Overtime business people, farmers, residents and commuters have long been crying as the reconstruction of Jabbi Lamba-Malabu Farang-Konkol-Belel road linking Adamawa state with Republic of Cameroon is yet to commence.
New, videos and pictures of the terrible condition of the road are being circulated in social media indicating that the deteriorating condition of this road did not start today. It is been a long time coming since the year the road was constructed 40 years ago by Shehu Shagari administration. Unfortunately, the only 75km road had no repairs work that was undertaken on it even by FERMA that applies palliative measures only.
Unfortunately also, legislators who represented this area at the National Assembly did not even move a motion on the floor of any chamber of the national parliament nor put the road in the national budget.
The then member, House of Representatives, Fufore/Song constituency, Hon. Sadiq Ibrahim Dasin, moved the motion for reconstruction of the road on 17th November, 2015. As a result, the House Committee on Legislative Compliance forwarded it to the Ministry of Works and Housing for compliance and the road was captured in the 2018 budget.
Consequently, today, record confirms that feasibility studies, reconnaissance survey and inception report on the road have been carried out by the engineering design consultants appointed by the ministry. So, in 2018 when the road first got into the budget, it was recorded as “New”. But in 2019 when I was still in the House, the road appeared in the budget as “On-Going”. It also appeared as “On Going” both in the 2020 and 2021 budget.
It is also confirm that contract for the reconstruction of the road was awarded to China Yuan Skypond Ltd. on 10th June, 2020 at the cost of N26.829bn.
Hitherto, the contractor is however not yet on site, owing to paucity of funds making monies allocated in the budget for the road inadequate and releases insufficient. Meanwhile, people continue to suffer on the road as it further deteriorates, while time is going, just as inflation is galloping. The combined effect of these will mean that with cost overrun, the N26.829bn contract sum will eventually mean little for reconstruction of this road.
It is interesting to know that this road is today not only the death-trap but has never been maintained or rehabilitated on the last 40 years. By rebuilding this road, the federal government will be undertaking a giant leap in meeting the aspirations of thousands people living in towns, districts and villages along the road.
The road is not only the key in opening up that part of Adamawa state and links Mubi to Yola as an alternate road but more importantly, it links the state with the Republic of Cameroon at the shortest possible distance to Yola, the Adamawa state capital.
Now all eyes are on this new government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the hope of the commuters of the road, and villages, districts and towns along the road keep fading day by day. Will their tears of all this years be wiped out? will they witness a good and accessible road the same as their fathers witnessed in 1980s?
Yusuf Saidu Tara,
Department of Mass Communication,
University of Maiduguri, Borno state
[email protected]
