For too long, the people of Tola-Binyeri especially our vibrant youth have suffered in silence, bearing the brunt of neglect and abandonment. It is time to break this silence, to raise a collective voice loud enough to command the attention and urgent action of our state government. The deplorable condition of our roads is not just an inconvenience; it is a painful reminder of a broken promise and ongoing disregard.
This once vital road, constructed during the era of the late Abubakar Barde’s governorship in the now-defunct Gongola State, has sadly turned into a symbol of neglect a daily embodiment of forgotten commitments. Every journey along this stretch leaves residents confronting the harsh reality: do we really have a government that cares about the welfare of its people?
The pattern is painfully familiar. Politicians flood Tola-Binyeri during election campaigns, showering the people with grand promises to fix the roads. But once the votes are cast and the campaigns end, these promises evaporate into thin air, leaving the roads and the hopes of the people crumbling.
What is both baffling and tragic is that this road is less than 50 kilometers long, yet it supports four critical bridges. One has already collapsed, and the remaining three are precariously dilapidated, posing grave dangers to every commuter who dares traverse them. Lives hang in the balance every day on these failing bridges.
Tola-Binyeri is a land blessed with rich agricultural heritage and a bustling village market that draws traders and visitors from across Adamawa. The weekly Thursday market, once a beacon of economic activity, especially during harvest seasons, has been dampened by the poor state of our roads. Visitors are deterred, goods are harder to transport, and the lifeblood of our local economy is slowly fading.
Research reveals a stark truth: aside from Mayo-Belwa market, centrally located in the metropolitan area, no other market within the entire Mayo Belwa Local Government Area generates as much revenue as Tola market. Yet, despite this economic significance, Tola languishes under the burden of severely degraded infrastructure.
In some neighboring states like Gombe, senators and members of the House of Representatives have stepped up, sometimes constructing roads with their own hands, out of sheer commitment to their constituents. While lawmakers primarily have roles in legislation and oversight, the Nigerian political landscape often sees them directly intervening to improve infrastructure, driven by a deep sense of responsibility. It is not a comparison of size or population Gombe may be smaller with fewer constituencies but rather a call to Adamawa’s leaders to rise to the occasion and meet the legitimate expectations of their people.
The people of Tola-Binyeri deserve better. They deserve safe, accessible roads that nurture commerce and community growth. It is time for the youth to unite, to mobilize, and to demand the attention and action their community so desperately needs. Continuing to follow politicians with empty promises, accepting their unpayable demands, and placing hope on mere political conjecture is no longer an option.
The choice now falls squarely on the shoulders of the youth of Tola-Binyeri: to rest in silence, or to rise and claim the future that is rightfully theirs.
Adamu Garba
Concerned Citizen
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