Tree species By ALIYU SABIU –
The Katsina State governor conducted a local government tour which he concluded on Saturday, 6th December. During the tour, he saw every indication that people are angry with the cancellation of contract for the construction of the road from Funtua to Marabar Kankara and Marabar Kankara to Katsina.
In all the local government areas that are traversed by the road — which is 200 km long — people raised placards demanding the continuation of the project and the re -engagement of the contractor that started the project. It is a road that passes through nine local government areas, making it in the longest road in Katsina State.
In six of the local government areas where the people will benefit more directly from the road construction, many residents came out with placards showing them to the governor’s convoy as it passed. In some of the local government areas security agencies pleaded with the concerned residents to exercise restraint to avoid causing unrest during the rallies by the governor.
This very important road has a key historical significance as it served as a trade route linking the southern and eastern parts of the state. It also connects many agrarian, livestock and commercial villages towns and cities even in the old Katsina province.
A section of the road connects Katsina with Kano and Jigawa up to the north east states while another section connects Katsina with Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States. Similarly, another section of the road connects Katsina with Kaduna up to Lagos which is another important trade route. This, the road is very strategic in Katsina and northern Nigeria.
It is in acknowledgment of the importance of the road that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Minister of Works included it in the first budget of the administration in order to complete and commission it in this first term of the administration.
On getting a hint of the importance of this road to the current Federal Government, a construction company, Messr Vipan Global Investment Limited, sought the contract for the construction of the road. Subsequently, the Federal Ministry of Works asked the company to apply with sufficient evidence to prove its competence to handle the project in terms of machines, financial buoyancy and technical expertise.
After receiving applications from Vipan Ltd. and several other construction firms, the ministry having gone through the contracts tender process, found Vipan construction firm as the most competent to handle the project. This was why in his presentation to the Federal Executive Council meeting headed by the President, the Minister of Works presented Vipan as the company that will handle the project for the construction of this important road.
On the 24th of March 2024, FEC approved 28 road projects across the country including the Funtua to Marabar Kankara and Marabar Kankara to Katsina road which was the 23rd in the list of approved memos from the FEC meeting.
Subsequently, Vipan construction firm approached the Federal Ministry of Works to be granted permission to commence the project following the approval by the Federal Executive Council. Despite not being paid mobilization to commence the project, Vipan assured in the ministry that it will commence the project up to 50% while it awaits the payment of mobilization.
The Federal Ministry of Works approved this application by the construction firm and conveyed the approval of the federal highways department granting permission to Vipan to commence the project. Following the approval, Vipan moved to site and started the work in earnest hoping to complete the project within the 24 months’ deadline based on the contract terms.
As the project commenced, the Emirs of Katsina and Daura commended the federal government for awarding contract for the construction of the very important road. Road users and other residents also came out en masse to celebrate the commencement of the project. Meanwhile Vipan outlined its plan to commence the project from three points. The first phase of the construction would start from Katsina, the second will start from Funtua while the third phase we will start from Kankara. The firm also made a promise before the Emir of Katsina that while the project has a 24 month tenure, it will be completed within just 18 months.
However, on the 18th of July, 2024, a letter came from the Federal Ministry of works abruptly directing the construction firm to halt the project, on the basis that the Federal Government had not earmarked funds for the project.
Then came another announcement by Alhaji Ibrahim Masari, Special Assistant to the President on Political Matters, that they influenced the cancellation of the contract because the contracting firm is owned by a member of an opposition party from Funtua zone. In other words, the contract was not cancelled because the contractor was found wanting in terms of competence but because of political differences.
Not surprisingly, this announcement only made the people angry, with some describing the move as an act of ignorance and lack of political enlightenment. In politically enlightened climes, members of the opposition are given contracts to win their support to the ruling party. Therefore cancelling an important contract because the contractor is a member of the opposition is more a show of enemity rather than healthy politics.
Investigation reveals that all the 27 other contracts awarded on 24th March, 2024, have been completed except the project in Katsina which was sabotaged.
Of recent, many concerned individuals have come out in various media outlets to voice their concern over the condition of the road and the cancellation of the contract for its construction but there has been no response from the state or federal government, or from the elected federal lawmakers from the state. What is most unfortunate is how Katsina has been relegated as a state without any major highway that connects it with other parts of the country.
The same is the story with the Kano-Katsina rooad which has been under construction for years but has been moving at a snail’s pace. It is also said that another contractor is handling the road from Kafur to Malumfashi but obviously no progress has been made on the project.
Now the road from Marabar Kankara to Kankara has been halted midway after it was scraped. Residents, farmers and road users are now very angry and it should be noted the area that has been a stronghold of NEPU where the people are known to vote based on principle and guard their votes until it is counted and announced.
Their demand is only one — for government to re-award the contract to Vipan construction company which has promised to complete the project even without payment of mobilization. The people have every reason to fear because of the lesson from Kano-Katsina road construction which has been halted because of lack of funds, for more than ten years, while the road from Kafur is also moving at the pace of an overloaded donkey.
At present, the Federal Ministry of Works faces a dilemma because if it does not handle the situation properly it could become a court case which could further delay the project by another fifty years, as many other road projects have turned to legal battles that have lingered for years.
Available information show that Vipan prepared a budget for the road based on patriotism and not profit. This is important particularly now that another firm wants the contract to be awarded to it with the soul aim of making an exorbitant profit from the project.
It is clear that if the Federal Government does not re-award in the project to the company that has already invested huge amounts of money in the early stages of the project to continue from where it stopped, then the failure to construct the road will certainly affect the chances of APC in 2027.
Sabiu is staff of matasa media links Katsina. Can be reached via 08057777719
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