Riwaza: Life without a bridge

The journey to Riwaza, an isolated community in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was a tedious one. In fact, when I lost my way and asked for directions from a farmer at the neighbouring Fogbe community, he gave me a shock. “You can’t go further in this car because the bridge […]

The journey to Riwaza, an isolated community in Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, was a tedious one. In fact, when I lost my way and asked for directions from a farmer at the neighbouring Fogbe community, he gave me a shock. “You can’t go further in this car because the bridge which is the only link to Riwaza, can barely carry the weight of a motorcycle let alone a car,” revealed Ali Jafaru, the farmer.
Is there no other alternative route to Riwaza? Jafaru shook his head and said, “There is no other way for the people there , except through our land ,and they have to cross the wooden bridge at our borders.”
He went on to explain that Riwaza is surrounded by water and the only alternative way out of the land is Gurara, and to access the  outside  through Gurara, residents of Riwaza need mechanised boats to cross the expansive body of water that separates them .Since they do not have such boats, the only alternative route in or out still  remains Fogbe.”

Sensing that continuing the journey could only be done be at  great risk, I called at the residence of the community head of Fogbe, John Bako,who graciously conveyed me to Riwaza on a motorbike.
Indeed, the only bridge which serves as the umbilical cord connecting Fogbe and Riwaza is in a deplorable state. In most agrarian communities, rainfall is expected with immense joy, but this is not the case in Riwaza, which depends on rain for survival, but still dreads its advent.
Apart from several bridges needed in different parts of the community which is completely surrounded by water, there is  dire need for a bridge on the  deep river which separates the community from the rest of the FCT, at its border with Fogbe. Residents said their only link with the outside world is through Fogbe, but an expansive body of water makes it difficult for them to go out once the rain falls.
Through community efforts, a shaky wooden bridge was erected at Fogbe-Riwaza border atop the river, to enable the movement of people and goods to-and-from  the two communities. But this has not served  Riwaza residents, as the makeshift bridge is  always over-flooded whenever the rains came.
Investigations revealed that the rough and ready bridge is usually reconstructed every two to three years by residents of Riwaza and Fogbe, and there is a committee established  for the task, which is funded through levies.
As at the time I called at the community, residents said since the community came into existence, no vehicle had ever entered its domain, as there was no way vehicles could have accessed  the narrow wobbly bridge. The community can only be accessed by road on motorcycles and bicycles, and even at that, the dangers are enormous.

Residents revealed that they park their vehicles at Fogbe,  and then board motorcycles to Riwaza. But  motorcycles cannot access the community once it rains ,as the improvised bridge is always flooded. As a result, whenever it rains, residents leave their motorcycles at Fogbe and trek a long distance home in the floods, with the risk of being washed away.
The bad access road of the community whose residents largely depend on agriculture for eking out a living, calls for serious concern considering that tractors and other heavy farming machines cannot be brought into the community. As a result, farming has remained at the  subsistence level, with only  a few farmers indulging in commercial farming with its accompanying high cost of manual labour.
Meanwhile, residents said transporting their produce to markets outside the community has been a major problem to them, noting that the only way out of the community which could be heavily flooded for days, and any attempt to go out could be risky.
The son of the community head of Riwaza, Umoru Baturu narrated how calamity befell the community last year, when some residents decided to defy the massive flood around  the bridge, to carry their wares to Kwali market on their heads.

Baturu said some of them were washed into the river, and it took the intervention of some good swimmers to rescue them, but their wares were lost to the floods.
“A friend of mine lost over two thousand fish in that incident alone,” he said.
Moreover, Maimuna Ismaila, a housewife,  said that women of the community were the worst hit by the awful condition of the community. Ismaila said they go to Fogbe to grind maize, millet and guinea corn for food, but whenever the bridge is cut off due to flooding, feeding would become a problem.
Corroborating this point, Ismaila, the village head of Fogbe,  said, “To be sincere, these people are suffering. They don’t have grinding machines, and they have to come to Fogbe. During the rainy season, whenever it rains, they won’t be able to go back with their motorcycles. When it rains, they cannot leave their village. They become prisoners as they cannot get into the water.”
Bako further confirmed the tragedy that befell the community in which some residents nearly lost their lives in the river, adding that the incident prompted the reconstruction of the bridge this year to make it wider, since the previous one was narrower and made of ropes and sticks.

In the meantime, the situation in the community has affected education as the only primary school in the area is usually deserted during the rainy season. Investigations revealed that few teachers in the school live at Kwali and Gwagwalada towns ,which are some kilometres away ,and  the teachers  cannot access Riwaza on rainy days due to the terrain.
“Because of the bridge and the swampy topography of the area, teachers find it very hard to reach the school. To be honest, if it rains, they don’t go there. Even when they go to teach, once it starts raining, they are trapped in the village,” volunteered a resident, Usman Gata.
The plight of residents in accessing healthcare services may be an issue of the past very soon ,as a Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) is being constructed to meet the health needs of the people. Until the project is completed, residents will have to keep relying on the PHC in Fogbe, and whenever the bridge linking the two communities is submerged by flood, they have to fall back on unorthodox remedies.
In another development, there is  need for a bridge at Takuro community which lies at the boundaries of Fogbe and Riwaza.  While a bridge linking Riwaza and Takuro will be a welcome development, it may not serve the purpose for residents, as the only link to Kwali and Abuja as a whole is still through Fogbe, and a bridge has to be erected across a big river which divides Takuro and Fogbe.
For residents of Riwaza, a big concrete bridge will be a solution to many of their problems, and one  can imagine the mood of residents the day the first car will drive into their community.