By Rayyanu Bala
There is a need for us, as a people, to begin to look beyond partisan interests and personal sentiments whenever issues that directly affect the welfare of our people are being discussed. Development should never be reduced to a political contest, especially when it concerns roads, healthcare, education, security, and other basic necessities that improve human life.
It is quite unfortunate that some individuals have continued to oppose the efforts of Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu in grading Onda/ Kana/ Apawu Road, coming up with all sorts of flimsy excuses to justify their opposition. One begins to wonder why an effort aimed at improving road accessibility and easing the movement of people and goods should generate unnecessary controversy among those who claim to have the interests of the people at heart.
The question is simple: What exactly is wrong with grading a road that serves the people? If the intervention is intended to ease transportation difficulties, improve access to communities, and reduce the suffering of road users, why should anyone turn it into a political issue?
Constructive criticism is welcome in every democratic society. However, criticism must be based on facts, sincerity, and a genuine desire to see things improve. When people deliberately look for faults in every positive intervention simply because of who is behind it, such opposition becomes difficult to distinguish from sheer political mischief.
Let us be honest with ourselves: those who oppose the grading of Onda/ Kana/ Apawu Road without presenting reasonable and constructive arguments are not demonstrating sincerity. Their actions suggest that political considerations have taken precedence over the welfare of the very people they claim to represent. Development should not be rejected simply because it does not fit into someone’s political calculations.
Interestingly, if those who are unhappy with the grading of Onda/ Kana/ Apawu Road, or who refuse to commend Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu for the intervention, are genuinely concerned about the development of Nasarawa Local Government Area, they should also be willing to acknowledge positive interventions that benefit our people, regardless of who initiated them.
For instance, the Keffi–Nasarawa–Toto–Abaji Road, which is being constructed as a concrete road under the Special Intervention Fund and facilitated by the Distinguished Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu is another important infrastructure project that deserves public commendations. Anyone who genuinely wants progress for Nasarawa and its surrounding communities should be interested in seeing such a project succeed and should thank Wadada for the efforts.
If we can acknowledge the importance of a major road project of this nature, why should we turn around and oppose the grading of another road that could provide immediate relief to residents and road users? Is development only acceptable when it is associated with our preferred political figures, or should we welcome every genuine effort that makes life better for the people?
This is where we must draw the line between genuine public interest and political hypocrisy.
We cannot claim to love our people while deliberately discouraging initiatives that could ease their daily struggles. We cannot demand better roads and, at the same time, condemn every attempt to improve road conditions. Above all, we cannot allow political rivalry to become more important than the welfare of our communities.
Our people deserve better than this. They deserve leaders and stakeholders who can put their differences aside and support initiatives that promote development. Where there are shortcomings, let us point them out constructively and suggest better solutions. Where there are concerns about quality, sustainability, or the long-term benefits of a project, let us raise them responsibly. But let us not manufacture excuses simply to discredit an effort because of political differences.
The welfare of the people must always come before political interests.
We therefore urge the good people of Nasarawa Local Government Area and the wider Nasarawa community to see beyond the shenanigans of these unprogressive elements among us who appear more interested in political point-scoring than in meaningful development.
The time has come for us to judge interventions on their merits, assess projects based on their benefits to the people, and encourage every sincere effort to improve our living conditions. No road should become a victim of political rivalry, and no community should be denied the benefits of development because of the personal or partisan interests of a few individuals.
At the end of the day, roads are not built for political parties; they are built for the people. They serve farmers transporting their produce, traders moving their goods, students going to school, patients seeking medical attention, and families travelling from one community to another.
These are the human realities that should guide our conversations.
Let us, therefore, embrace a more progressive approach to public discourse. Let us support what is beneficial, criticise what is wrong with honesty, and reject the habit of politicising every development initiative.
Development is not a competition over who deserves the credit; it is about who benefits from the results. When the people benefit, the entire community wins.
Nasarawa deserves progress, not endless political arguments. Our roads deserve attention, not unnecessary controversy. And our people deserve stakeholders who place their welfare above personal ambitions.
Let us choose development over division, sincerity over political deception, and the collective good over narrow partisan interests.
If you cannot appreciate Wadada’s road grading work on the Onda/Kana/Apawu Road, you cannot fail to appreciate his work on the Keffi–Nasarawa–Abaji Road.
