By Rogers Edor Ochela

Its vantage position as the nation’s capital city has invested it with enormous responsibilities, including harbouring millions of Nigerians. Like nectar that attracts hordes of bees, Abuja has over the years attracted millions of Nigerians, majority of who are like economic refugees fleeing from their states on account of joblessness. This development has stretched the city’s infrastructure to almost breaking point.

This avalanche of humanity that has descended on it explains why FCT is virtually bursting at the seams with devastating consequences on the traffic situation.  And determined to wrestle this menace to the ground, the FCT Administration under the leadership of Sen. Bala Mohammed has been relentlessly working round the clock, churning out multi-faceted strategies.

FILE PHOTO: A moving train on the 68 percent completed railway track of the Abuja – Kaduna fast train project launched by Vice President Namadi Sambo in Abuja

It is this concern to free the city from the suffocating traffic snarl that informed the Administration’s decision to unveil a new transport policy last year banning commercial buses popularly called ‘Araba’ or ‘Danfo’ from plying the city centre and restricting them to feeder routes, Area Councils and satellite towns.

It is merely stating the obvious that the enforcement of that policy paved the way for high capacity buses, taxis and private vehicles to exclusively ply major entry and exit routes and highways of the city centre as well as the major roads within the metropolis. To give muscle to this laudable policy, the FCTA had deployed over 1,000 high capacity buses to ply routes such as Nyanya-AYA-Eagle Sqaure/Wuse Market; Giri Junction-Airport Road-City Centre; Zuba Junction through ONEX (Outer Northern Expressway) to city centre and Ring Road One circulation connecting Wuse Market and Eagle Square.

To ease the operational difficulties of the high capacity buses and taxis, FCTA has provided service terminals at the beginning, end and intermediate locations within the city. There is no gainsaying the fact that these efforts have indeed eased transportation difficulties hitherto encountered by residents of Abuja.

I have gone to this extent in order to make Nigerians appreciate the enormous efforts of the FCTA in putting in place a sound and efficient public transportation system in the FCT.

All these pale into insignificance when juxtaposed with the current revolutionary effort geared towards the design and conceptualization of Abuja Rail Mass Transit network. Judging from some of its laudable features, even at the risk of being branded a sycophant, I make bold to assert that the rail mass transit is indeed a revolutionary project that will change the face of public transportation in Abuja, something akin to what is obtainable in other parts of the world.

Recently, sequel to a memo submitted by the Minister of FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved N272 million for the award of contract for the feasibility study and conceptual design of Lots 4, 5 and 6 stations of the Abuja rail mass transit network.

It would be recalled that the Federal Government had in August injected N10 billion for the completion of Abuja light rail project handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) with an assurance that the project would be completed in 2015.

The project, which is also jointly financed by the Federal Government and China EXIM Bank through a loan of $500 million commenced in 2009 and has attained 52.7 percent completion.

According to Bala Mohammed, the rail mass transit system, which is designed primarily as a mover of people within and between the satellite towns and the different phases of the city will be integrated with the planned national rail network.

Sen. Bala, who noted that the feasibility study was important as it will ensure that previous practices where contracts are awarded on the basis of conceptual design are not repeated, further stressed the projects when completed will reduce traffic congestion, shorten journey distances and reduce pressure on existing public transport services.

Criss-crossing

Subsequently, the FEC approved the award of contract for the consultancy services for the feasibility study and conceptual design of Lots 4,5 and 6 of the Abuja rail mass transit network for the FCT in favour of Messrs Ladiom Associates in the sum of N272, 737, 710.00 with a completion period of 12 months.

Explaining further, the FCT minister said Lot 4 will carry passengers from Kuje to Karishi, Lot 5 from Kubwa to Bwari because there must be some provision for criss-crossing of passengers and commuters within the city, while Lot 6 will carry passengers from the airport to Kuje and Gwagwalada up to Dobe, a satellite town that is far of Gwagwalada.

One interesting dimension to the rail project is that when operational, it will ease commuters’ sufferings, as a lot of people would resort to going by train and the high capacity buses could be channeled to routes that would not be plied by the train.

Investigations conducted revealed that the rail project commenced in 2007 more or less as a political promise and has passed through three different ministers namely, Alhaji Aliyu Modibo (2007); Alhaji Adamu Aliero  (2008 to 2010); and Senator Bala Mohammed from 2010 till date. Under Mohammed’s ministerial superintendence, land acquisition, enumeration and compensation for economic trees as well as building structures on the Right of Way at Idu Depot/ Dry Inland container port area, Ring Road 1, Idu, Gwagwa/Dei-Dei, Kagini and about four kilometres into Kubwa, among others, have been completed and the project is now in progress.

The project, which was meant to be operational in 2013, was conceived to provide a long-term solution to the capital city’s transportation problems. Valued at $840 million, the project is the first of its kind in any nation’s capital city in West Africa. Apart from providing cheaper, comfortable and safer transportation, when completed it is expected to generate employment for more than 20,000 people, a no mean feat in a riddled with massive unemployment.

Mohammed assured that with the availability of funds, the pace of project execution would be accelerated. This assurance should be taken with every degree of seriousness since the delay in the pace of work has been blamed on financial constraint.

Tourism

The present level of attainment notwithstanding, the minister is palpably enthusiastic that it would be completed in 2015. Hear him: “The project will usher in an era of environment-friendly transport system and sustainable development”.

In addition to easing the transportation system, the railway stations will provide shopping precincts, cultural and entertainment centres to boost tourism.

Even with the present level of success, the government should not rest on its oars. When is eventually completed, it is advisable that it should be complimented with increasing the fleet of buses on the roads.

Already, there are assurances that when the first phase of the project is completed in 2015, an estimated 700,000 passengers are projected to ride the Abuja Light Rail (ALR) on daily basis. This notwithstanding, analysts have advised the government to allow more private sector participation in the railway modernisation programme in order to ensure sustainability, noting that more pragmatic efforts should be intensified to link the FCT and neighboring states with standard gauge lines.

Ochela, is a media consultant based in Abuja