…Demand Roads, Drainage, Electricity
Residents of Mando, an outskirts community in Kaduna metropolis, have called on the Kaduna State Government to address years of alleged infrastructural neglect, particularly the poor state of roads, inadequate drainage and unreliable electricity supply.
The appeal was made by a resident of Kaduna, Umar Kaltungo in an opinion piece dated October 12, 2026, in which he lamented what he described as the abandonment of Mando by successive state administrations.
Kaltungo said the last major road project of at least one kilometre undertaken in the community, to his knowledge, was during the administration of former Governor Ahmed Makarfi, involving the road from NECO Junction to Idi Musa.
He alleged that subsequent administrations had repeatedly sent engineers to inspect the deteriorating roads, particularly during election periods, without addressing the problems.
According to him, roads linking Engineer Road, Assalamualaikum, the Eye Centre, Lema and Mashi remain largely untarred, leaving residents to contend with difficult transportation and rising vehicle maintenance costs.
He said the condition of the roads forces motorists and motorcycle owners to spend frequently on repairs, while the absence of proper drainage and reliable electricity further compounds the community’s challenges.
Kaltungo also expressed concern that Mando had remained underdeveloped despite its proximity to major federal institutions and other important establishments in Kaduna State.
These include the Nigerian Defence Academy, Nigerian Air Force Base, National Eye Centre, Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Transmission Company of Nigeria, National Water Resources Institute, ABU College of Animal Science and Mothercat Construction Company.
He argued that the presence of these institutions should make the provision of basic infrastructure in the community a priority.
The writer noted that good roads would improve commercial activities, attract businesses and investment, increase property values and reduce the cost of transporting goods and services.
He added that improved road access could lower the cost of building houses and expand economic activities, creating opportunities for the state government to generate additional revenue.
Kaltungo, therefore, urged the Kaduna State Government to fulfil its promises to Mando residents, stressing that their demands were limited to basic infrastructure already available in other parts of the metropolis.
He called for the construction and rehabilitation of roads, provision of proper drainage systems and improvement in electricity supply, insisting that Mando deserved the same attention as other communities in Kaduna.
