President Bola Tinubu has said that the delivery of road infrastructure across Kwali Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) was fortifying the area as a food-producing hub for the territory.
Tinubu, represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, stated this in Dafa on Tuesday, while inaugurating the newly constructed Gomani-Dafa-Yangoji Road by the FCT Administration.
The president said that with the opening of the road corridor, farmers could move produce faster, buyers could reach the farms without delay and post-harvest losses would drop significantly.
He added that more importantly, Kwali could now stand on its own as a food-producing hub for the FCT and beyond.
According to Tinubu, roads like this keep families together by giving them reasons to stay at home and to build their lives at home.
“When we set out under the Renewed Hope Agenda, we agreed on one thing: development must reach every Nigerian; not just those at the city centre.
“Abuja cannot be a city of two worlds, with gleaming district lights but forgotten satellite towns. This road connects Gomani, Dafa and Yangoji to markets, to schools, to hospitals, and also to opportunities.
“It says clearly that the wealth of this nation belongs to all of us. Whether you live on a boulevard or you live on a farm track, you must take part in the wealth of this nation.”
He noted that for too long, the strength of rural communities was held back by poor access roads, with crops rotting away before reaching the market.
He added that young people left rural communities because the roads to their areas were impossible, stressing that instead of taking them up, the roads were bringing them down.
“Those things have changed today,” he said.
He commended the FCT Minister, Mr Nyesom Wike, for the purposeful leadership in delivering life-impacting projects across the city.
“Wike, you took my advice seriously, open up the area councils and match city development with rural development. You have earned us that trust here in this community and in this local government area,” Tinubu said.
In his remarks, Wike explained that the road projects were initiated following a request by Etsu Kwali, Luka Nizassan III, during a community engagement with stakeholders in the area to identify areas of need.
The minister explained that the community engagement was in adherence to Tinubu’s directive, to meet with community members, discuss and agree on areas that need government intervention.
According to him, the meeting was the first community engagement to entrench community participation in projects nomination for implementation in the area council.
“I remembered during the meeting, the traditional ruler of Kwali mentioned these three roads: A2 to Pai, Pai to Gomani, Gomani to Dafa and Dafa to Yagboji, which is about 43 kilometers.
“Today, to the glory of God, all our promises to them have been fulfilled.”
Wike also recalled that Tinubu had directed that development should not be concentrated in the city centre but should be extended to satellite towns.
“Since we commenced the inauguration of projects on June 9, this is the fourth project being inaugurated in satellite towns and rural communities,” he said.
Earlier, Mr Abdulkadir Zulkiflu, Coordinator, Satellite Towns Development Department, said that the project was awarded in November 2025, adding that the Gomani-Dafa-Yangoji Road is a part of the 43.4-kilometre FCT secondary regional road.
Zulkiflu said that the road commenced from the Abuja-Lokoja Expressway (A2) and traverses through Pai to Gomani and terminates at Yangoji town, making a crescent of road with entry and exit at two different points of the expressway.
“The first segment of this road is A2 to Pai, which is about 15-kilometre and was completed and inaugurated in June, 2025 to celebrate Tinubu’s second year in office.
“The second segment of the road, which is from Pai to Gomani with 15.4-kilometer of length, is still ongoing.
“Here we are today, inaugurating the third and the last segment of the road, Gomani to Dafa to Yangoji, which is about 13-kilometre long and connects Abuja-Lokoja Expressway at the second point,” he said.