By Dele Ogbodo
Abuja, Nigeria’s administrative capital that is strategically and centrally located at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT),
was rain drenched on Thursday upending the usual attendance of workers at their various offices.
A financial expert on tax matters who spoke though on anonymity to SHARPEDGENEWS, said the very low attendance at the offices occasioned by the day’s endless rain in both the private and public sectors would have robed the nation of millions of naira that he cannot quantified as at the time of this report.
The dark cloud that enveloped the skyline of Abuja at the early hours of the day gave the sign of what is to come as Muslim worshipers around Kubwa and Dutse, satellite towns in FCT, scampered from their mosques various as the sky becomes blighted with impending rains.
No sooner than the rain started without its usual breeze that commuters quickly retraced their steps back to their houses leaving the various express roads that linked the city centre empty.
The Kaduna-Kubwa express road of 5 five lane that has become notorious congestion and hold up from around Dutse junction through Charly-Boy overhead bridge to the popular Gwarimpa busstop was too free an express way to behold.
Mr. Ikechukwu Innocent, a resident of Mararaba outskirt of Nassarawa State and the FCT, who was used to making it to his office at Area 3 at between 9am and 9.30 am, informed that he arrived his office at 7am, adding that this unusual.
Justifying his early arrival to Area 3, the Information Tech expert, said the Mararaba road known for its hold up menace was for the first without any hiccups and hold up because commuters and cars were trapped at home because of the rain.
The usual rush to office at the federal secretariat where over a greater chunk of federal government’s workforce earned their living from was lonely and deserted as some staff drenched on the rain trickle in even at mid day for the day’s work.
Taxi cabs drivers were quick to take advantage of the weather phenomenon to hike their fares. For instance Mr. Olaitan Sunday, said he paid N300, from Kubwa to Area 1 roundabout instead of the usual N200 that used to be the norm.
With the rain, falling all day and several self employed workers forced to stay back at home, the usual primary sing song resonates: Rain rain, go away, come and rain another day…little Johnny wants to play.
In an SMS sent to the Nigeria Meteorological Agency’s (NiMet) Head of Media, Mrs. Theresa Ushie, to confirm the agency’s Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) 2019 prediction on flooding around the North central Nigeria, she promised to get back with her background check, but as at the time of going to press, Ushie, was yet to make her disclosure as according to her, she was on transit.