Almost six years after the federal government awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the project has still yet to be completed and portions of it have become nightmares for travellers.
The contract for the Abuja-Kaduna section of the project was awarded alongside the Kaduna-Zaria and Zaria-Kano sections on December 20, 2018, by the Muhammadu Buhari administration, and had an initial completion period of three years.
The reconstruction of the 375.9km dual carriageway from Abuja to Kano was first awarded at the cost of N155 billion. But the cost was reviewed in 2021 to N642.2 billion. Again, it was increased to N797.2 billion.
In January this year, the current Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, said the contractor, Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, had asked for a further upward review to N1.35 trillion, an amount the minister said the government could not afford.
The contractor handling the project had de-mobilised from the Abuja-Kaduna section of the road project severally, even as motorists continued to drive through difficulties.
The 'Trunk A' Abuja-Kaduna Highway links the southern part of the country with the North West and North East geopolitical zones, and serves as the major artery for the movement of people, food items and other goods.
The project, which was contracted, and is being funded through the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund, has seen little progress on the Abuja-Kaduna section, though the other two sections are nearing completion.
Daily Trust commissioned its reporters on Thursday last week to take a drive from Zuba, which is 58km from the Abuja city centre, through a stretch of over 150km to Gonin Gora, a settlement that is 14km away from Kaduna, and they reported about the state of the road.
They also sampled the views of drivers, passengers and residents of settlements along the way about the state of the road, as well as the delay in reconstructing it.
Our reporters said the road is now a mishmash of new-tarred portions, with some parts abandoned midway, as well as old sections replete with potholes.
Further findings by our reporters show that on a daily basis, commuters plying the twin-lane road frequently suffer from back pain, spinal issues, and posture-related problems due to the constant jolting and vibrations at various points, and that it is also replete with recurrent accidents, which result in loss of lives and property.
Over 100 potholes dot road
Our reporters recorded 78 minor potholes and 47 major ones within the slightly above 150km they journeyed on the Abuja-Kaduna section of the road during their drive on Thursday.
They said the cracks on many parts of the road impede normal movements as drivers have to accelerate with caution.
"For instance, seven potholes were counted from Zuba Park to the military checkpoint adjacent the Zuma Rock, while a further movement to Gauraka community exposed more potholes of different sizes.
"Motorists took turns to swerve around the holes, which recent rains have turned into ponds.
"A few meters out of the community and at Zuma barracks, motorists connect with the first reconstructed part of the highway, with its smoothness tempting many to increase their speed.
"The reconstructed part terminates a few kilometres to Diko junction in Niger State. This part is one of the most dreaded for truck drivers as the two U-turn points are severely bad due to huge craters on the road, which are filled with water.
"This is evident with two trucks that have broken down on the road. One had its content spilled on the ground while the other had its axle damaged", they said.
Moving down to Tafa town, in Tafa LGA of Niger State, our reporters found that the road also features potholes filled with water.
"But on the other part of the town which is in Kaduna State, another section of reconstructed road emerged which terminated a few kilometres to Maraban Isa.
"The community has a diversion which is overrun by a huge crater holding water.
"The diversion indicated that the construction company was previously working on part of the lane, thus forcing inbound and outbound vehicles to share one lane," they further found.
Our reporters said the situation is the same with the section that passes though Jere LGA of Kaduna State, as motorists drive carefully as they meander their way through the many 'craters' on the road.
Different sizes of potholes dot the road through Rijana, which has forced drivers to abandon the outbound lane, though it is not under construction.
"However, there is a sigh of relief after Rijana down to Olam Farm and Hatcheries," where our reporters stopped their journey, as the reconstruction
of the road has been completed.
Although neither staff of the construction company nor their equipment were seen throughout the journey, its outpost in Rijana, however, had some activities going on with trucks conveying some materials seen on the road. It was later gathered that the company was working on the Gonin-Gora section of the road, which is few kilometres away from Kaduna town.
Residents, motorists, others speak
At the diversion at Maraban Isa, Abdulhadi Saleh, one of those selling soft drinks to commuters and travellers said: "Since it is our business area, we usually use stones to fill the potholes to enable drivers to access the diversion point.
"Most of the time, we witness a lot of accidents and the trailers do crash when trying to turn and in avoiding the big potholes. Some cars also break down there causing massive gridlock," he said.
"Recently, the container on a truck fell on a car and two people lost their lives due to that incident.
"The place is very bad during rainfall. Some of the drivers don't even follow here. They avoid it by following the other side of the road which is also under reconstruction before it was blocked with concrete," Abdulhadi further said.
According to him, the company handling the project has not been on site for a while. "It has been over five months since we saw them last. They moved their construction vehicles back to their yard. The only thing they do for now is that their security officers come to put on the generator for the diversion light at night for people to be aware that it is a diversion," he further said.
While urging the government to urgently intervene "as the road is a busy one", he said if the road is properly fixed, accidents will be reduced there.
Also, Aliyu Abubakar, who was seen fixing the bad part of the road going through Jere, said he and his friends engaged in the act to save lives. "We are fixing it to reduce the rate at which these vehicles, especially trailers, have accidents.
"Some drivers do give us money for filling the potholes with stones. We usually go into the bush to get the stones, then we get a vehicle to bring it to the place where we fix the road to reduce the rate of accidents," he said.
When asked if he had the number of accidents that occurred on the road, he said: "I don't have the exact numbers, but containers, small vehicles and trailers do fall here a lot, and they end up causing traffic gridlocks."
'I need N2m to fix my accidented truck'
The trunk of Ibrahim Ladan's truck was seen lying on its side in the midst of the potholes at Diko Junction, thereby blocking other vehicles that needed to access the road to make a U-turn en route to Kaduna.
Ladan said the truck, which was conveying timber, was on its way to Kaduna when it overturned due to another accident that happened two days earlier.
"The accident led to the closure of part of the road while personnel of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were giving directives on where to follow, but on getting to the U-turn, my truck overturned with all the goods I came along with going down," he said.
"Thankfully, the goods are not fragile so we packed them; but my fuel spilled completely. I will require at least N2 million to fix the truck," he said.
Another driver, Abdullahi Yusuf, said his truck suddenly got stuck a few meters from that of Ladan after making the same U-turn, a development that affected the back axle of the truck.
"This Diko junction U-turn is really bad and it is affecting us. It causes problems for the drivers using this road. This is the second time it has spoilt the back axle of my truck.
"The road has turns and deep potholes that when your vehicle enters some of them, it can break or remove the spring."
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He appealed to the government to fix the road, saying: "Take a look at how that trailer fell while trying to take a U-turn because of the bad road. It is pathetic," he exclaimed.
There won't be delay anymore - Works minister
Speaking during a briefing with contractors in Abuja on Friday, July 12, 2024, a day after our reporters travelled on the road, Works minister, Umahi said the project will be completed in 12 months from now.
"There is no delay; we just fully procured the budget and we are going to work and looking at 12 months for (Julius) Berger and the rest of them. Some of them are going to finish before 12 months," he said. He said the Dangote Group was responsible for the first part of the road under the tax credit scheme and is working with Hitech Construction Company Limited.
He said the work to be done in the areas included concrete pavement, adding that the remaining portion to be constructed is 120km.
He also explained the abandonment of some sections, saying, "We directed them (the contractors) to face one carriageway; the 82km that is left under their scope. We can take the right-hand side of the carriageway, let them face it and conclude and maintain the left-hand side. This is so that we will get proper funding," he said.
The minister had, while on an inspection of the road in January this year, tied the delayed completion of the road to paucity of funds.
The completion timeline for the project has been shifted several times.
On Friday, July 7, 2023, the permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Works had during a tour of the road assured of its completion in the first quarter of this year. He attributed the delayed completion to "insecurity and funding challenges".
The immediate past Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola, had said that the project would be done in phases with the first phase being the 74km Kaduna-Zaria section, which is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2022.
Fashola said the second phase, which is the 137km Zaria-Kano section, will be completed in the first quarter of 2023; while the last phase, the Abuja-Kaduna section, should be completed in the second quarter of 2023.
