Residents of Giwa Local Government Area are breathing easier after the Store Bridge on the Marabar Yakawada–Kaya Road reopened following reconstruction.
The bridge had been impassable for over twenty years, cutting off communities especially during rainy seasons. Now, farming, trade, and healthcare have resumed across the isolated areas.
Shehu Muharazu drives passengers and goods for a living in Kaya village. He told journalists that the old collapsed bridge made every rainy season unbearable for motorists.
"When rains came, getting passengers and goods to Giwa market became impossible," Muharazu explained. Instead, he and other drivers had to detour through Sabuwa and Funtua in Katsina State, burning fuel and money.
The longer routes pushed transportation costs sky-high. Many people simply stopped traveling, he noted, which meant drivers lost income.
Mallam Ibrahim farms in Marabar Yakawada and knows the struggle firsthand. Heavy rains upstream would flood the bridge, trapping farmers who'd finished their day's work.
"You'd arrive at the bridge after working the fields and find water everywhere," Ibrahim recalled. Hours would pass before the water level dropped enough to cross safely.
Healthcare suffered badly without the bridge. Mallam Muhammad Aminu, from Gadagau community, said pregnant women and sick patients faced dangerous delays.
Primary Healthcare Centres in Gadagau and Maraban Fatika couldn't send urgent referrals to bigger facilities. Preventable maternal and infant deaths resulted from these delays, according to Aminu.
"This bridge has changed everything for pregnant women and vulnerable people needing emergency care," he said. Access to hospitals is now swift and reliable.
The bridge reconnects southern and northern sections of Giwa Local Government Area. It also links residents to neighboring communities across the border in Katsina State.
Ahmed Maiyaki, Kaduna's Commissioner for Information and Culture, led journalists on a tour inspecting the project. Governor Uba Sani had requested the visit to show media the real impact of his administration's work.
According to Maiyaki, the Store Bridge reconstruction proves the governor's focus on rural communities. "This isn't just concrete and steel," the commissioner stated.
He emphasized that the project symbolizes Uba Sani's push for inclusive development statewide. Infrastructure investments directly improve citizens' quality of life across Kaduna, Maiyaki argued.
Residents credit the governor's rural transformation agenda with the bridge's completion. They say the project restored their ability to farm, trade, and access medical care.
Commuters no longer fear the rainy season. Farmers can reach markets reliably now.
What was once a two-decade nightmare has transformed into a functioning lifeline. Communities previously isolated now feel reconnected to the broader state economy.
