By Abdullahi Idris Zuru
The unimaginable hardship the people of Zuru emirate are subjected to resulting from the deplorable condition of the 87 killmetres Koko-Zuru federal road, will soon be over as Comrade Governor Nasir has taken over the abandoned road and flagged off it’s reconstruction.
The road being referred to as a death trap,
links Zuru, Danko/Wasagu, Fakai, and Sakaba local governments with Birnin Kebbi, the state capital..
The area is blessed with arable and fertile land for the cultivation of a variety of high-quality farm produce, particularly maize, guineacorn,beans, soya beans, sesame seeds and cassava.
With committed and dedicated farming families, Zuru emirate became the food basket of Kebbi and among the leading producers of both food and cash crops in the country.
With the gradual deterioration of the road, the totality of the Zuru emirate has been cut off from the other parts of Kebbi State. To worsen the situation, a similar federal road that crosses the emirate from Rijau in Niger State through Zuru to Zaima in Zamfara state are also in the same terrible condition.
The unfortunate situation made the towns and villages of Zuru emirate inaccessible, thereby subjecting the people to psychological torture, economically strangulated and socially demomoralised as they have been denied social and business interactions with the outside world.
However, sometimes, in the year 2020, the federal government realised the need to salvage the situation and awarded the contract for the reconstruction of the road at a cost of N20 billion.
Unfortunately, not long after the commencement of the project execution, the road was abandoned for about five years, the situation that forced motorists to completely deserted it, thereby causing unaffordable cost of transportation and food items and by extension, the destruction of the socio-economic lives of the people.
However, the emergence of Comrade Governor Nasir Idris as the democratically elected Governor of Kebbi state in 2023, after a rigorous electioneering campaign with a pledge to ensure the reconstruction of the road, the people became hopeful, having noticed in him, symphatatic outlook and political will of fulfilling campaign promises.
Conscious of his campaign pledges and unbearable hardship the people have been subjected to over the years occasion by the terrible condition of the road, Comrade Governor Nasir Idris vowed to save the lives and economic fortunes of the people by all means and at all cost.
It is on record that on the assumption of office, Comrade Governor Nasir Idris has made relentless but unsuccessful efforts through the federal government to make the contractor return to the site.
When such efforts failed, he requested and made several follow-ups for the revocation of the contract and be allowed to execute it and also failed.
Determined to bring an end to the years of suffering of the innocent people of Zuru emirate, the governor requested to lead selected elders of the emirate to the Presidency and requests for intervention, the response was negative.
The failure of the Govenor’s several efforts were suspected to have been caused by political intrigues and questionable attitudes of some interest groups within and outside the state.
As the intervention of God manifested apparently through fervent prayers, Resulting from obvious fervent prayers, Comrade Governor Nasir, with God’s granted wisdom and courage, took the bull by the horn and successfully maneuvered his way into the Presidential Villa and met Mr President with pictures and visuals of the deplorable condition of Koko-Zuru federal road.
To the glory of God, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not only directed for the revocation of the contract but also approved the takenover of the project by the Kebbi State government with an agreement of reimbursement after the execution of project in accordance with the Federal Government’s standard.
With the Presidential approval and completion of documentation for the transfer of the project to the State government, Comrade Governor Nasir kaura engaged the service of an engineering consultancy firm to carry out holistic assessment of the 87 killmetres road based on acceptable standard and its cost implications in view of the fact that the funds to be used will be reimbursement by the federal government.
To ensure the execution of high-quality road projects that will stand the test of time, Comrade Kauran Gwandu awarded the contract to three companies at the total cost of N64 billion naira, the decision that will make it competitive in quality and completion period within the stipulated eighteen months.
However, some individuals, groups of unpatriotic persons, and disgruntled politician who can best be described as enemies of progress that derives pleasure in the continuous suffering of the people, criticised the governor’s sympathetic gesture under the guises of unsubstantiated allegations of high cost of the project.
If there are no ulterior motives behind the unpatriotic actions, a critical analysis of the N20 billion naira cost in the year 2020 and it’s economic downturn in the country that necessitated review to N64 billion in 2025, the allegations remains baseless which exposed the inhuman disposition and insensitivity of the armchair critics.
Interestingly, the mamount crowd of people from the villages in the emirate that showed up to welcome Comrade Kauran Gwandu for the flag off of the construction of the road project was unprecedented.
The people’s expression of extreme happiness and demonstration of their total support and loyalty to the Comrade Governor, was captured in an appreciation message to the governor, signed by the political leader of Zuru emirate and Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Muhammad Usman Ankwe.
He started in the letter ” the people of Zuru emirate will remain indebted to you now and in future for being there for them at the time they need government attention most “.
In a significant development, Kebbi Development Forum (KDF), a Non-Govermental and non-partisan organisation has unexpectedly praised and congratulated Comrade Kauran Gwandu. ” forum proudly congratulates and celebrates the Kebbi State government on the flag-off of the reconstruction of the 87 kilometres Koko- Mahuta-Dabai road under the visionary leadership of His Excellency, Dr Nasir Idris (Kauran Gwandu)”.
In the congratulatory message signed by the Chairman of the Forum’s public Affairs committee, Abubakar Bello Abdullahi, the forum advised Comrade Governor Idris “to continue his visionary leadership by ensuring that all parts of the state benefit from impactful developmental programmes in line with his party’s campaign promises”.
The declaration of total support for Comrade Governor Nasir Idris’s developmental programmes has finally disabused the minds of those people with the wrong perception of the relationship between the forum and Comrade Governor Nasir Idris.
It has also clearly expressed an unambiguous sympathy for the people of Zuru emirate.
Abdullahi Idris Zuru,
Special Adviser on Communication and Strategy to Kebbi State Governor.
Abdullahi Zuru is the Special Adviser to Governor Nasir Idris On Communications and Strategy
