Respite Looms for Kaduna’s ‘Government Rejected Area’

John Shiklam writes that respite is in the offing for residents of
Sabon Tasha Government Reserved Area, Kaduna, which is now derogatorily referred to as ‘Government Rejected Area’, due to lack of motorable access roads and other basic facilities befitting a GRA , since it was founded over three decades ago

Government Reserved Areas (GRAs) are very common in Nigerian cities. They are often an exclusive residential areas for the rich and the powerful. Unlike other residential places, the GRAs often enjoy better facilities like good access roads, drainages, water, electricity and security.

However, Tsabon Tasha GRA (also known as Tsaunin Kura), Kaduna, is more of a glorified village than a GRA. Founded in 1978, it is derogatorily referred to as “Government Rejected Area” by neighbouring communities in Sabon Tasha because of the lack of government presence in terms of motorable roads and basic infrastructure, deserving of a Government Reserved Areas.

Even the authorities of Chikun Local Government, where the GRA is located, has never constructed even a culvert in the community. The road network within the GRA are worse than those of some remote villages.

Ironically, the area boasts of very influential and wealthy individuals, ranging from politicians, retired judges, former and serving lawmakers, former commissioners and other political office holders who served in various administrations both at the state and federal levels, retired and serving civil servants, retired and serving military and police officers, top legal practitioners, politicians, businessmen and women among others.

Nightmare of Bad Roads
The raining season is always a nightmare to residents as the roads become unmotorable. Cars break down on the roads or get stuck whenever it rains. Many commercial motorcyclists and operators of tricycles have stopped plying the area as a result of the bad roads while those who dare it, charge very high fares, often falling down with their passengers.

For instance the few motorcyclists who operate around the Ostrich Bakery Junction who used to charge N50 to N100 to the GRA, now charge between N150 to N200 and above depending on the street and the condition of the road.

The bike operators at our Lady of Fatima Junction also charge high fares as a result of the bad roads.
The worst is when there is an emergency, before, you manoeuver your way out of the bad roads, to the hospital, the person would have given up the ghost.

Most importantly, the police and other security agencies find it difficult to respond to emergency security situations due to lack of motorable access roads in the GRA.

The situation of some of the roads, especially, from the Ostrich Bakery Junction through to ECWA Blue Roof, down to Senator Azeez street and other adjourn areas is compounded by trucks carrying cements and sands to construction sites and block industries around the area. These trucks often get stuck on the road and by the time they are removed, no vehicle can pass on the road again.

Residents also said relations and friends no longer visit them because of the terrible roads. There are also challenges of waste disposal as there are no provisions for waste disposal. Some residents pay between N1000 to N1,500 monthly for refuge collectors while others dump their refuge in uncompleted buildings, thereby exposing residents to health hazards.

Furthermore, some of the residents are to blame for not constructing drainages at their premises. THISDAY findings revealed that some people spent millions of naira to build their houses but could not construct drainages which could help in preserving some of the road which have become deep ponds.

Some of the residents who spoke in an interview lamented the situation, saying that it is frustrating going through such difficulties everyday.
One of the residents, James Swam said in an interview that the area is unfortunate having been neglected since it was established over three decades ago.

“This is one of the seven GRAs in Kaduna. Sadly while other GRAs have some basic amenities, especially good road networks, ours has not been lucky. Everything here, from electricity to roads were provided through communal efforts. Everybody also has his borehole because there is no provision of water.

“But the greatest challenge we face is that we have no single tarred good road in the GRA. We visit mechanic workshops on a daily basis because of the bad road. When people see you in town, they think you are just coming from one remote villages because of the mud on your car. We also suffer during the dry season because of the terrible dust” Swam said.

Another resident of the area, a civil servant who preferred to be anonymous, said his car once got stuck on the road and people helped him to remove it. He said the car was badly damaged as one of the shock absorbers was broken, adding that since then he stopped driving out with his car, especially when it rains.

Also narrating her experience, Mrs Roseline Joseph, said she and her two children fell down on the mud when the bike they were riding on, from Ostrich Bakery Junction slipped off.

“We fell into the mud with my two kids when the bike carrying us slipped off. Luckily, nobody was injured, but right from that day, I stopped riding on a bike when it rains. Instead of taking a bike, I remove my shoes and trek. “Even the trekking is dangerous, you have to be very careful, otherwise you slip off and fall down. So it has been a very terrible experience for those of living in the GRA,” she said.

Respite
President of the GRA Community, Dr. Silas Adamu, while lamenting the plight of the residents, however, said this would soon be over as Governor Nasir El-Rufai has promised to intervene.

According to him, the community had written to the governor and he acted very promptly. He added that the El-Rufai administration will make history as the only administration that brought development to the GRA since it was founded over three decades ago.

It was learnt that the late Governor Patrick Yakowa had promised to intervene when his car got stuck in one of the streets were he went to pay condolence visit. After the embarrassing incident, Yakowa ordered for the grading of the road and promised to construct access roads in the GRA. Unfortunately he died in a helicopter crash in Bayelsa state in December 2012 and couldn’t fulfil his promised.

“We wrote a letter to Governor Nasir El-Rufai and he treated our letter with dispatch. He minuted it to commissioner for works and the commissioner minuted it to the Kaduna State Road Agency (KADRA),” Adamu told THISDAY in a telephone interview.

According to him, KADRA came to the GRA weeks ago and went round to surveyed and evaluated the roads in the GRA.

“We are very hopeful the El-Rufai will wipe out tears. He is a man of action so we hope and pray that very soon they condition of roads in the GRA would be a thing of the past,” Adamu said.

He stated further that the community also wrote a letter to the state government to help secure porous areas within the GRA, “and in less than a week we got a response. We were contacted by the military commander who told us that they had instructions to cover the GRA in their security watch”.

Self-help
Adamu said residents had been very relentless in addressing the problems through communal efforts, adding that some individuals single handedly sponsored a number of projects in the GRA, adding that the road project is an expensive venture and the community alone cannot do it all alone.

Narrating some of the efforts made by the residents, Adamu said “We made efforts to constantly work on drainages which was single handedly funded by some individuals. We have also been collaborating as a community to errect fences in some strategic places to ensure security. We are installing solar street light in some streets.

“Our focus is to do what we can do on our own as a community even as we are appealing to government to come and help us. We should be able to showcase what we have been able to do as a community.”

He disclosed that a resident of the GRA donated a transformer to address the problem of electricity, adding that about N1 million is required to buy the accessories for installing the transformer. He said already, residents had started contributing money towards that.

Kaduna’s Urban Renewal Project
For now, the community is anxiously looking up to Governor El-Rufai for help. Luckily the governor has embarked on massive road construction under his Urban Renewal Project. Many road projects are currently going on, some have been completed.

The Urban Renewal aimed at transforming Kaduna through boosting of infrastructure. The project has 14 components which include road construction/ expansion, mass transit, housing, improved land use and street lights. Others include parks and recreational centres, markets and neighborhood centres as well as waste management.