By: Monday Danladi, Bauchi
The Federal Government has reassured Nigerians using all Federal roads across the country that it is concerned with their safety while commuting from one place to the other.
It therefore assured that all highways and other major roads will be fixed and made safer before the peak of the coming raining season.
The FG has consistently, through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA), kick-started the maintenance and repairs of 32-kilometre roads in Bauchi state ahead of the rainy season.
The assertion was made by Engr Nanpan Joroh, the Federal Road Maintenance Engineer of FERMA, Bauchi Field Office, while interacting with newsmen on Wednesday to give update of the condition of the Federal roads in the State.
Nanpan Joroh stated that, “The Federal Government is more concerned about the safety of lives of Nigerians plying the roads on a daily basis and more especially, during festive periods, this, was the reason behind the maintenance of the major roads.”
The Engineer further explained that the projects were under the 2024 budget, adding that even though the contractors delayed reporting to site, the works were almost completed.
According to him, “Presently, we have three contractors working on our various sites in Bauchi state. The main one is the Bauchi-Jos road and the contractor is almost 100 per cent completion of the projects.”
He stressed that, “The project is covering 20 kilometres towards the Plateau state border, and when you go there now, you will see that it’s potholes-free and we did a lot of overlays along the road.”
Nanpan Joroh added that, “Secondly, we have another ongoing project along Bauchi-Gombe road and that one is covering about 5 kilometers along Alkaleri town where the contractor did some patchings and long stretches.”
“They are doing everything possible to make the road very motorable for road users because that road is in a very bad shape,” he added.
“They are making the area to be potholes free so people can use the location properly and without any hitch. This particular road is 50 per cent completion,” said the Engineer.
Similarly, he explained that a contractor is currently working on the Kari-Yana road around Jigawa State border, saying that the project involved patchings of potholes.
According to him, “There is also a location of washouts where the road is almost cutting off there and they are trying to reset the place so that during the rainy season, the road will not cut off.”
Nanpan Joroh stressed that, “The contractor is there now trying to do retaining walls, backfill and then do concrete protection to make the road stable so that it will not cut off during the rainy season.”
He lauded the pace at which the contractors were working on the roads and expressed optimism that the projects would be completed within the next one month.
He however, appealed to the management of FERMA to consider some of the proposals sent on various washout locations that occured during last year’s rainy season so as to tackle them before the 2025 rainy season in the state.