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40 years on, Abuja against the tide of challenges

By Itunu Ajayi, Abuja
16 February 2016   |   2:55 am
The broadcast made by late General Ramat Murtala Mohammed on 3rd February 1976 was informed by the decision of the government to move the capital of Nigeria away from Lagos and by the next day, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Act came into existence. It is now 40 years since the conception of a central place that would pass for Nigeria’s capital city came to fruition.
Loyola Jesuit College, in Abuja

Loyola Jesuit College, in Abuja

The broadcast made by late General Ramat Murtala Mohammed on 3rd February 1976 was informed by the decision of the government to move the capital of Nigeria away from Lagos and by the next day, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Act came into existence. It is now 40 years since the conception of a central place that would pass for Nigeria’s capital city came to fruition.

Indeed, the challenges that arose from congestion in Lagos which was the former capital city f Nigeria informed the establishment of an alternative place. Lagos previously served a dual role of a capital city and a state, and so there was the need to ease the burden on it, and the Justice Akinola Aguda led committee settled for Abuja. But it was President Sheu Shagari that actually started the construction of the city.

The initial challenge of the FCT was the rate at which the relocation of government officials from Lagos to Abuja was hurriedly done by the then military administration of Babangida. With the planned infrastructure yet to be put in place as indicated in the master plan, the city is currently suffering from the anomaly of poor implementation of plans.
The military administration of Ibrahim Babangida eventually signed the decree formally declaring Abuja as the new FCT on 12th December 1991.

With that announcement, Nigeria became one of the few countries that moved its capital territory from one city to another.
Others were Brazil which relocated its capital from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia, the US moved its capital from New York to Washington DC and Australia from Melbourne to Canberra.

We will not allow the re-emergence of slums and squatter settlements in the city, or the conversion of public land to private use and the rapid degeneration of the city into a disorderly urban market by conversion of residential neighbourhoods to commercial use

The FCT had been administered by 15 men as ministers since inception. The list include Mobolaji Ajose-Adeogun, John Jatau Kadiya, Iro Abubakar Dan Musa, Haliru Dantoro, Mamman Jiya Vatsa, Hamza Abdullahi, Gado Nasko, Jeremiah Timbut Useni, Mamman Kotangora,Ibrahim Bunu, Mohammed Abba Gana, Nasir Ahmed el-Rufai, Aliyu Modibbo Umar, Muhammadu Adamu Aliero and Bala Mohammed.The 16th man to administer FCT is Mallam Mohammed Musa Bello.

In his capacity as the minster of the FCT, Bello said he inherited gamut of challenges ranging from overstretched infrastructure due to rapid population growth, poor maintenance culture, poorly maintained roads, blocked water and sewer lines, poor waste management practices, and poorly maintained street and traffic lights system. Street begging, hawking and poor sanitation also contribute to the problems of the city.

Apart from the Abuja Geographical Information System (AGIS), which provides a computerized geo-spatial data infrastructure and a one stop for all land matters for the FCT, the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) is the agency saddled with the responsibility of waste collection and disposal and other environmental matters, even though evidence shows that they seem to have Speaking on the inadequacy of the AEPB, he explained that as part of his commitment to make Abuja environmentally friendly and secure, he personally visited and met with the staff and management of the agency with the view to improving the cleanliness of the city, waste management and removal of the illegal and environmentally hazardous structures within the next three months.

Bello affirmed his believe in the continuity of government and insisted that all uncompleted projects would be addressed first and completed before initiating new ones while the new ones that would be initiated would be projects that would add value to the lives of residents.

Abuja, noted for high cost of rent while a lot of empty houses are scattered all over the city especially the high brow areas, Bello said the plan of his administration is to embark on massive low housing scheme in collaboration with the private sector.

A former FCT minister, Nasir el-Rufai indeed worked hard to preserve the sanctity of the Abuja master plan, but the procedure for construction in the city has s been relaxed since his exit.

In order for Abuja not to turn to another urban slum, Bello said slums would be pulled down within the next three months.
“I have directed all agencies of FCTA to ensure strict compliance with and full legal enforcement of the provisions of the Abuja Master Plan to address instances of violations and abuses such as building on green areas and sewer lines. We will not allow the re-emergence of slums and squatter settlements in the city or the conversion of public land to private use and the rapid degeneration of the city into a disorderly urban market by conversion of residential neighbourhoods to commercial use,” he added.

Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar who was a former minister of the FCT between 27th July 2007 and 29th October 2008, while speaking with The Guardian on the prospect, challenges, the design and how the city can be improved,” said the city had not done badly in the last forty years.

I want to say that 40 years of establishment of the FCT is a period of stock taking not only for the FCT but for the whole of Nigeria at large. To take cognizance of the fact that we have done well, to create a city out of almost nothing was not an easy task and in spite of all the imperfection, in spite of all the loopholes, we have been able to achieve the purpose of which the FCT was conceived in the first place and that is to find a place where all Nigerians would have a sense of unity, where no particular section will lay claims to. You know not the usual claim of being an ‘Omo Eko’.

“Sometimes when we talk of our achievements, we most times don’t want talk about the negatives we are facing, but the truth is that there are still challenges but in the overall, we can say the FCT had done well in the last forty years. Despite the challenges on ground, we should be happy with ourselves with the hope that we can still do better; there is no doubt about it. And the master plan we always talk about is not sacrosanct, it is subject to change’’.

On the challenges of the FCT ranging from congestion to tired infrastructures, Modibbo said they originated from the lack of projection by the team that designed the city, saying they did not consider the fact that Abuja population will grow over time as a result of its status as the federal capital of Nigeria.

President of the Original Inhabitants Development Association (OIDA), Danladi Jeji, a coalition of the nine tribes of the FCT and an association that had over the years agitated for the FCT to be treated as a state, said their agitations are tailored towards correcting governance.

He said situation where the indigenes of the FCT remain stateless with nobody giving them a voice at the National House of Assembly is unacceptable.
“We are Nigerians and we should be involved in the running of our affairs… Nigeria has 36 children with FCT, so are we part of the country or not, that is the question to which we demand an urgent answer’’.

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