Wike Deploys CCECC To End Decades Of Neglect With 7km Road, Bridge

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike has commissioned a seven-kilometre access road and four-span bridge serving communities around the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja, ending what residents described as decades of abandonment that followed their surrender of land for the expansion of the airport’s second runway.

The road, built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) Nigeria Limited, runs from Bill Clinton Drive to the Tungan Madaki settlement. The Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) has already directed CCECC to extend the road to Zuba to deepen its economic and social impact.

Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who represented President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the commissioning, used the occasion to vouch personally for the contractor’s durability record, recalling that a road CCECC built during his tenure as governor of Akwa Ibom State more than 15 years ago remains pothole-free.

“One of the roads they did for me was commissioned about 15 years ago.

Till today there is no pothole. So when I came and I saw that they handled this road, I was very sure that particularly with the terrain in the FCT, we are looking at 35 years without a pothole.”

In a message read by Akpabio, President Tinubu acknowledged the long-standing paradox facing airport host communities — that they gave up land for national aviation development yet lived without basic road infrastructure for years.

“These patriotic communities gave up land for aeroplanes to fly, yet they had no motorable roads for their own feet and vehicles. They were cut off. No citizen should be made a victim of national development. We do not just take; we build, we replace and we elevate.”

The president described the road as an economic corridor that would strengthen security around the airport, ease traffic movement and stimulate commercial activity in surrounding communities, with the bridge guaranteeing uninterrupted access throughout the year.

Wike, who tied the commissioning to the third anniversary of the Tinubu administration, praised Tungan Madaki residents for their measured approach during the land acquisition process, saying they asked only for youth employment and road access rather than large cash compensation. He said the government had fulfilled both commitments.

CCECC executive director Zhao ZongHe credited Wike’s repeated site visits for driving the project to completion ahead of schedule. He said the road and bridge would help integrate Tungan Madaki and neighbouring communities more fully into the economic life of the capital.