Is FCTA playing politics with Traffic jam on Nyanya road?

Before now, Lagos was known for traffic jam but the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, seems to have taken over as people spend hours trying to get to and fro work. Is there any solution in sight to curtail the menace?

When the Transport Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Administration re-introduced the new transport policy on June 3, 2013 which saw the removal of mini-buses from the Abuja-Nyanya road, many thought the traffic gridlocks during peak periods, would disappear, little do they know that that was just the beginning.

A typical traffic jam on AYA-Nyanya-Mararaba road

Many thought it was because the introduction of the new transport policy was fresh hence the hiccups but the situation seems to be worsening by the day. Motorists spend hours on the road from their various destinations to their homes; a drive which ordinarily would be 12 to 15 minutes.

The traffic jam has resulted to motorists driving against the traffic during peak periods. Even the presence of the Vehicle Inspection Officers, VIO; Police, Federal road Safety Corps, FRSC could not stop them.

More worrisome is the fact that security agencies especially who are supposed to prosecute offenders are the ones breaking the law. The drivers drive one-way and blare siren while driving against traffic.  

Meanwhile, traffic congestion has become an everyday problem especially along the satellite towns like Nyanya-AYA. This is because almost everybody staying outside the city centre, work in the city centre hence everybody is always heading towards the same direction.

Some motorists who spoke to our correspondent said the minister of FCT, Senator Bala Mohammed lacks initiative that is why he does not know what to do. They accuse him of playing politics with the traffic situation in Abuja hence he put a round peg in a square hole in the Transportation Secretariat, Engr Jonathan Ivoke.

Ibrahim Abdullahi, a business man said the Transport Secretariat lack initiative. He said if only they could emulate Lagos properly, they will not only ease traffic jam but also make brisk money from the BRT policy.

Sen. Bala Mohammed

He claimed that if the FCTA had put structures in place to accommodate the BRT, many people would have parked their cars and join the BRT; hence the road would have been freed.

However, passengers are also not finding it funny as they spend hours at the bus-stops and garages waiting endlessly for vehicles. The ‘frustrated’ ones jump at any private vehicles at sight, not minding the implication of such acts.

A passenger, Akin Gbemiga told our correspondent accused the FCTA of trying to frustrate the residents with the new transport policy. He described some of the BRT buses as old. “The vehicles are already smoking while the interior are old like ‘araba’ buses. The inside of the bus is dirty and rusty. There is no way a new bus would look like that; government has ended up deceiving us.”

Our correspondent also gathered that out of all the things the minister promised, none has been fulfilled. The BRT barriers have not been mounted let alone the buses promised. Even the yellow lane that serves as demarcation for the high-capacity buses have wiped out hence the high capacity buses take any lane.

Also worrisome is that the garage meant for the high-capacity buses are not being used by some of the drivers because they are not motorable especially when it rains hence there are heavy traffic build-ups in Nyanya.

It would be recalled that the minister disclosed that the administration, under the scheme, would deliver 500 buses on the seven designated routes in the city, adding that 100 buses had already been procured for the pilot phase of the scheme in the high-capacity bus category.

Meanwhile, the transport operators are not happy with the traffic situation in the FCT especially on Nyanya-Kugbo road as they not only spend hours on the road thereby burn their fuel/diesel unnecessarily but also drag road with other smaller vehicles which sometimes end up causing problem between them and the others.

Some of them who spoke on anonymity told our correspondent that they are finding it difficult to operate smoothly in the FCT. According to our source in the Abuja Urban Mass Transit Company, AUMTCO, she said the Transport Secretariat of the FCT Administration has failed to play their roles by putting the necessary things in place.

She claimed that if the Transport Secretariat has put the barriers, nobody would have dragged space or road with them or hit their vehicles as it is the case on daily basis.

Another source in Shaanxi Bus Company, who also does not want his name mentioned; complained that they are having challenges because the Transport Secretariat failed to implement all their agreements in place.

He said in Lagos where they also operate, they make gains because lanes are dedicated to them hence they arrive at their destinations at good time unlike what they are experiencing in Abuja where they spend hours on the road.

We gathered that internal wrangling and clash of interests has made that BRT dream unrealisable. A reliable source at the Transportation Secretariat confided in our correspondent that a top official, who was not happy with some of the companies licensed to operate the BRT scheme had been frustrating their efforts by delaying official approval for delineation of the routes and installation of signages on the bus lane.

Facilities such as ticketing booths, bus shelters and proper delineation of the dedicated BRT lanes had been stalling the roll-out of the scheme. The transport secretariat earlier resorted to using security agents including men of the Directorate of Road Transport Services, DRTS, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC and the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC.

When our correspondent put a call to the Transport Secretary, Engr Jonathan Ivoke, he simply told our correspondent that he was in a meeting. And days after that day, he has refused to pick his calls.

Meanwhile, the director of the DRTS, Engr. Wilson Alade told our correspondent that they will deal with offenders especially those driving against the traffic because it is an offence hence the reason why his men joined the enforcement team.

Prior to the take-off, the Secretary of the Transportation Secretariat, Ivoke at a press conference disclosed that a team from the FCT had gone to Lagos state to understudy the operation of a similar scheme.

However, motorists are suffering on daily basis trying to get to their destinations. Some resorted to trekking some distances while some opt for private car owners especially when the vehicles break down along the road.

Our findings however revealed that the buses used in the FCT are not road-worthy as they break-down at every bus-stop. We also gathered that the other transport operators could not acquire new buses hence they bought abandoned buses from AUMTCO and refurbished them.

In other to tackle the traffic jam, experts have called for need to decentralize the centre. They attributed the congestion of the city centre to the reason why there is always traffic jam along Abuja-Nyanya because majority of the people working in the territory, stay at the outskirts most especially in Nyanya, Mararaba and its environs. Investigations have shown that majority of government establishments are based in the territory.

A property expert, Alfred Okoronkwo however suggested that in order to avoid a repeat of what was noticed in Lagos and also reduce the gridlock usually noticed during the working days especially in the city centre, government should as a matter of urgency decentralize the centre.

He also advised that more road networks be opened so that everybody will not be struggling to pass one particular road (Nyanya-AYA) every time.

The suggestion will go a long way to solve the traffic gridlock in the territory especially along Nyanya road if the FCTA put the transport secretariat live up to its responsibility by putting the needed traffic apparatus in place.