Behold, Zaria streets named after British cities!

If not for the deplorable condition of the environment that surrounds Zaria’s Manchester and Liverpool streets, it would have been a wonderful similarity and comparison to those of England’s popular areas. Unlike the English Manchester and Liverpool cities where virtually everything, especially social amenities are up to international standard, Zaria’s remain an eye-sore. While Zaria’s […]

If not for the deplorable condition of the environment that surrounds Zaria’s Manchester and Liverpool streets, it would have been a wonderful similarity and comparison to those of England’s popular areas. Unlike the English Manchester and Liverpool cities where virtually everything, especially social amenities are up to international standard, Zaria’s remain an eye-sore. While Zaria’s Manchester Street is almost unmotorable, another significant feature of the street is the palpable presence of beer parlours.

Manchester Street in Zaria has a road similar to rural types, with uncountable potholes. The eastern-end of the road is linked to the famous Zaria bus-stop, PZ, while at the western end, it terminates at the Kubanni River. A rail line that links Zaria with the Southern part of Nigeria runs parallel to Zaria’s Manchester Road at the northern axis. It also plays host to Hallmark International School, British American Tobacco’s warehouse and hosts homes of a veritable who’s who of Zaria elite. During rainy season, residents of Manchester Street have to sometimes leave their cars at motor parks as the road becomes inaccessible.

On the other hand, Liverpool Street, which is adjacent to Manchester, is linked at the east by the PZ bus-stop while at the west it terminates at the middle of Manchester Street. However, unlike Manchester Street, owners of beer parlours were not given space, or perhaps did not apply for one. Unlike Manchester Street, part of the Liverpool’s is tarred while the remaining part still wears the look of a rural road, even if relatively better than that of Manchester’s.

Apart from learning institutions, banks and other business locations, another major feature of Liverpool Street is the presence of politicians’ houses. Adjacent to the street by the South is Alhaji Sani Sha’aban’s, gubernatorial candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the 2011 elections in Kaduna State while towards the tail-end of the road is Alhaji Abdu Kwari’s house, a House of Reps candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2011 elections.

The famous Therbow School, Zaria, Nursery Section, is the first attraction of the street by the PZ end of the road while the Zaria Branch of the Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) is adjacent to the street by the north.

Both Manchester and Liverpool streets are located in the Zaria’s Government Reservation Area (GRA). Not many people know the reason why the streets are bearing their names. Some are of the opinion that the streets have a lot of fans of Manchester and Liverpool football clubs of England while some believe that the residents of the two areas admire England’s Manchester and Liverpool cities, hence they named the streets so.

All the above opinions are however on the wrong side, according to Ciroman Shantalin Zazzau, Alhaji Abubakar Ladan. He said most of the roads in GRA, Zaria were named by colonial masters.

“You know the Northern Colonial Governor, Lord Lugard, has a house in GRA, Zaria. Therefore, as at that time most residents of GRA, Zaria were Britons. Because of that they named the streets after some English cities, prominent English and Nigerian personalities as well as other attraction around the GRA area. This is why we have Queen Elizabeth Road in the GRA apart from Manchester and Liverpool,” Ladan said.

The dream of the residents of Zaria’s English streets is that one day the streets would metamorphose to the standard of their namesakes in England. “One day,” the residents interviewed by Weekly Trust prayed, “We will have constant electricity, potable water, streetlights, tarred roads and others.” While that dream lingers, Manchester and Liverpool streets of Zaria remain eye-sores, their popularity lofty mostly among beer parlour patrons.