Driving through the premises of the Modern Market in Makurdi, Benue state, Nigeria, Terfa Aondofa had to manoeuvre his vehicle around cracks and potholes on the road that was repaired not so long ago. Yet, Mr Aondofa is half relieved because the condition of the road was worse than this some months ago.
‘Before I no fit drive round the market like this, na for the front of First Bank, I dey drop my passengers,’ he explained to this reporter in pidgin. Terfa’s passengers are usually shoppers visiting the expansive market known for the merchandise of wholesale and retail manufactured goods.
Terfa and other motorists can now drive around the market premises with less struggle, thanks to the contract awarded by the Benue State Ministry of Works and Transport on the 10th of November 2021.
The contract with code ocds-ade2z4-BNTB-35/2020, worth N47.251 million, was awarded to Privent Construction Nigeria Limited. While the road repairs have been carried out in the market premises, the state of the roads remains a concern just a few months after.
The entire money voted for the project was for the repairs of roads at the market and the industrial layout located 7.4 km from the market. While the repaired roads in the market are falling back into disrepair, the roads at the industrial layout are yet to be repaired.
Chinedu Emeka, a trader at the market, pointed out that the state of the road was returning to its old state because of a poor drainage system. He said that whenever it rains, the market becomes inaccessible as most of the road will be covered with water. This impacts the road, causing cracks and potholes.
Dataphyte found out that the market is now under a new management. Jude Terfa said that the government wanted an outright sale of the market. However, after the intervention and protest from marketers and others, the government leased it out. It was then leased to Abhumu Global Resources (AGR) to manage.
Anza Caroline, a staff with the Benue State Board of Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), pointed out that AGR is just managing the market on behalf of the government, as the market remains one of the state governments’ sources of revenue. Thus, she is always posted to the gate to ensure that the revenue collected is handed over to the government.
Caroline pointed out that the market remains the property of the state government. Thus, as a manager, AGR is entitled to a percentage of the revenue generated from the market.
While the details of the agreement was not revealed, Caroline acknowledged that the repairs of the road around the market was done by the government.
The new managers of the market have given the market a facelift. Some parts of the market raised by the fire outbreaks are now undergoing reconstruction.
A fire engulfed the market almost two decades ago and burnt down goods worth millions of naira. The incident in 2003 rendered many jobless as their source of livelihood went with the fire.
These stalls had remained desolate ever since the fire incident. However, the Dataphyte team observed that renovation is ongoing on the stalls. The AGR is spearheading this recent development to restore the market to its glory.
AGR started by giving the entrance gate a facelift. The number of entrances for vehicles increased from one to three. Caroline noted that this has dramatically reduced the pressure at the entrance.
‘Previously, vehicles took over an hour to pass through the gate.’ ‘This affected revenue as some will just stop by the entrance without going in, but now with more entrance, there is no more queue at the gate,’ she concluded.
While the new managers are going about their repairs, the government’s action might increase their costs. The repaired road, which is less than four months old is deteriorating.
However, the story is different in the industrial layout along Naka road in Makurdi. Right from the entrance of the industrial layout, the unrepaired state of the road remains visible.
And just about 100 meters into the layout, the potholes which made the road in need of urgent repairs are noticed unfixed.
James Terwase, a motorcyclist who conveys passengers to the industrial layout told Dataphyte that there had been no repairs on the road around the layout. He said he comes here at least three times every week to drop passengers and has noticed no repairs being carried out there.
Several calls were placed to the contact person of Privent Construction Nigeria Limited to comment on the neglect of the road at the industrial layout but they were unsuccessful.
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