On the Mararaba-Nyanya-Abuja road traffic bottleneck

This situation worsens by the day as more vehicles and persons come into or leave Abuja via this road. By 2007, when I moved into Abuja and resided then in Karu Site Extension, it took a maximum of about thirty minutes to reach AYA junction in Asokoro; but that is surely not be the case […]

This situation worsens by the day as more vehicles and persons come into or leave Abuja via this road. By 2007, when I moved into Abuja and resided then in Karu Site Extension, it took a maximum of about thirty minutes to reach AYA junction in Asokoro; but that is surely not be the case today. The number of man-hours lost and the distress it causes in a hot environment like Abuja should only be imagined than experienced. To make matters worse, private green buses (Araba) and motorcycles (Okada) have been banned from Abuja, thus crowding everyone in at Nyanya.
To arrest the situation, the FRSC is now stationed at the Karu junction along the road so as to ensure organized vehicular movement at all times. Yet no solution!
One key solution would be to further expand this road into a six-lane expressway on either side up to Keffi in Nasarawa State. Another thing to do is to quickly construct a link road of near the same lane-size from Mararaba to Mpape and another one from Karshi to Apo. A final one can also be constructed to link AYA and either Orozo or Kurudu. With the construction of these link roads and further expansion of the main expressway, the traffic would flow better and it will give Abuja a further face-lift just like the AYA to Kubwa road.
The key purpose of governance is to reduce the sufferings of the people through having more common/public goods. I am pretty sure that these vital link roads if constructed would further beautify the FCT and enhance the flow of traffic from and to Abuja and reduce the sufferings of Nigerians who ply this road daily.

Okachikwu Dibia, Abuja, <[email protected]>;