Residents, business owners in Kano State are in for more profits, as the Federal Government commences another phase on the completion of roads in the state.
iBrandTV gathered that there is a total of 25 ongoing projects, six have already been completed while 19 are still at various levels of completion.
Some of the completed roads are: Doka-Gulu, Falali bridge, Gezawa-Gumel-Maigatari, repairs of Gadar Dori in Falgore forest, Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi and Tamawa-Gulu.
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Out of the 25 ongoing projects, 15 are for either state or local government while 10 belong to the federal government.
23 out of the 25 roads have been awarded in the last four years of this administration in Kano.
Cost of the Roads
A breakdown of the cost of construction shows that, Falali bridge along Takia-Falali Sumaila road, which is already completed, cost the Federal government N 39 million.
Also, Doka-Gulu contract was awarded to a construction company at the cost of N836.9m, although a total of N64 million was unaccounted for.
Tamawa-Gulu road in Kano state phase three, Maigar-Guru section was completed at a cost of N1.508, 952 billion.
The construction of dual carriageway from Kano to Dayi town in Katsina state was awarded at the cost of N62.7bn. The Kano-Gwarzo-Dayi road is a major link to Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, as well as parts of Niger Republic.
What this construction means to Kano Residents
iBrandTV investigation shows that, the state of these route before construction remains a great concern for residents, as the fear if bandits, robbers cannot be overemphasized.
Businesses suffers low turnout, as traders also places additional cost on commodities because of the state of the roads.
Also, female children finds it challenging to obtain secondary education, because to attend school located at this areas, they have to relocate from the community because of the lack of a secondary school in their area.
Due to the state of the only route linking the village with other parts of the local government area, students have to use bicycles or motorcycles.
This made it almost impossible for female children to access these schools without having to relocate from of their community.
However, with the current development, access to school, markets, other places will now be easier and safe.
Challenges, achievement, state comments
Yahaya Baba-Ali, the Federal Controller of Works in the State in an interview stated that, there are six major projects currently ongoing,.
“The ongoing projects are the dualisation of roads in Kano metropolis, the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway section III from Zaria to Kano of about 137km .
“It is a hybrid project and one of a kind in Nigeria where the road will be expanded from the existing two lane carriage way to three lane on both sides, including the service lane in township and buildup areas,”he said.
Baba-Ali further explained that one of the major challenges militating progress in some of the projects is the issue of payment for compensation for structures and land within the right-of-way.
“Now, based on the new policy the Federal Government henceforth will not pay compensation for roads in states.
“Another challenge facing the ministry is insufficient budgetry appropriation on specific projects. Meanwhile this is being addressed gradually through the intervention of SUKUK funding on some major contracts.
“Among the ongoing projects executed by SUKUK intervention is the Kano-Maiduguri, Kano-Kastina, among several others,” he added.
Sukuk are financial products whose terms and structures comply with sharia, with the intention of creating returns similar to those of conventional fixed-income instruments like bonds.