FG to Complete Reconstruction of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road Before 2023

FG to Complete Reconstruction of Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Road Before 2023

By Emmanuel Addeh

The federal government has said that a lot of progress is being made on the ongoing reconstruction work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project, assuring that it would be completed before 2023, during the life of the current administration.

Director, Highways Construction and Rehabilitation in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr. Funso Adebiyi, stated this during a visit to the project site to assess the level of work.

He said the ministry was satisfied with the quality of work going on the road and was working to increase the pace of the work, which has a dual carriage 375km-long road from Abuja through Kaduna to Kano.

Adebiyi, explained that the work was initially for rehabilitation, but is now undergoing full reconstruction work and appealed to Nigerians to be patient with the government in its commitment to deliver a qualitative work that would stand the test of time.

Similarly, he appealed to the road users to bear the discomfort being experienced everyday as a result of blockages and diversions, pointing out that it was a necessary action in a construction work of such magnitude.

Adebiyi said: “We have made a lot of progress. You can see that over 100km, though not at a stretch, have been completed under section one to three (Abuja-Kano), 40km completed under section two (Kaduna-Zaria), and 70km completed under section three (Zaria-Kano).”

He pointed out that while some sections of the road are also at different levels of completion, palliative/remedial work are being carried out on the sections that are critically bad to facilitate ease of passage for motorists.

“It is important that I correct the wrong impression by the people that work is not moving. We are working to meet up with the deadline and at the same time subjecting all the work to quality assurance test to deliver a good job.

“Government is desirous of completing this project and as such is not leaving anything to chance, that is why we are here regularly tracking the progress of work with a view to sorting out any identified challenges,” he stated.

The director added that the leadership of the ministry had demonstrated strong commitment to the project and others across the country in order to ensure the fulfillment of President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise of bridging infrastructure gap in the country.

The team said its members were on a routine assessment inspection of the various ongoing road projects across the country in order to ensure quality work delivery and meeting the completion deadline. It also carried out engineering measurement and evaluation of some key components in road construction including storm water drainages, shoulders, right of way, concrete slabs, U-turns and culverts reinforcement pipes.

The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road reconstruction project was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc on 20th December, 2017, and the project commenced on 21st May, 2018, with a 36-month completion period.

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