Residents of Byazhin Across, Kubwa a suburb in the Bwari Area Council of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja who have long clamored government’s intervention to fix their deplorable road have been rescued from their misery by “Able women.”
The group which is made up of 10 women has taken it upon themselves to fix the road which has long been abandoned in an unmotorable manner causing untold hardship on motorists.
In an exclusive interview with African News Today, the group said their action was inspired by the desire to uplift their community in the face of utter neglect by successive governments in the Bwari Area Council of FCT.
The leader of the group who simply identified herself as Mrs. Shita said, “The road has been causing mishap and avoidable accidents to motorists, pregnancies have been lost and our children have been injured at different times. Efforts by our husbands to fix the road have yielded no fruit thereby prompting us to take it upon ourselves to bring the much-needed change.”
Commenting on how they generated money to embark on the project, Mrs Shita said they began collection of money from road users sometime in 2019 after which they started filing of potholes with pebbles but actual laying of concrete started two months ago.
“We collect money in the region of N20, N50 and N100 daily from motorists plying the road,” she replied.
Speaking on the importance of the road, Shita said the road connects Kubwa to Bwari and leads to Minna, Niger State as well. Presently, the women are constructing the road from the St. Barnabas Anglican church to Byzhin police station. They said work will continue towards Byazhin across when the first phase is completed.
In a separate reaction, Kadiyat Yunusa Princess, the group’s engineer who has lived in the area for more than 12 years said, “I am the one constructing the road. After the funds have been raised, I am saddled with recruiting labour force to execute the construction while I monitor them to ensure proper work is done.
“We’re setting example for other communities to fix their road without depending on government. We are equally pledging our services to government to execute any project that the government deems fit. We have the capacity to construct road beyond our locality.”
“We haven’t faced any resistance from any quarters. We have enjoyed the support and goodwill of all residents and motorists alike. They have all urged us to continue the work.” She concluded.
The Able Women group acknowledged the effort of spirited individuals and churches who have contributed generously to the success of the road project and urged the government to intervene to ensure the completion of the road.