Anyone travelling to Abuja from Nasarawa state must pass through Mararaba, a sprawling settlement in Karu local government area of the state before reaching the Federal Capital Territory.
Perhaps because of its proximity to the FCT and in view of the fact that houses in this settlement are relatively cheaper, most people work in Abuja but reside in Mararaba.
Wikipedia describes Mararaba as a town in Nasarawa state which is also “a district of Karu local government area, and is among the towns that make up the Karu urban area, a conurbation of towns stretching to the FCT. Its neighbouring towns are Ado, Nyanya, New Nyanya, Masaka, New Karu and Kurunduma.
Most of these are villages that grew, as a result of the rapid growth and expansion of administrative and economic activities of Abuja into neighbouring towns, coupled with the evacuation of tens of thousands of people from Abuja by the FCT) administration.
Mararaba is believed to be one of the most densely populated suburbs around the Nigerian capital city Abuja and this contributes to its reputation as having one of the busiest road channels with traffic jams stretching as much as 11 kilometres from the popular A.Y.A junction during rush hours. Mararaba also has various markets.
“Look most of these places where there are buildings now were our parents’ farmlands. We sold some to those occupying it now while the government forcefully hijacked some” Hosea Shekowoza, a retired primary school teacher who is well known as chief by residents of one-man village, another sprawling settlement close to Mararaba, where he resides, said.
However, with the announcement of Abuja as the nation’s seat of power and the eventual relocation of government offices from Lagos to Abuja, the fortunes or misfortunes of Mararaba took a dramatic turn and the rural settlement gradually assumed the status of a satellite area with features of the good, the bad and the ugly.
Shortly after the then Military President Muhammadu Buhari moved the seat of government to Abuja, the city began to witness influx of Nigerians from different states who trooped in on a daily basis as they still do, in search of the proverbial greener pasture.
Eventually, the push for accommodation made Mararaba the darling of those who couldn’t afford the expensive houses at the city centre hence the town witnessed rapid population explosion that ultimately overstretched its infrastructures.
The rapid population explosion with a modest improvement in its infrastructures gradually turned Mararaba into an urban settlement, and is arguably believed to be one of the most densely populated suburbs around the Nigerian capital city. With its dense population comes the peculiar challenges of a typical Nigerian city-crimes, dirt and traffic congestion among others among other things that have continued to be the defining features of this extensive settlement.
Unending traffic gridlock
One thing that clearly marked Mararaba out for both its residents and a first-time user of the Mararaba-Abuja road, depending on what time one gets to the road, is the traffic congestion. As a matter of fact, this has made life brutish for most workers and other road users who commute the Mararaba-Nyanya-AYA road on a daily basis.
It is believed that the Mararaba axis is home to one of the busiest road networks in and around Abuja city with a traffic gridlock that, in most cases, begins from the famous Orange Market and stretches to as close as the AYA inside Abuja metropolis, a distance covering almost 9 kilometers.
As should be expected, virtually every regular user of the road has one sad tale or the other to tell regarding the delay occasioned by the traffic congestion which occurs every day of the week including weekends and hence is a regular occurrence. For Mararaba, traffic congestion is indisputably the norm.
Christian Yunana is a civil servant with one of the federal government parastatals. He lives with his family in Ruga Julie, one of the settlements in Mararaba for the past 8-years after he was transferred to FCT from Plateau state. Narrating his experience on the road, he noted that “the number of hours and the distress caused by the traffic jam in a hot environment like Abuja should only be imagined and not experienced. Those of us who have the misfortune of using the road every day are passing through a lot.
“Going to work and coming back every day is my greatest nightmare, not because I detest work but because it reminds me of the fact that I will surely spend unusually long hours on the traffic which has not shown any sign of easing anytime soon”.
Yunana noted that the traffic build-up often starts in the early hours of morning when most workers are rushing to go to work and “the same scenario often plays out in the evening when we are getting back home from work. And this has been on a daily basis for as long as I can remember” he noted.
Speaking in a not so dissimilar manner, one Luka Pomak who works in Lugbe area of Abuja but lives at Abacha Road of Mararaba likened the stress of using the road to ‘a punishment that one cannot wish for even his worst enemy’ and insisted that “every day Nigerians who use the road go through a lot of stress from or to Abuja as they are often held at the gridlock for hours”.
The history of the gridlock on the road is as old as the history of the expansion of Mararaba as a settlement. Residents and other road users who frequently ply the road have been consistent on calling on both the federal and Nasarawa state governments to urgently address the gridlock which has forced many to lose productive man hours on transit.
Disturbed by the menace and the fact that it has consistently made residents spend considerable man-hour on transit, a cross section of the residents has repeatedly appealed to the Nasarawa state government to provide an alternative route for commuters passing through the settlement to Abuja.
“We shall not relent on our calls and more appropriately, appeal to both the federal government and the Nasarawa state government to address this gridlock by expanding the road and importantly, create an alternative route from Panda village” Sanni Yerima, a youth leader who said he has spent nearly two decades of his life in Mararaba, enthused.
Early this year, the federal government assured Nigerians especially road users that it is committed to ease congestion on Nyanya- Mararaba road before the end of 2023 because it was aware of the challenges faced by those residing in Nyanya, Mararba, Masaka and Kuchikau among other settlements, who out of necessity, ply the Mararaba-Nyanya road on a daily basis.
Speaking on behalf of the federal government during an inspection visit to an erosion control site in Nyanya, a border settlement between Nasarawa and Abuja, the then Permanent Secretary ecological fund office, Shehu Ibrahim, told residents that more roads would be opened up and noted that the ongoing construction of Wasa-Gude road would link Abuja to Kuje and Karshi and hence will ease congestion because those coming from that axis will have an alternative road.
Addressing the some residents and road users, the permanent secretary said “government is very much aware of the challenges persons who ply this road face, on a daily basis. Let me assure you all that something drastic will be done to ensure an end this”.
While the road users continue to lament, there are concerns that the gridlock is exacerbated by the attitude of some traders who brazenly display their goods by the road side precisely by the shoulders of the road. There is also the concern over the attitude of some commercial vehicle drivers who either drop or pick passengers on the road side thereby contributing to the gridlock.
“Traders often display their wares on the shoulders of the road where vehicles, motorcycle and tricycle are supposed to stop and drop or pick passengers and since the shoulder of the road has been occupied by these illegal traders, commercial vehicles have no option than to use what available space there is to drop or pick passengers” Labaran Sarkindaji, a commercial driver said.
Fundamentally, these acts by both the traders and the commercial drivers, contributes immensely to worsening the traffic situation on the road and one wonders why relevant authorities have failed to rein-in those perpetrating this act which has continued to cause untold hardship to other road users.
It is a common sight to see traders display their wares on the shoulder of the road just as it is increasingly becoming a norm for the commercial vehicle drivers to drop and pick passengers anywhere they elect along the road, and further exacerbate the traffic congestion.
A cross section of road users who spoke on the pitiable situation faulted the Nasarawa state government for failing to take a decisive action against both the traders and commercial drivers whose acts have either led to the gridlock or at best, continually compounds the enormity of the situation.
But what is the Nasarawa state government doing? What should it have done?
In fairness to the Nasarawa state government, as part of measures to curtail the excesses of both the traders and the commercial drivers whose acts have continued to worsen the traffic situation, constructed an ultra-modern market and motor park, facing each other, in Mararaba.
It must be noted that the Nasarawa State government did well by constructing the Sani Abacha Bus Terminus -a motor park that is equipped with modern facilities with fuel stations and adequate space to cater for over 600 vehicles. There is also the Muhammadu Buhari International Market which reportedly houses over three thousand stalls, as a means of providing an avenue for traders to market their goods. With this park and the market now operational, one expects that there would be an end to commercial drivers randomly picking passengers by the road side.
However, this has not deterred these drivers and traders as they still engage in acts that compound the traffic congestion on the road.
While residents and other road users wait with bated breath, a cross section of opinion leaders who bared their minds on the situation harped on the need for government to take proactive measures even if it means confiscating the wares of the traders who have remained obstinate by ignoring call on them to desist from blocking the road with their wares.
A traditional title holder who prefers anonymity said there is a compelling need for the Nasarawa State government, National Union of Road Transport Workers and other security agencies to work together to stop this road side business as the Abacha Bus Terminus is spacious enough to accommodate about 600 vehicles at a time.
“Another way of solving the Mararaba, Karu and Masaka gridlock is for the federal government to dualize the Abaji- Toto- Nasarawa- Keff[ road for travellers coming from Lokoja axis going to northern states to divert from Abaji and link up at Keffi to continue their journey without passing through Abuja.
“There is no contesting the fact that the gridlock in Mararaba is worrisome. There is no explanation to offer a traveler who has spent almost the whole day travelling from long distance places like Yobe or Gombe states only to end up spending 2-3 hours from Masaka to Abuja. Indeed, the stress can better be imagined” he added.
Waste management an issue
Besides the rising concern over traffic gridlock, there is also the worry over management of waste in Mararaba. The settlement is characterized by indiscriminate waste disposal consequent upon which heaps of refuse are a common sight in most areas.
Aside from constituting health hazards as it could potentially lead to outbreak of diseases, the indiscriminate waste disposal and dumping of refuse on water ways have constituted eyesores and contributed to the menace of erosion.
To address this, the Nasarawa State through the Nasarawa State Waste Management Bureau (NASWAMB) constituted a joint taskforce named Operation Keep Karu Clean.
It was gathered that the joint operation comprised officers from the Nasarawa Urban Development Board (NUDB), office of the Special Adviser to the governor on Erosion Control and Waste Management and the Nasarawa State Waste Management Bureau (NASWAMB).
It is observed that although the NASWAMB has been up and doing, its efforts are not making a significant impact obviously because most of the residents have remained uncooperative.
A surge in crime rate
Not surprising, the surge in the population of Mararaba has led to the emergence of slum settlements inside the city with rising concerns over crime and other forms of criminality.
It is increasingly becoming clear that aside from the challenge of the traffic gridlock, residents of this sprawling settlement also have to contend with rising incidents of phone and handbag snatching, pick-pockets, and other sundry crimes which are contributing to make life brutish for them.
“There is hardly any day that we don’t experience bag snatching, handset snatching or even house burgling. We also have intermittent cases of cult clashes” a resident, Godspower Orokpe, said.
Indeed, Mararaba epitomises life in a typical Nigerian slum settlement where the good, the bad and the ugly form the defining features.
