The villa makes it easy to get lost

When General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida moved the seat of the central government from Lagos to Abuja on December 12, 1991, he did so to hide himself. You can’t be active when you are hiding.

On August 17, 1991, he commissioned the third Mainland Bridge in Lagos. The bridge is the biggest project ever established in Lagos and since the commissioning of that bridge by General Babangida, no Nigerian leader has sited any other bigger project in Lagos.

On August 12, 1975, Brigadier General Murtala Mohammed the then head of state inaugurated a panel on the issue of transferring the nation’s capital out of Lagos. The panel was given up to six months to submit its report and make recommendations. The panel was directed to examine the desirability of retaining Lagos as the Federal capital of Nigeria. The panel was further directed to recommend a suitable alternative location should it determine that the Federal capital be moved out of Lagos. The panel was headed by Justice Akinola Aguda (10 June 1923- 5 September 2001). Justice Aguda was from Akure in Ondo state.

Dr. Aguda had his education at St. David’s School, Akure, Government College, Ibadan, Higher College, Yaba, London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London, England and School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.

He was the former Chief Justice of Botswana, administrator-general and public trustee, Western Nigeria, 1961-1964, legal draftsman, 1964-1967, dean, Faculty of Law, University of Ife, 1965-1966, director of Public Persecutions, Nigeria, 1967-1968, solicitor-general and Permanent-Secretary, Western Nigeria Ministry of Justice, 1968, Judge, High Court, Western State of Nigeria, 1968-1972, later Chief Judge, Ondo state until 1978, appointed director, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, 1978.
Unfortunately, he did not make the list to the Supreme Court.

Other members of the committee were Mohammed Isma (Secretary), Ajato Gandonu, a geography professor and town planner, Tai Solarin, an educator and social critic, Owen Feibai, O.K. Ogan, and Pedro Martins, the first Catholic Chaplain of the Nigerian Army.

On February 3, 1976, General Murtala Mohammed made a broadcast to the nation on the conclusions of the meeting of the Supreme Military Council. On the issue of the new Federal Capital, the General declared “the panel on the local of the Federal Capital has recommended that the nation’s should move out of Lagos to a Federal Territory of about 8,000 square Kilometre in the central part of the country. The Supreme Military Council has accepted the recommendations. The site recommended satisfied the Panel’s criteria of centrality, good and tolerable climate, land availability and use, adequate water supply, low population density, physical planning convenience, security and multi access possibility.

The area is not within the control of any other major ethnic groups in the country. We believe that a new Capital created on such virgin land, as suggested, will be for all Nigerians a symbol of their oneness and unity. The few local inhabitants in the area, who need to be resettled outside the area, will be resettled in lace of their choice, at Government expense.

In order to avoid land speculation in the area, a Decree is being promulgated immediately to vest all land in the Federal Territory in the Federal Government. A Federal Capital Development Authority is to be established to plan and administer the territory. An Administrator for the Federal Territory will soon be appointed to provide municipal services in the area. The Chairman of the Federal Capital Development Authority is expected to start work at once but the movement of the seat of the Federal Government out of Lagos is expected to take some ten to fifteen years.

The Present Administration is firmly committed to ensuring that the necessary groundwork is completed and construction work started within the next four years.

Lagos will, in the foreseeable future, remain the nation’s commercial capital and one of it nerve centres. But in terms of servicing the present infrastructure alone, the colossal amount and effort required will be such that Lagos state will not be able 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 investments in the area.

The port facilities and other economic activities in the Lagos area have to be expanded. There is need to in the circumstance for the Federal Government to maintain special defence and security arrangements in Lagos, which will henceforth be designated a ‘special area’. These arrangements will be carefully worked out and written into the new Constitution. Kaduna and Port Harcourt are to be accorded similar status and designated ‘special areas’ under the new Constitution”.

I want to believe that General Murtala Mohammed meant well by that declaration. But if we are to go by the words of the General, which he made 10days before he was assassinated, the Central Government has failed Lagos. The Central Government also failed Kaduna and Port Harcourt.  The 1979 Constitution forgot Lagos. In short the Central Government defaulted on its 1976 pledge to Lagos.

Since General Babangida moved the seat of government from Lagos to Abuja on December 12, 1991, Lagos has been abandoned by the central government. It should not be so. Although Lagos is constantly flattered as the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria, the expected facilities to be provided in Lagos are beyond the capability of the Lagos state government.

Fortunately we have a former of governor of Lagos State who is now the President of Nigeria. He too, has been one of those who had complained about the neglect of Lagos in the past. The expectation is that this anomaly will be corrected by him so that Lagos will get its dues.

For example, Tanzania moved its capital to Dodoma, yet Tanzania had not abandoned Dar es Salam in constructing infrastructure, same with Cote d’ivoire that moved its capital to Yamoussoukro. Till today Cote d’ivoire is still developing Abidjan. Brazil moved its capital to Brasilia but till today the Brazilian government had not abandoned its responsibilities to Rio de Janeiro.

In 1959, Pakistan made the strategic decision to relocate its capital from the southern metropolis of Karachi to the northern city of Islamabad. Although construction did not commence until 1961, the establishment of this new capital was seen as an emblem of the diverse Pakistani populace, detached from Karachi’s bustling commercial activities, yet accessible from all corners of the nation.

Russia’s historical oscillation between Moscow and St. Petersburg as its capital cities is noteworthy. St. Petersburg, founded by Peter the Great in 1703, held the capital status from 1712 to 1918 when the government ultimately reverted to Moscow.

This transition was officially authorised by the 4th all-Russian Congress of the Soviets on March 16, 1918, amid the volatile backdrop of the Russian Revolution. The congress based its decision on the evolving dynamics in Petrograd (St. Petersburg) and deemed Moscow a more suitable temporary capital for the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic.

To be continued tomorrow
Teniola is a retired Director in the Presidency, Abuja.