‘I’ve spent 20 years fixing potholes pro bono’

Daily Trust Saturday encountered a man who has been filling potholes pro bono on Abuja roads and some parts of Nasarawa State,…

Daily Trust Saturday encountered a man who has been filling potholes pro bono on Abuja roads and some parts of Nasarawa State, particularly along the Karu/Jikwoyi axis of the FCT. He told our reporter that he has been doing this since General Sani Abacha’s regime.

 

Daniel Davou Dachung, 58, popularly known as ‘Road Man’ is a family man with a wife and six children, who resides at Jikwoyi in Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).

According to him, he was inspired to delve into the work due to the deteriorating state of the roads. “The road was too bad, and many vehicles that ply this road to enter the FCT find it difficult. And again, I don’t have work to do.

“So, I said let me do the work in order to help them; maybe through this work I can get something to eat or somebody may have mercy on me and give me a job,” he added.

• General hospitals: Patients grumble over dilapidated structures, manpower shortage
• Sweden: Northern Christian pastors condemn Quran burning, call for calm

However, to Road Man’s chagrin, after over 20 years in his community service pro bono neither of his dreams came to reality. “Since then, nobody has come to my help.

“Notwithstanding, some Good Samaritans give me tokens of N50, N100, N500 and even N1,000; which I use to send my children to school. They finished secondary school but couldn’t go further and they are jobless.”

Mr Dachung lamented that the government is not reciprocating what he renders to the public free will. Ideally, it is the responsibility of the government to repair and fill the potholes, “They can’t help and I’m helping them. Ask anybody that plies this road to Mararaba, they will tell you about me. Even in the city, if there are potholes on the road; I can go and fill them. But the government has no eyes and mercy to think of me.”

He added that his reward is in heaven and it’s only God that is helping him.

Road Man said he always starts work as early as 5am until 7pm. “You can ask anybody; they’d tell you much about me. I close around 7pm when it’s dark.’’

Asked what constituents he uses to fill the potholes, Mr. Dachung said he usually goes to the city where the road repairs are being done; he would then pick up the condemned slices of the asphalt and carry them on his old Toyota Carina II vehicle to his working site.

“Then I would come here and cut them according to the size of the pothole. So, I can use it to patch the bad side of the road.

“I got the vehicle from Pantaker (those that sell scrap materials) who had mercy on me. For three years now, I am still paying them back in piecemeal. They don’t worry about me paying them back within a short time. I use the token I get from the Good Samaritans to fuel the vehicle. They showed empathy in the way I do my work, pushing the wheelbarrow,” he explained.

Mr Dachung said it’s his wife that caters for his family out of the small trading of tomatoes and vegetables he provided her with the startup some years back. He said he raised the fund from the gratifications he receives from motorists.

On what aid he looks forward to from the government, Road Man appealed for his children to be given employment, adding, “I am not the one to tell the government what they can do for me for all these years I spent working on this road. My children have on several occasions attempted to join military and paramilitary services to no avail, not because they’re not qualified but because they don’t have somebody to help.”

According to him, another motivating factor that spurs him to continue doing the work is how the motorists express their happiness towards the work.

“Motorists and passers-by are very happy with me. And if people are happy with you, you’ll feel motivated to come out tomorrow. But if they’re not happy, I won’t have reason to be doing it again.

“Sometimes, even big shots in the security services stop over and greet me. I pray that God will touch their hearts to do something for my children.”

He also appealed to the government to come to his aid by providing a befitting vehicle for him, “If they want the work to continue. You can see that I am getting old and the vehicle I am using is not strong enough. It cannot carry most things that I want. If they can do that, I will be very happy and appreciate it,” he added.