We are passing through hell, Mararaba residents tell Al-Makura

It was agony and tears in December 2013, when the people of Mararaba, Nasarawa State helplessly watched their houses and shops succumb to the bulldozers of Governor Tanko Al-Makura.

Almakura

Some people, as a result of the exercise became homeless, making the joy of Christmas to taste grapes in their mouths. Some lost their jobs because the shops where they earned their means of livelihood were demolished, leaving them at the mercy of benevolent in the neighbourhood.

The exercise, carried out by the Nasarawa State Urban Development Board (NUDB), according to the government, was to give space for the construction of a road from the Aso Road, Mararaba Market Junction, down to Carvary Road and Kabayi Junction, popularly known as Sharp Corner.

The project, no doubt, generated mixed feelings among the populace, as some, in spite of the agony caused by the demolition, still lent credence to the project, owing to the sorry state of the road.

However, many people saw the project as the beginning of another long suffering, saying Al-Makura just wanted to create an impression that he was working, a campaign strategy to get peoples’ votes for another four years.

Talk of the devil, the project did not start until the rainy season of the following year (2014), thus  making lives miserable for the local dwellers.

Some people lost their lives, while many became incapacitated due to the construction  that was kicked off without providing alternative routes for people to ply.

Narrating their ordeal, a trader in Kabiyi-Aso Road in Mararaba, who simply identified himself as Kennedy, and was one of the traders whose shops were demolished, said the Mararaba- Aso Road has become a big problem for residents.

“I don’t know how to express it. Only God knows what I will say because of what I am passing through as a result of the rehabilitation of this road. My business is crippled. My shop is virtually empty. You can see empty hangers, no more clothes.

“I sell one and eat the profit, I eat the capital because I don’t sell again. All our customers have run away from this area. It is dry now- then dust. If it rains now, it is puddle and water. So, we are passing through hell here.”

“There is no compensation so far. In fact, they destroyed; when they wanted to do the road, they narrowed it than how it was. Two vehicles can  hardly pass this road now. We rebuilt our structures, they didn’t pay one kobo.”

On the level of work on the road sofar, Kennedy explained: “The last time construction workers came, they only did the sewage, and the water is not even flowing. We have complained but no response. All they do is to collect revenue.”

The people, therefore, called on Almmakura to help them complete the road.

“We are begging the governor  to just do the road for us. This road has rendered us useless business-wise. We can start building things up gradually. Let them give us the access road,” they appealed.

Aside terrible road network, a section of traders in Mararaba, under the umbrella of the United Traders’ Association Kabayi, berated multiple taxation imposed on them by the state and local government authorities in Nasarawa.

They alleged that they paid not less than four different taxes annually to the authorities.

The taxes paid according to the traders include registration of business premises, liquor licenses, environmental fee, and personal income tax, which they described as exorbitant.

They disclosed that some traders paid up to N100,000 annually per shop, lamenting that in spite of the dwindling business activities, the revenue boards from the state and local governments still billed them without considering their plight.