The bleeding city with Ebola threat

Most man-made systems are emulations from nature. The human circulatory system has the arterioles, capillaries arteries and veins, serving as organs for pumping oxygenated blood to the body, and returning de-oxygenated to the heart. Apology to the medical practitioners, perhaps there are mistakes from a Town Planner.

The city circulatory system, with access roads, collectors, arterials and expressways are akin to the human body organs. They act as the blood vessels, being the infrastructure linking various functions and districts in the city and used for conveying goods and services. However, these are only similarities. There is nothing as perfect as nature. Human system is natural while the city system is man-made.

Excess or bad cholesterol collects in artery walls, forming hard plaques that narrow and stiffen blood vessels. A blocked coronary artery cuts off blood and oxygen to the heart muscle which leads to heart attack. In a similar manner a blocked traffic along ONEX at Kubwa or the Expressway at Kugbo could halt traffic many kilometers away, down to the city or away, preventing departures or entry to the city throughout the period it lasts.

Whatever would lead to the incidence must be avoided, hence, absolute respect to traffic rules and regulations by the citizens and the constant maintenance of the roads and repairs of the poor portions by the authority.

Abuja city has a central sewage system. The design of the sanitary sewage system for the city was based on gravity collection, because the operational and maintenance costs are much lower than the pumped systems, the probability of a catastrophic type of system failure is extremely low, staging of construction is simplified and the energy requirements are nil. The violations of the land use plan with impunity to satisfy private interests in a manner that happens today has never been factored in the planning.

One of our articles last year was titled “Abuja is bleeding”. This one is to show the extent. Areas earmarked for greening were used for laying underground services, because no developments are allowed on parks. Unfortunately, Wuse Zone 6 Neighbourhood Park and many others in the city were converted for residential and other uses without regard to the development regulations.

The outbreak of gastrointestinal and other waterborne diseases of huge proportions is a disaster waiting to happen. The residents cried, but it failed on deaf ears. Even when the matter is now in court, the FCT Administration still remains mute. We must be concerned that the city could be a fertile ground, now that it has been confirmed that there is a patient carrying the deadly Ebola virus, and 44 close contacts are being tracked.

The sewers have now been ruptured and blocked. Many sewer lines are now bleeding onto the streets, making them very smelly and unsightly. Disgusting odour emanating from bleeding sewers are now rampant as people drive through many neighbourhoods across the city.

If the violations must be sustained, the routes of the sewers that cross the violated areas must be diverted. Now that almost all the surrounding areas are built-up, where would the underground infrastructure be rerouted, and why should the FCTA spend huge public fund in a venture that involved the violation of statutory rules and regulations? The situation is more alarming when the neighboourhood of the City Management headquarters that has the powers for the enforcement is also affected.

This is the capital city of the nation. Certainly, it is not possible to continue living with such stench all over. There is only one option left in the event of not finding alternative routes for the violated sewers, juggle as the perpetrators can, there is no way the removal of the violations can be avoided at the end of the administration. Subscribers, must be cautioned. 

There were times in the history of Abuja that some senior staff in the service of the FCDA, who were accused of desecrations of the city land use plan were remoed from the service and the violated lands restored to their earmarked use. On the contrary, we are now faced with a situation, which instead of recovering lands meant for parks and recreations that were violated for other uses, the FCT Administration is the one making the violations by allocating the green areas for other uses.

We have a parable that says, “While the medical practitioners bury their dead, the Town Planners and city managers, live with theirs”. Those saddled with the responsibility of ensuring plans are produced, could unfortunately initiate or be succumbed when directed to destroy their plans. The consequences of which would generate a chain effect on many other organs of the structural fabric of the city.

That is the same city which they live in. The culprits would also be going through the same awful ordeal with all other residents of the city after their tenures. With smelly neighbourhood and contaminated water supply. It will then be a silent agony, when the benefits of the mischief and even the euphoria of imaginary wealth must have evaporated. Before the final departure, there will not be any strength or health left for the enjoyment of any worldly benefit.