FCT Community Where Residents ‘Travel’ To Access Hospital Accuses Councilor Of Betrayal…But Lawmaker Calls Them Ingrates

If you live in Sauka community oppositie the Nigerian Immigration Service, you must pray not to fall sick while at home. If you suffer sudden ill health requiring emergency care, the chances are that you may die before you get to the nearest hospital located in Gwagwalada—which is about 2o kilometres away.

Sauka is a community without any government presence, and it’s under Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC). It’s home for nearly 5000 people, including non-indigenes. There’s an obvious lack of basic amenities such as primary health care facility, public conveniences, school,  police station and market.

“We have lost some members of this community as we travel over 35 kilometers to access health services at hospitals in Gwagwalada Local Government Area,” Yusuf Magaji , head of the community, told THE WHISTLER.

Two small private hospitals had recently been established in the area to take advantage of lack of primary healthcare facility. But this has not stopped people from dying due to lack of better healthcare, according to Magaji, as many find the private clinics unaffordable.

Magaji blamed the councilor representing them at AMAC, Biko Sunday, for not doing his job. He said the lawmaker had not been seen in the community since after his election.

“We are doing the little we can to take care of ourselves; we do not see or hear from the councilor of the ward. The functional water projects that we have here were delivered by private individuals; even the hospitals here are privately owned which made them less affordable.

“This place is very big, we are supposed to have at least a hospital, market, school, police station but we don’t have any except for a private hospital that was recently built and most of our people cannot afford their services,” he said.

Our correspondent discovered that residents still  practice open defecation around the community, especially around the stream which serves as laundering sites for women.

One could tell that the unhygienic practices among residents were some of the factors driving the spread of cholera cases in the community where more than 150 cases had been reported with several dead.

“There was a lady sick with cholera, she was taken to the private hospital here because the husband could not afford the fee, he took her away but she died before they got to Gwagwalada hospital,” he said, adding that  the community had lost many people “due to lack of government hospitals in this community.”

The Director of information, AMAC, Patience Olaloye told our correspondent that it is the councilors representing communities that present the needs of their communities to the council, adding that the Sauka community should hold their councilor responsible for their plight.

However, she stressed that in providing facilities for communities, the council looks at the priority needs of each ward, adding that its impossible to meet the needs of all communities at the same time.

“For Sauka community, I would advise they bring their need to the knowledge of their ward councilor, so that it can be considered in the next phase of project delivery in communities,” she said.

Our Councillor Is Unconcerned

However, the Councillor of Gui, who represents Sauka, Biko Sunday, has been described by residents as unconcerned and inaccessible.

Vincent Boust, Secretary of the Surveillance group in the community told our correspondent that the Councilor, who lives in the Gui community has not met the expectations of the people.

“This community is under Gui Ward, but we do not see our councilor, he is not accessible, he drives by most time without checking what is happening here,” he said, adding that it is Magaji and “those of us working with him, that are driving development in this community.”

When THE WHISTLER called the Councillor to get his reaction, he was initially uncooperative, asking impatiently how the reporter got his telephone contacts. He eventually agreed to grant an interview but asked the reporter to “get my office address from the person who gave you my number.”

During the short interview, he admitted lack of government presence, especially absence of government health facility. But the lawmaker said the people should be grateful to him for the other things he had done for them.

He said he provided boreholes and built a town hall for the community.

INTERVIEW: They Should Be Grateful For What We Have Done – Councillor Sunday

Sauka Community lacks basic amenities, such as government hospitals, schools,  police station among others. Are you aware and what are you doing to meet these needs?

It’s not true that we have not done anything for the people of Sauka, this council in my administration provided bore hole for the community.

There are about 27 communities under Gui area Council, and there is no way we can focus on one community and give them all the facilities they need.

There are some projects that we have done in Sauka, while there are also communities without any project at all.

I’m from Toge community; we also do not have primary health care. But Gbese community is close to us, so we use the health care facility in Gbese.

For communities with health care facilities now, when we begin plan for next line of projects, we will not consider them but focus on those that do not have.

We built town hall in Sauka, we built bore hole, but if it is health care centre, really it is not there but they have private hospitals.

Building a primary health care centre is my next target, and it will be captured in the budget next year.

They should also be grateful for the things we are doing for them, that way we will be encouraged to do more for them.

Every community is supposed to have projects, but there is no much fund.

Communities around the FCT are doing more compared to councils in the states.

The people also complained that you are inaccessible

That is not true; I go to Sauka almost every day.

In your opinion, what are the major problems in the community?

For now as you have pointed out, they do not have health care facility, and we are working towards establishing one.

– This story was produced in partnership with Civic Media Lab under its Grassroots News Project