A group of women, known as ‘Able Women’, have taken up the repair of the dilapidated access road to their community, Byazhin-Across, a community in Kubwa, a suburb in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The access road leading to the community has been in a bad state, causing accidents for the residents.

Khadijat Kosoko, a member of the group, said the project started in 2019 as an act of love for society and humanity.

“Seeing how pregnant women were having miscarriages, students falling from bikes made us come up with the idea to help the community fix the deplorable road.

“We started with filling potholes. A man saw us and offered to help with financial assistance. So we decided to fix the whole road, using cement, stones and sand.

“We blocked the road temporarily and asked for assistance from motorists and passersby. We collected N30, N50 and N100 daily from motorists to support the road construction.

“The amount of money we got in a day was surprising. So with what we were able to gather, the work commenced in earnest,” she said.

A school proprietress and a member of the group, Rose Obeahon, said despite the fund raised by blocking the road, funding the project was not easy, adding that they were grateful to some generous residents.

“A man was driving out one day, stopped by and asked us how much we needed at the moment. We told him N50,000 and he immediately gave us part of the money.

“Some churches and business owners in the area have also been very supportive,” she said.

Mrs Obeahon said that the women workforce sells tickets of N50 daily to road users on the road to raise funds for the next road construction.

“When we don’t have enough funds from the road users, we take from our purses to also assist in the work,” she said.

The leader of the group, Bola Shitta, popularly known as Mama Kpomo, said they had experienced countless challenges from being cheated to some people refusing to contribute and others insulting and calling them all sorts of names.

Mrs Shitta, however, commended the women, stating that they all had been hardworking and diligent. “They all have respectable jobs but decided to volunteer for this project.

“By the grace of God, if the government does not intervene or assist us, we will keep on doing the good work. We will go beyond this place and take the project further,” she said.