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From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Driving on the new two-kilometre flyover at Customs Junction, a very busy and bustling area in eastern Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, is a delight and relief. Residents say the completion of the flyover has ended years of pain and anguish occasioned by avoidable human and vehicular traffic that often stretched more than two kilometres daily in the axis.
Aside from its functionality, the biggest flyover in the North-East is a beauty to behold. The imposing structure accentuates the elegance of Kanuri culture. The Kanuri are a major ethnic group in the diverse cultural and multi-ethnic Borno society. Residents believe the flyover is a confluence of beauty, value and culture.
A new breath of life
Residents have described the facility as a new breath of life.
“We are enjoying the flyover. It is a new life, unlike before,” said Bitrus Adamu, a GSM accessories trader, as he walked up one of the pedestrian bridges attached to the flyover.
He recalled how the chaotic situation at the old Customs Roundabout, characterized by street begging, hawking and unauthorized trading along the road, phone-snatching, vehicle and tricycle accidents in the past, had affected economic and social life in the area.
Interestingly, the high rail and barrier erected along the sidewalks are helping in the reduction of the vices and challenges of the past, a traffic police officer told the reporter during the visit to the area mid-week.
“The excesses of tricycle riders and motorists have reduced. People no longer displayed their trade along the road, like before. Traffic is flowing normally and this is how a city should look like, otherwise, most of the foreigners working in NGOs here won’t take our country seriously,” one of the traffic cops said after requesting anonymity.
Nineteen years old Abubakar Mohammad said he no longer went through the hassles of crossing the dual carriageway with three of his siblings, all school-age children, running to avoid oncoming vehicles and tricycles: “Honestly, we are enjoying the flyover. I used to hold my three younger ones to cross the road here and was always scared a vehicle might hit us one day. Now we only use the (pedestrian) bridge to cross over.”
He commended the governor for executing the project.
Also, Ba’Goni Mohammed, a provisions trader in the area, lauded the governor’s intervention. “We are happy about this flyover because it has opened up the area. This place is beautiful now and we no longer suffer to get our items when our trucks come to deliver products. We also go home without problems,” he told the reporter.
Benefits
The Customs Junction flyover is a connecting facility to the economic hub of Maiduguri, the largest city in the North-East. It is also a passageway to most federal institutions in the state, including the University of Maiduguri, Its teaching hospital (UMTH) by the east, Lake Chad Research Institute and Chad Basin Development Authority by the southeastern flank of the city. The institute is engaged in research for the development of agriculture in the Lake Chad area, while the Chad Basin Development Authority supports growth of crops and mechanized farming in the area. Most of the harvest, including grains, forms the chunk of products used in the state and other parts of the country.
The Customs flyover, according to officials of the state ministry of works, the project implementing ministry, serves as a cord of connection between the the countryside and the city centre. It provides easy access to public and private workers who come daily from the countryside to work in the metropolis.
Built along the Customs House highway (Nigeria Customs Service, Borno Command, headquarters), the flyover provides access to the West End (western part of the city), down to Baga Road, where the Maimalari Cantonment of the Nigerian Army, 7 Division, headquarters, and headquarters of Operation Hadin Kai, are situated. Staff of the University of Maiduguri and its teaching hospital who live along Baga Road now find quicker access using the flyover to their offices or homes, thereby avoiding the traffic congestion in the city centre, especially during peak periods.
The flyover is also a gateway to the central part of the state and border communities, thrusting into Lake Chad shores and neighbouring African nations, Cameroon, Niger and Central African Republic, with high economic potential, including cattle, hides and skin, gum arabic, groundnuts and onions, among others.
Promise Kept
When Prof. Babagana Zulum, governor of Borno State, announced his resolve to construct a N4.2 billion flyover in place of the hitherto clumsy, chaotic and increasingly filthy arena early June 2019, a few days in office, many residents were skeptical.
“Gaskiya (of truth), many of us thought it was a mere political promise. You know we’ve heard so many promises in the past,” 70 years old Alhaji Usman Saleh told the reporter.
Work on the project, including excavation of the site and foundation-laying, among others, started late 2019, according to the then commissioner for works, Saleh Yerima, an architect, who signed the contract on behalf of Borno State government. He said the project was initially planned for completion within 18 months (late 2021) but the COVID-19 lockdown slightly extended the work to early 2022.
“Due process was followed. We started at the end of 2019. It was done in collaboration with our engineers and other relevant engineers,” Yerima said in 2021.
Hope for Borno – Zulum
Gov. Zulum says the project is a symbol of hope for Borno and its people.
“The action of mine symbolizes hope for our people in our quest to rebuild our communities and build resilience of our people,” the governor said at the ground-breaking ceremony and also during the inauguration of the project.
The site of the flyover was once a hotbed of bomb attacks and shooting by Boko Haram between 2013 and 2016. Thankfully, peace has returned with commercial activities largely propelled by government rebuilding and resettlement programmers.
Zulum said transportation network was an impetus to development. He said the project was part of his strategies for urban and rural development.
The building of the flyover is a pointer to how far Borno has strived to come out of the nearly 13 years of insurgency.
“Such courageous investment in infrastructure and massive rebuilding of the state will help in recovery after years of displacement and destruction in Borno,” a top aid worker with an international humanitarian organisation, said.
