By Awaal Gata
Abuja, being the nation’s capital, one would expect every part of it to be garnished with modern infrastructure. But, save for the city centre, that is far from reality. The satellite towns do not have infrastructure. The backwardness in the rural areas like Chikuku, Machedna and Goyipe, one wouldn’t know that they are part of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The most pathetic among them is Goyipe. Goyipe is located in Bwari Area Council and sharing boundaries with Sabon Bwari in Niger state.
The isolated community leaves many people wondering if leaders are there to cater for the well-being of the people or themselves.
The only access road to the community is only wide and good enough for motorbike or bicycle. This is a clear indication that a four-wheeled vehicle cannot go to the community.
Speaking about the situation, the head of the community, Usman Baba, said the community could not be accessed through the tiny route that leads from Bwari in the rainy season.
According to him, a journey that ought to take less than 20 minutes takes almost an hour, because motorbike riders boycott FCT and accessed the village through Sabon Bwari in Niger state.
The village head also lamented how their pregnant women go through so much hardship during pregnancy and delivery.
He said: “Whenever anyone takes ill, we have to either use bicycles or motorbikes to convey them to Sabon Bwari. In some instances, the patients die before they get to the clinic. Our pregnant women find it hard to access clinics because cars can’t come to our village. Sometimes, there are birth complications because we convey our women to the clinic, using motorbikes or bicycles. Our women trek to Niger State to buy and sell their farm produce.”
A nursing mother, Amina Galadima, recalled her ordeal to our correspondent during her pregnancy. According to her, “I almost had miscarriage when I was pregnant because of the difficulty in or impossibility of getting medical attention in the clinic in Sabon Bwari. I remember how my husband took me on his bicycle in the night I gave birth. We were met half way by a motorbike that was conveying a passenger to the community.
However, the most pathetic problem in the community is the fact the people don’t have access to medical care, hence go for traditional means whenever they are ill. This, probably, is the cause of the diseases that member of the community said has been ravaging the community over the years. In their understanding, the diseases are strange and inflicted on them by bad spirits.
“Measles and diarrhea are the commonest we have here. They also suffer from chicken pox and other skin diseases. The current administration in Bwari Area Council promised to give us water. But the borehole they dug can’t produce water.
“There is a festival we hold every year to scare off strange sicknesses like measles, chicken pox, diarrhea and other diseases. Children of this community usually suffer from measles. For four days, we sacrifice goats at our shrine to guard and guide us against such ailments,” the village head said.
Another glaring basic need lacking in the community is school. Children from the community trek to a neighbouring village to attend a primary school. The few that are willing to further their education take the dangerous bush path to Niger state everyday to attend a secondary school.
“Our children trek to Zhiko, a neighbouring village to attend a primary school. We don’t have any secondary school around at all. They go to Niger State for secondary school education. All these things I am telling you now, we have complained about them to the chairman of Bwari Area Council several times in the past. Even the small village of about eight kilometre from here, but located in Niger State has electricity. But they have promised us electricity in the past,” Aliyu Madaki, another community member lamented.
“What we need now is help from the government; we need school, hospital, road and watet; and the government should help us,” the community head pleaded.
