It was Saturday, March 8, 2014. A very good Saturday it was indeed. We had noticed that the electricity supply was very stable. We had power for almost 23:59 hours of the day. Hence, it was a good time for those of us who were football lovers. We didn’t have to consume the remaining fuel in the generator, or purchase a fresh supply. These days, petrol has become more expensive than a pair of eyes! Since government unbundled PHCN electricity supply has gone from bad to worse. You need to be in Minna on a usual hot night (Minna is one of the hottest in Nigeria), without electricity, and you will understand why the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company Limited should be ‘retrieved with immediate effect’ from the buyer and given to a more committed buyer who would ensure better customer satisfaction.
As I was saying, it took us until afternoon of that Saturday before we knew President Jonathan was in town. Then, it dawned on us that the stable electricity supply during the weekend might just be one of those virtual realities: to paint the government in beautiful motif. I remember one of those times we experienced this kind of deception. One of the children of the state governor was getting married. You need to see the speed (in less than 72 hours) with which solar street lights were lined up between the two lanes of the road that usher you into Minna. (Most of them lasted less than one year.)
After getting wind that the President was attending the PDP North-Central rally we didn’t bother to tune in to NTA. We are not used to. You hardly get anything worth watching. That explains why virtually every household has at least a free-to-air dish. We knew all we would hear from the rally would be one politician after the other eulogizing transformations that hitherto have been invisible even to the sharpest eyes, reasons why PDP is the party to beat, the only party that is yet to change its name, and so on, and so forth.
If only the President went back to Abuja through Suleja-Minna road. He would have seen and experience what motorists and travelers see and experience on a daily basis. You go along the road, and many similar roads all over the country, and what do you see? Acts of the FERMA! A very minute portion of the road gets bad; nothing is done until the pothole becomes sizeably bigger. Then you see FERMA, with all their artilleries. They make rectangular, or square, cutting around the pothole. At the end of the day, what you have are very wide gashes along our roads. The annoying part is: for weeks, even months in many cases, they never return to fix the road. They make our road problems more than twice as bad as they originally were. If Mr. President had taken that road, I have no doubt that before he gets back to Aso Rock, one of the vehicles on his entourage, or more, hopefully not the one conveying him, would have had at least one of the tyres punctured.
Encouragingly, Mr. President would have come across VIGROMA. Sound unfamiliar? No doubt, it is unfamiliar. This is because such a name would not be found labeling any of the files in CAC. In other words, it is not a registered company, neither is it an agency of the government. Many who travel on government roads along many villages would have come in contact with them; and many would have been so impressed with their commitment that they willingly threw through the window some naira notes, as a form of encouragement.
Who are these VIGROMA? They are Village Guys Road Maintenance Agency. They are a couple of concerned, committed, dexterous guys often found on the major roads lined along most villages; fixing the roads that FERMA refuse to pay attention to. You will often find them right in the middle of the road, hoisting tattered flags in the middle of the road, equipped with pans, broken shovels, and seldom, wheel barrows, packing red earth and filling the pot holes. Always covered in red earth! Some even go as far as getting water from nearby rivers to mix the red earth before filling the holes; all in a bid to make our roads as motorable as possible. They don’t wait for government to find jobs for them; they create jobs for themselves. Maybe they are spurred by the need to reduce the dust from the road that becloud their villages, or they just want to make money from traversers; whatever their motives are, their activities have been lifeline to many. You can ask pregnant women, asthmatic travelers, and very old folks.
Their fixings don’t last, someone may say. Yes, they don’t. These guys are not trained engineers. Their solution is short-term. But you can be rest assured, the moment the fixed part is giving way, they will definitely return to fix it again. And again!
Perhaps, if only Mr. President had met them, he would have considered them for national honours, or at least give an order for them to be drafted into FERMA. The only problem with this latter option is that motorists and travelers may never enjoy the solutions only these guys provide.
For those of us here in Minna, we always wish Mr. President came. At least, we are sure, before his coming, depleting structures would be quickly attended to; unfinished projects hastened; and who knows, if he would be travelling through the road, necessary approvals would not be delayed, and FERMA would definitely fix our road.
Fast forward to today, Saturday, March 15, 2014. There has not been power since morning.
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