• Residents, stakeholders, others discuss way out
From Timothy Olanrewaju, Maiduguri
Apart from insurgency occasioned by the activities of Boko Haram in the North East, residents of Maiduguri, Borno State, are deeply worried by other urban challenges. These include rape, drug abuse, traffic congestion and land disputes.
The residents at a recent Review Forum of Maiduguri city affirmed that their living condition would be better if adequate measures were put in place to tackle these emerging challenges. The forum was motivated by the need to identify specific areas of urban challenges in selected cities in the continent and recommend appropriate measures to address them.
At the end of its deliberations, the forum identified issues of mass movement of displaced persons as a major factor exerting pressure on the dilapidated social, economic and physical infrastructure of the city.
Babakura Bukar, a member of the African Cities Research Consortium’s (ACRC), admitted: “Despite the many safety and security interventions over the last decade, there have been periodic clashes among youth groups in many communities, hike in mobile phone snatching and burglary as well as other crimes, forcing troubled residents in low-income quarters to resort to locally mobilised self-defence.”
Participants recalled that Maiduguri, with only 50,000 residents in 1950, has become complex with a population of about two million residents in 2022, adding that in the face of the expanding population, they strive daily to adjust to the complex and cosmopolitan nature of the city.
They confessed that the huge number of expatriates, including aid workers from diverse backgrounds, influenced their lifestyles and changed the city as a whole. They added that Maiduguri today struggles to cope with rapid transformation challenges including thriving cases of theft, pick pockets, burst in public places, disputes, sales and abuse of hard drugs.
A senior officer with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Borno State Command, Abdullahi Sardauna confirmed: “There are several spots in the city where youth access psychotic drugs or stimulants. It is becoming worrisome.”
Daily Sun gathered that scores of youths who fled to Maiduguri in the wake of attacks on their communities by the dreaded Boko Haram Islamist sect have joined and inflated the already buoyant population of drug peddlers and addicts.
One of them is Abba (other names withheld). He was about 12 years old when he escaped being captured by Boko Haram in the central part of the state.
On arrival in the state capital, he joined the older boys doing menial jobs.
In the process, he also met other “city boys.” They taught him how to use stimulants and hard drugs. His life has never been the same thereafter.
Commissioner for Environment, Yerima Saleh, charged residents to imbibe the culture of proper waste disposal and management system:
“People must be disciplined in the way they dispose of their refuse.
“Residents should not dump refuse in drainages provided by the government to address perennial floods. This is a big challenge, not only in Maiduguri but most cities in Africa.”
Officials of the Federal Road Safety Corp (FRSC), urged government to improve on the provision of appropriate signs and traffic structures to reduce accidents and traffic problems on the ways.
ACRC is a collaborative research programme that seeks to tackle complex urban development challenges in Africa’s rapidly changing cities, Lagos and Maiduguri inclusive.