Residents of Aco/AMAC estate airport road as wretched of the earth

The leadership of the Area AMAC- Abuja Municipal Area Council- is insensitive to the plight of the residents through non-provision of basic amenities, like water, street light, roads and transformers. In addition to this, the same AMAC granted licenses to trucks to parade the estate and scavenge for earthly resources, thus on daily basis more  […]

The leadership of the Area AMAC- Abuja Municipal Area Council- is insensitive to the plight of the residents through non-provision of basic amenities, like water, street light, roads and transformers.

In addition to this, the same AMAC granted licenses to trucks to parade the estate and scavenge for earthly resources, thus on daily basis more  than 400-500 tippers ply the estate in search of filling sand, thereby endangering the lives of the inhabitants. More often than not, motor cars and houses are at risk of being smashed by lorries, sometimes leading to loss of lives and injuries. In fact, there has been a fierce fight between the residents to ward off the trucks by constructing bars and lorry loaders who are bent on destroying the bars. The invitation to the police to stop the tippers from plying the estate yielded no results.

Not done yet, AMAC also allowed free grazing of cattle within the estate, such that day and night residents are confronted with the prospects of meeting herds of cows traversing the estate in search of pasture and water. Human beings now co-habit with animals in AMAC Estate in a federal capital!

Day and night robbers are marauding the residents such that they do not sleep with their two eyes closed and must also ensure someone stays at home while others are at work. The situation was compounded by the lack of electricity from power holding company. In a week hardly will residents of AMAC have electricity for up to 24 hours, yet they consider themselves living in Abuja, paying taxes and performing citizen duties without right to a decent living by their local government council.

The majority of them are civil servants, journalists, lawyers and many professionals who have harrowing experiences commuting and living in a an estate turned to  slum by Abuja Municipal government. Not one single street light can be sighted in the estate while residents make do with one transformer to several thousands who suffer consistent poor or no power supply at all.

If we go by Frantz Fanon’s description, residents of AMAC Estate on the airport road are the proper and fit people to be called wretched of the earth, Abuja being the Earth.

Ogede Kalamu, House 332, Aco Housing Estate, Airport Road, Abuja