Residents
of five communities in Kumbotso local government area of Kano state
have threatened to boycott the routine polio immunization and 2019
general elections if the authorities concerned fail to rehabilitate
their damaged road that makes the areas inaccessible especially during
rainy season.
The affected communities are Yanlemo ‘Yan-Tasi, Mai Kalwa, Wailari, Kwarin Goje and Umarawa.
Kano
Chronicle observed that the residents have been battling with flooding,
erosion and other related challenges courtesy of lack of good drainages.
The
Chairman, Amalgamation of Wailari and Mai Kalwa Communities’
Associations, Alhaji Nura Danjuma, said the affected communities had
channeled their complaints to relevant authorities with a view to
addressing the problem but their appeals were unsuccessful.
“We
have done the needful but it seems the authorities are not willing to
address our plight. In view of this, the amalgamation of all
associations in the affected areas has resolved that residents of the
communities will boycott subsequent immunization exercises and the 2019
general elections.
“There
is no point participating in the exercises while government is not
paying any attention to our plights. Since our representatives at both
local and state levels are not proactive in addressing our problems,
there is no point of partaking in the elections,” he said.
A
visit to the affected areas by our reporter indicated that erosion had
consumed a large portion of the only road that linked some of the
communities in the area. The road, which starts from Yanlemo, was
constructed over eight years ago and since then it has not been
rehabilitated despite several pleas by members of the communities.
Malam
Ya’u Yahaya, a resident of Wailari community, said whenever there was
rain many people had to pass their night elsewhere because they could
not use the road to access their respective homes.
“Last
year, we lost three members of this community including two children.
The deceased tried to reach their homes after a heavy downpour but lost
their lives while trying cross an overflooded ditch. It has become a
tradition in this area that whenever it rained, some of us had to sleep
in other places.
The road has become a threat to our lives,” Yahaya lamented.
Also
commenting on the development, Malama Hafsatu Muhammad of Wailari, said
the communities had made a right decision to let the government and
general public know the difficulty they were experiencing.
She
said, “Of what important is it for us to continue voting for people
whose priority is something else? They are more concern on immunization
and politics than our wellbeing. We are in a disorganized condition;
something has to be done to address this carelessness.”
Further
observation revealed that most of public schools in the affected areas
have to close for some days whenever it rained, as lesson could not hold
in most of the classrooms due to their bad condition.
Children’s education, according to some members of the communities, was inconsistent in the rainy season.
Business
activities in the affected communities have also been relegated to its
lowest level due to lack of good road that made it difficult for
customers to access the communities.
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