Kogi floods: Abandoned bridge, the road not taken

Our joy knew no bounds when we learnt of the project that will drastically transform our lives and apart from making us feel the federal government presence will also bring out the potentials in our youths who will be exposed to the outside world and contribute their quota to national development. Now our dreams and […]

Our joy knew no bounds when we learnt of the project that will drastically transform our lives and apart from making us feel the federal government presence will also bring out the potentials in our youths who will be exposed to the outside world and contribute their quota to national development. Now our dreams and expectations are being dashed by politics we cannot understand.

 

These were the words of the people of Bagana community in Dekina Local Governments, Kogi State and their counterpart, from Guto in Nasarawa State while raising alarm over the abandonment of the Bagana-Guto ‘connecting bridge’ between the two communities and the states to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

Mallam Maman Zakariya, a community leader of Bagana said, “When the work started, we were all happy, but sometime in 2011, everything came to a halt. Do they want to tell us that this is how far the money from the Federal and state governments can go? It is bad if someone is using this project for politics. From Bagana to Abuja is very short and since this state (Kogi) has no airport, this bridge, when constructed, will be very important.

“The FG can either put pressure on the mother company or revoke the contract and change the contractor. We are tired of NAIRDA, Digital Tours and the whole arrangement. They did not come here by magic; they were offered the contract, and therefore, are the only party we can visibly hold responsible.”

The district head and Onu of Bagana community, Chief Ali Haruna, said that though the contract was awarded in 2007, work only began in 2008 and that since the beginning of the year, no work has been done on the 2 kilometre Oweta-Bagana-Guta Bridge located over the River Benue.

“In the beginning, they said the project was a PPP Project, and that the Federal Government will be responsible for 20 per cent, the state governments (Nasarawa and Kogi states) 20 per cent and the private company, Digital Tours Ltd will be responsible for 60 per cent. But from what the contractor told us, Digital Tours has failed to remit a kobo for this project, while the Federal and state governments have completed theirs. For this reason, work has not been done on this site since the beginning of this year.

“The bridge, when completed, will shorten the long journey from Abuja to Lokoja, and create a shorter connection from here to Guto, in Nasarawa State, which is just 1 hour 30 minutes from Abuja. But from the way things are going, I want the government to intervene in this thing, by either changing contractors, forcing the private company to pay up or just overhaul the contract totally,” the Onu said.

He added, “We fixed some piers and piles and were on course, but sometime in 2009, the money stopped coming and we could not continue and we don’t even know what is happening.”

He expressed reservations on the role of the elected politicians from the area who he said have not shown any commitment towards the timely completion of the abandoned bridge and appealed to the federal government to intervene.

On his part the traditional ruler of Guto, Chief Ahmed Kwanaki Guto, said the contract is a Public Private Partnership (PPP) project between the federal government, Kogi/Nassarawa State governments and a Chinese company, Digital Tours, in the ratio of 20:20:60 percent.

He said while the federal and the two state governments have paid their own counterpart funding, the people of the two affected communities are in the dark if the Chinese company has made any financial commitment to the project which led to the dearth of funds that culminated in the stoppage of work by the construction company, Nairda construction company.

“Digital Tours is a Chinese company, they came to me and said I should build them four bedroom flat for their workers which I did to make them comfortable but since then they have not come back here,” Guto retorted.

While saying that there is no other issue delaying the project beyond the money, he said former   governor of Nasarawa State, Alhaji Akwe Doma, told him he had paid N1bn to Digital Tours as originally agreed, adding, “I know he did not lie to me, because whenever I attended the state’s traditional council meetings, he would ask me, “How is work going?” I always come here by canoe every week to see the work, because my palace is across the river, about 30 minutes away. So, after my visit, whenever the governor asked how work was going, I would say “work is going on fine”.

He also said he had not talked to Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura over the project, saying the governor is settling down and that he would approach him soon.

Project supervisor of NAIRDA in charge of the project, Igor Bobotchik, said the three kilometre bridge and the 30 kilometre road, valued at N27 billion, were abandoned by the company when they ran out of funds about a year ago, but the company has stayed put at the site with the hope that the company that got the concession for the project will come up with funds to complete the project.

He said, “The contract was awarded in 2007. We signed up in 2008 and began the project. This bridge is a three kilometre bridge meant to connect Oweta to Bagana their Guto to Loko. This Bagana to Guto bridge when constructed over the River Benue, will connect Bagana to Guto and Guto to Abuja. The distance from Bagana to Abuja is only 90km; that is one hour, 30 minutes traffic free drive. From Bagana to Ankpa is the same distance and time. This route will also bring Kogi, Benue and Nasarawa states closer to Enugu, because for those going to the east, it cuts out the Makurdi and Lokoja option – the Lokoja road is known for its terrible traffic which makes the journey last gridlock five hours. Then, Abuja to Lokoja will only take one or two hours maximum.”

The communities were unanimous in their appeal to President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in what led to the abandonment of the project.