Abuja is 39 today but they always forget…

ABUJA, the nation’s capital the constitution calls the “capital of the federation” but the bureaucrats who run the place mysteriously call “the federal capital territory” (FCT) is 39 years old today. Curiously, again all the authorities in Abuja are unaware of the party that should have been organized to mark the historic birthday.

 It is inscrutable that the two birthdays of Nigeria’s political capital, generally believed to be one of the few monumental achievements of Nigeria’s ‘militicians’ (military &political leaders) have always been forgotten by the rulers of the city. It was only the Obasanjo’s administration that celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2006 when the fiery Malam Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai was the FCT Minister. Then many of those identified as part of the builders of the capital were honoured in a grand ceremony by the then President.

 Specifically, Abuja has two distinctive birthdays: one is  February 3 (1976) when the then Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed proclaimed Abuja as Nigeria’s capital in a national broadcast, while the second one is December 12 (1991) when the  then Head of State, General Ibrahim Badamasi  Babangida (IBB) actualized the capital relocation by moving the seat of power from Lagos to Abuja. 

 It has always been a mystery of some sort that both the presidency and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), which includes the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) have always forgotten these dates with history (every year). When the capital’s relocation proper clocked 23 years on  December12,  2014, no one remembered. Even when the big men in Abuja celebrated the Centenary in 2014, nobody remembered Abuja as one of the monuments the government of Nigeria had created within the context of the Centenary!

 The 1999 Constitution as amended unequivocally makes the president the governor of the nation’s capital (Section 301). Section 302, however, authorizes the president to delegate his gubernatorial powers over Abuja to a minister if he so wishes. So, there is a sense in which the Office of the President can celebrate Abuja’s birthday. In the same vein, he (the president) can delegate the power to celebrate Abuja to any minister that seems to be sleeping on duty whenever December 12 and February 13 come calling. But since 2006, neither the presidency nor the FCTA has remembered to mark Abuja’s birthdays in a befitting manner. They all always forget that there was a leader that had a dream that they can’t run with at the moment! They always forget that it is important to mark such dates with seminars, symposia and even international summits on how to cope with contemporary issues such as  urban renewal and livable cities.

Murtala’s unfulfilled promises to Lagos…

Of all the failings exhibited about Nigeria’s capital, the most telling is failure to fulfill promises made to Lagos, that was proposed (by  Murtala) as future economic capital of the federation. 

In his broadcast to the nation on  February 3,  1976,  Murtala had promised that Lagos would not only be designated a “special area”, it would be  Nigeria’s commercial capital and the deal would be incorporated into the 1979 Constitution then in the works. His words:

Lagos will, in the foreseeable future, remain the nation’s commercial capital and one of its nerve centres. But in terms of servicing the present infrastructure alone, the committed amount of money and effort required will be such that Lagos State will not be ready to cope. It will even be unfair to expect the state to bear this heavy burden on its own. It is, therefore, necessary for the federal government to continue to sustain the substantial investment in the area. The port facilities and other economic activities in the Lagos area have to be expanded. There is need in the circumstance for the federal government to maintain a special defence and security arrangement in Lagos which will henceforth be designated a SPECIAL AREA. These arrangements will be carefully worked out and written into the constitution. Kaduna and Port-Harcourt are to be accorded similar status and designated special areas under the constitution”.

 This is one remarkable  promise to Lagos that no government since February 14, 1976 has fulfilled. What is more, the gridlock that Apapa-Oshodi expressway has become is always a reminder of the expediency of fulfilling the 39 years old promise to the last capital…Unfortunately, even those who are aspiring to rule Nigeria from May 29,  2015 do not research enough to track this monumental assignment that Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo ignored from February 14, 1976 to  May 29, 2007 when he handed over to Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Even President Goodluck Jonathan and his men have never remembered the promise to Lagos. They did not remember to plan for today! Where is institutional memory for Nigeria’s capital?