By; IBRAHIM ADAMU, Kaduna
Kaduna, the capital of the defunct Northern Region has its shares of ghettos located mostly in inner parts of the city, which used to be the epicenter of textile industry in West African subregion.
Having squalor settlements across Nigeria is not new which could be attributed to years of neglect by development authorities saddled with responsibility of turning suburban areas into urban centres.
Kurmin-Gwari Settlement located in the southern part of Kaduna City could be described as a typical squalor found in virtually every Nigerian state, including the capital, Abuja.
To start with, Kurmin Gwari settlement has just one single tarred road which zigzags its way through out the linear squalor from which houses mushroom, connecting one another as if they were owned by a single individual.
A tour of houses in the low-income area mostly occupied by factory workers and petty traders showed the absence of social infrastructure such as drinkable water, access roads, stable electricity, schools, hospitals etc.
Our reporter discovered that virtually all houses in the suburbs have their backyards as passage ways to other compounds.
More unsettling was the observation by our reporter that few residents who own cars mostly for commercial purpose park their vehicles on the only tarred road and walk an average of 300 to 400 meters to gain access to their homes after working hours.
An inconvenience many described as tiresome especially during the wet season when all the footpaths become muddy.
A first time visitor to the enclosed settlement, particularly after nightfall would probably confuse the place with a nomadic hamlet; all one could see is local lanterns in front of each residence used as illuminating objects.
As important as education is which should attract the attention of authorities has been neglected as children of school ages have to walk some distance of an average of two kilometres to access a dilapidated primary school renovated by NBL as part of the company’s corporate social responsibility gesture while those of post primary school ages have to walk to Kachia Road to attend a government secondary school.
The whole area lacks serviceable health facility which which necessitates residents with one health challenge or the other to go all the way to Kakuri or Makera for medicare.
A cross section of residence who poured their minds expressed their sadness and disappointment over what they describes as many years of nonchalant attitude by elected and appointed representatives, especially state and federal lawmakers who should have paid attention to plight of people in the settlement.
“As you have seen for yourself the ugly state of our environment with poor hygiene condition due to absence of basic amenities that could make life worthwhile.
“Politicians would come here during campaigns and promise us heaven on earth but would vanish into a thin air after we have voted them.
“This is very bad, insensitive and ungentlemanly way to treat your subjects,” a resident Bulus John lamented.
The story was the same with several other residents engaged by our correspondent who called on the state governor and other representatives of the area to wade into their problem by providing basic infrastructure so they too would live happy lives like others across the state.
