By Adamu Abdullahi
Despite repeated assurances from the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) that billions of naira have been released to revamp health centres across the FCT, the reality in Kuje Area Council tells a different story.
Thousands of residents in Agwai, Sabo, and Dafara communities in Kuje Area Council are in distress as their only primary healthcare facilities remain in deplorable condition.
Dafara Primary Healthcare Centre (PHC) stands as a ghost of what was once a lifeline to the community. For over six years, its doors have remained locked. The building is dilapidated—its roofing torn apart, ceilings collapsing, and medical equipment nowhere to be found. It is not merely non-functional; it has become a stark symbol of prolonged neglect.
Sabo PHC presents an even more troubling situation. Originally built to serve residents, the facility is now reportedly occupied by herders. Its equipment has been vandalised, shelves stripped of essential drugs, and its rooms left without staff. Locked and abandoned, it has been reduced to a shell of its intended purpose, while residents are forced to seek medical care elsewhere.
Agwai PHC is barely operational. It opens occasionally, primarily during immunisation campaigns. There is no electricity, no essential drugs, no functional medical equipment, and no permanent healthcare personnel to provide consistent services. For many residents, the nearest functioning health facility is over 37 kilometres away—a distance that poses grave risks during emergencies.
These centres were meant to serve as the first line of defence for rural communities. Instead, they now stand as monuments to abandonment. Mothers, children, and the elderly are left without access to basic healthcare, compelled to travel long distances for services that should be available within their communities.
The contrast between official claims and on-the-ground realities is stark. While government reports highlight billions allocated to healthcare revitalisation, communities such as Dafara, Sabo, and Agwai continue to grapple with decay and neglect. Pregnant women, children with high fevers, and elderly residents with chronic illnesses are left with limited options—often relying on untrained local providers or undertaking risky journeys to urban centres.
This is not merely a story of deteriorating buildings; it is a story of broken trust. The people of Kuje have been promised accessible healthcare. What they have received instead is silence, neglect, and abandonment.
