain water as a result of which motorists, especially strangers, often fall in and that causes severe damages to their vehicles.
He explained that it took the effort of a Good Samaritan simply identified as Sa’idu Dan Gwan-Gwan, who bought gravels to fill up the potholes.
“He supplied the gravels while we sponsored the labourers who rammed the stones into the potholes.”
“Alhaji Ado Sani Kiri, member representing Ringim/Taura federal constituency in Jigawa state, once stopped and made some enquiries concerning this road problem, but perhaps because he is not from Kano, his intervention may not be welcomed from our own politicians, maybe that is why he couldn’t do anything about it,” Utai said.
Another trader at the junction, Malam Yusuf Hussain, said the road was in a deplorable condition for about five years without witnessing any repair by either state or local government authorities.
He said in the past, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had begun construction of drainage along the road as an attempt to reconstruct or at least rehabilitate the road.
He further explained that after FERMA had constructed the drainage, then came the issue of 5-kilometer road construction project across the 44 LGAs of the state, embarked by the Kwankwaso-led administration.
“The 5km project was started as they brought some equipment and materials for the road construction, but unfortunately, the project was not completed up to the time this present administration took over, and that further worsen the situation as the drainage already constructed were destroyed,” he said.
He said the former commissioner of Works and Housing, Engr Aminu Aliyu Wudil, while he was the MD of KARMA had made an attempt to rehabilitate the road by patching up some of the potholes, but that too was not to last long as there were no drainage to collect the rain water.
