By Stanley Onyekwere
What was intended to be a routine political tour has instead become a stark indictment of the economic suffering gripping the outskirts of the Federal Capital Territory. Hon. Sarah Ivie Adidi, an aspirant for the AMAC/Bwari Federal Constituency seat, concluded her ten-ward tour of the Bwari Area Council this week, describing the level of hardship she witnessed as “sobering” and “deteriorating.”
While the tour spanned key hubs like Ushafa, Kuduru, Kubwa, and Dutse Alhaji, the political optics were quickly overshadowed by the raw reality of poverty and infrastructure decay.
Adidi, who chose to walk the streets rather than host elite summits, reported that the primary takeaway from her journey was a pervasive sense of abandonment among her constituents.
Adidi’s “doorstep diplomacy” allowed her to bypass polished reports and see the “human cost” of the current economic climate.
In wards like Shere and Kuduru, the aspirant encountered communities where even basic political and social structures were on the verge of collapse due to a lack of funds.
Adidi had to personally fund the repair and repainting of the APC office roof in Shere Ward to prevent it from falling into total disuse.
In Kuduru, the local party infrastructure was so precarious that Adidi stepped in to pay two years’ rent upfront, highlighting the struggle to maintain even a modest presence in the community.
In the Igu community, youths appealed for simple sports equipment as a rare means of escaping the mental toll of unemployment and economic stagnation.
Speaking at the conclusion of her tour in Dutse Alhaji, a visibly moved Adidi lamented that the distance between the political elite and the grassroots has left many residents feeling invisible.
“This tour has allowed me to understand the realities firsthand. Leadership must begin with listening.
“The conditions I have seen are sobering; we are no longer talking about political theory, we are talking about survival”, she stated.
The tour culminated in a massive turnout of women’s groups and youth leaders in her home ward—not just to cheer, but to share their struggles.
For many, Adidi’s decision to navigate the “dusty roads and deteriorating conditions” alongside them was a rare acknowledgement of their daily pain.
As the race for the AMAC/Bwari seat intensifies, the narrative has shifted, as Adidi’s campaign is no longer just a quest for a seat, but a platform for the “doorstep reality” of Bwari—a reality defined by mounting hardship that the aspirant vows can no longer be ignored by the powers in Abuja.
