TOWARDS DECONGESTING ABUJA

BY DR. S.A. SHAIBU (JP)

Abuja is now becoming like Lagos. Traffic congestion is now an everyday problem. This is because everybody wants to be located in the city centre. This again brings to the fore the need to go back to the basics of Abuja Master plan. Yes, Abuja city is not synonymous with Federal Capital Territory. It is not conceptualized to have development muddled up in the capital city. There is the need for us to go back to the drawing board. The bane of the present challenges in our developmental journey is that there is a need for leaders at the various tiers of government to go back to the dreams of our founding fathers. Abuja should not replicate or duplicate the problems of Lagos. And to do this, we need to go back to the basis of satellite towns’ development- to decongest Abuja.

This can be done by directing some Ministries, departments and agencies to go to designated satellite towns. For instance, the Ministries Agriculture and defence, because of their strategic value could be moved out of the city center to the suburbs. We can go on and on. Many of the agencies are presently compounding the growing congestion of the city which is meant to be the model of capital city development in the entire world. In the original master plan, specific satellite towns were designated as industrial bases, Agriculture basis, automotive centre, science and technology centre as well as University/Education centre. This was meant to ensure even development of the entire capital territory. What do we see now? Everyone, as well as organizations in both the private and public sectors want to be in the city centre. The situation has gone so bad that even some organizations with the gigantic and huge complexes have abandoned them to be in rented apartment in the city centre. This was not the concept of Abuja development.


Need we say more about the need for inter city and intra-city rail, road, mass transit and metro projects that are vital to modern city development? The on-going rail option is a step in the right direction. We can do more. There is the need for government to ensure funding for the project to enable the completion of the work on schedule. There is also the need for collaboration by all and sundry to make Abuja the centre of excellence in construction and development engineering. The present dualization of some major entry points to Abuja is commendable. Other ministries, parastatals and the private sectors that are insisting on further congesting the city thereby compounding the problem of the city should be directed to the satellite towns of FCT. The teeming beggars and youths that are unemployed in Abuja should be sent to rehabilitation centres that teach different entrepreneurial skills in business, farming and plantations cultivations outside the city centre.
If we follow all these and devout more time to planning and projection, Abuja will indeed be the pride of the Nation.

Source: FRCN daily commentary