Residents of Dutse-Alhaji, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), are decrying lack of basic amenities in the town. ABDULLAHI MUHAMMAD T, who visited the town, writes on their plight
Dutse-Alhaji is a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). It located in Bwari Area Council. It is bordered on the left by Kubwa, and separated by the highway that leads to Bwari town.
On the eastern right, it is bordered by Dawaki. On the north, it is bordered by Gwarimpa and the popular Usman Dam which powers the city centre with potable water.
In the town, Gbagyi, Koro and Gwandara people are the original inhabitants.
However, as the population of Abuja swells, consequently causing a meteoric rise on the cost of accommodation in the city centre, a number of those that cannot foot the exorbitant cost choose Dutse-Alhaji as an option because the cost is relatively low there. For instance, a flat of two bedrooms costs only N300,000. If it were in the city centre, it could be N1 million or thereabout.
In the backdrop of this, the town is no longer only peopled with Gbayi, Koro and Gwandara, but Nigerians from all walks of life. Despite the fact that it is always bustling with life, its problem is that, in spite of its proximity to the city centre and a horde of officials of Bwari Area Council that live in it, it is grossly underdeveloped in terms of infrastructure. In fact, a resident, who pleaded for anonymity, told our correspondent that it is “a place out of the map of government.”
Worse of all, when our correspondent went round the town at the weekend, he saw no government hospital. He was later told that the residents go to private “pseudo-hospitals” that dot the town for medical care.
Apart from the fact that there is no standard healthcare centre in Dutse-Alhaji, it is not having pipe borne water, good roads, good waste management system and stable power supply, hence the mood of the town is always polluted by the noise of the generator sets that the residents use in getting electricity.
Speaking to our correspondent on the conditions in which the residents have been mired because of these problems, Mrs. Amadi, an akara (bean cake) vendor, lamented in Pidgin English thus: “Dutse na one of the worst areas for Abuja. If people for other places for Nigeria ask us where we live, we go shout Abuja! Them go think say na we dey enjoy dividends of democracy, but all na wash! We no dey see light. We dey buy ‘mairuwa’ N200 for 12 gallons, our roads no good, you no feet waka talk more of to drive. Erosion don worsen them finish, we no get drainage sef, in short we just dey suffer, but when time reach to vote them go remember Dutse-Alhaji, and come bribe us with N1000 or packet of salt or sugar”.
For Mr. Samson Samson, a teacher, the poor sanitation habit of the residents as well as government’s apparent resolution to leave them to their fates is the topmost thing of worry in Dutse-Alhaji.
Mr. Samson said if the government was a caring one it would have enforced sanitation laws in the town, because its “dirtiness” is hazardous to the health of the residents.
According to him, “Dutse-Alhaji residents have poor sanitation habits which may lead to intermittent outbreaks of diseases like cholera and diarrhea. No gutters in the town and people dump their refuses anywhere. Again, there are no trees to serve as wind breakers which make the place prone to natural disasters. The houses here are not spaced because the enforcement agencies are nonchalant to enforcing the laws. Dutse-Alhaji is a perfect picture of a slum.”
Speaking on the bad roads, Malam Isyaku, a staff of FCDA, said in rainy seasons, those with vehicles in the town face a lot of difficulties. He said sometimes he parks his car far away from his house and trek, because the road that leads to his house is a “tragedy”.
According to him, the town does not have drainages that will transport water to the proper channel hence the roads are mostly “severed”.
He, however, pleaded with the government to come to their aid before they get displaced by flood, or get attacked by a deadly disease because of lack of sanitation.
He said relevant authorities should come to the town and order the residents to start heeding to environmental laws, and relevant basic amenities that are lacking should also be provided, so that the standard of living of the residents would be improved.
