Two weeks after thousands of youth protested the deplorable state of roads in Minna, Bida and Kontagora, various communities in Zungeru, Wushishi Local Government Area of Niger State on Thursday thronged the Zungeru-Kontagora Expressway calling for the rehabilitation and construction of roads in the communities hosting the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam.
The protest however led to the cancellation of visit to the Zungeru Hydro Power Dam by the Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, who, according to feelers, shelved the visit for fear of being booed by the protesters.
The over 2,000 protesters led by the State Youth Leader, Comrade Bello B. Shariff, blocked the Zungeru-Kontagora Road as early as 10am demanding for the rehabilitation and construction of roads in all parts of the state, especially the roads leading to Zungeru.
The State Government, led by the Deputy Governor, Ahmed Mohammed Ketso, arrived Zungeru without the Minister.
Speaking during the protest, Shariff said: “We appreciate the commitment of His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari (GCFR), towards the completion of the Zungeru Dam project inherited from his predecessor having considered its economic and social violability to the state, Nigeria and Africa as a whole.”
He further stated that the communities are aware that the financing facility for the construction of the Zungeru Dam is to cover for the rebuilding and as well converting them to reinforced concrete highways for these major routes: Bida-Lemu-Wushishi-Zungeru and Zungeru-Tegina-Kontagora Road, to withstand the conveying of heavy equipment’s to the dam site.
Accordingly, he said: “Our communities and source of livelihood have been exposed to untold hardship due to the decaying roads by the serious traffic of heavy trucks conveying equipments to dam site resulting to daily loss of lives, loss of man hours because of hold up, affecting business and economic activities and difficulty in conveying agricultural outputs to markets by the predominantly farmers in the communities.”
While presenting a protest letter to Buhari through Ketso, Shariff said: “As host communities, we wish to humbly request your good office to kindly intervene as a matter of urgency in ensuring that the Syno Hydro Company begins the rebuilding/rehabilitation of their major routes as they did from Zungeru to Dam site to reduce our suffering due to construction activities.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Governor assured the communities of government’s unflinching resolve to get Federal Government’s attention and to fix all roads, especially the ones linking Zungeru Hydro Power Dam.
While assuring that he would deliver the letter to President Buhari, Ketso added: “Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has tried severally and is currently in Abuja meeting with the Federal Government talking to those who are supposed to fix these roads.”
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