Completion of Kuje road project heals decades of abandonment — Gomo Kuje

By Stanley Onyekwere

The decades-long jinx of abandoned infrastructure in Kuje Area Council has finally been broken, following the successful completion and formal commissioning of Highway 105, popularly known as the Kuje road.

Speaking with newsmen on Thursday on the sidelines of the commissioning ceremony, the Gomo of Kuje, HRH Alh. Haruna Tanko Jibrin, stated that the delivery of the strategic highway, which connects the Abuja Airport Expressway directly to Kuje town effectively heals a painful history of failed promises and abandoned projects in the area.

Reflecting on the history of the corridor, the royal father revealed that while the community had long yearned for the construction of the road, previous attempts had consistently stalled under past administrations.

According to him, the trajectory of the critical infrastructure changed only when the current Federal Capital Territory (FCT) administration took over.

“We wanted this road even before the Minister came.

“The Minister is someone who does things differently. When this contract was awarded, he came and inspected the entire road.

“I told him then that this road always becomes an abandoned project, but the Minister said, ‘No road will be an abandoned project under my watch. I am going to work on it,” the monarch stated.

The traditional ruler expressed profound gratitude to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike for demonstrating the political will and courage required to reverse decades of neglect, delivering the dual carriageway within a tight timeline.

He emphasized that the newly transformed Highway 105 is not just a standard civil engineering milestone, but a socio-economic lifeline that will permanently impact the lives of residents and commuter traffic moving in and out of the Kuje Area Council.

“Today, we are witnessing what he has achieved over the last two to three years.

“We thank Mr. President and the Minister himself for having the courage to work on this road.

“I don’t even know how to thank him enough; he is leaving a legacy for generations yet unborn,” the Gomo said.

Expressing the deep appreciation of his people for the reversal of the community’s infrastructure fortunes, the Gomo of Kuje concluded that the project has permanently etched the name of the current FCT Minister into the history of development in Abuja.

“Anyone who uses this road will always remember Mr. Wike. I am very happy today that we are commissioning this laudable project,” he stated.

With the formal commissioning of Highway 105, travel times between Kuje town and the Abuja city centre are expected to drastically reduce, easing the severe traffic gridlock that previously choked local economic activities.