By February of 1979, the Abuja master plan was
ready but the building of the city did not really commence until 1980, after
the assumption of office of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the nation’s president. He
devoted much time to the building city.
It was the
alteration of the master plan, with buildings springing up in the wrong places,
that force Mallam Nasir el Rufai, former Federal Capital
Territory minister, to
insist on the demolition exercise that he embarked upon. According to the
former minister, it was imperative for the nation to preserve the beauty of the
capital city. But the exit of el-Rufai from government has not led to the end
of the demolition exercise as effort are still on to rid the Federal Capital of
anything that would detract from making it a city that will elicit pride from
Nigerians and foreigners alike.
Speaking
recently on the effort of the government to improve the state of Abuja, the current FCT
minister Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, said the FCT administration was
doing its best to upgrade infrastructure and facilities in the city to meet the
international standards.
He added
that the FCT administration was committed to the development of not just the Abuja but also the
satellite towns as a deliberate way of decongesting the city center. He also
disclosed that the administration was improving the transportation links
between the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the area councils through the
construction of light railway networks and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes for
mass transit buses.
However,
despite the splendour of Abuja, the major
concern of the common man is that the initial plan of making the Federal Capital Territory
a home for every Nigerian is fast becoming mirage.
The ongoing
renewal exercise in the city has driven away many low-income and middle income
earners in the city because of cost of living in the capital city is way above
the means of the average Nigeria. So, to the average Nigeria,
Abuja, the
Federal Capital, is for the very wealthy and the political class and not a home
for all.
The reason
for the movement of the Federal Capital from Lagos
to Abuja
-
Geographical, economical and political
1.
Inadequate land for expansion
2.
Urban crises
3.
Lack of proper cosmopolitan orientation
4.
Lack of locational centrality
5.
Urban congestion
-
Inadequate land for expansion: - There is no enough or
not good enough land in Lagos
for development in terms of structure. The space in Lagos is not enough for future development
and as a capital city, there should be a room for development. The space that
is been used for federal capital in Abuja
is about 800,000 hect.
-
Urban Crisis: - The rate of difficulty in Lagos is at the high side, the dangers in Lagos
and the rate of crime in Lagos
state is too much and as a capital city, there should be peace in the country.
-
Lack of locational centrality: Lagos state is not been center in the map,
and there is a need for the capital city to be centralize for so many reasons.
-
Urban congestion: The population in Lagos state is too much.
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Justification of the movement of the Federal Capital From Lagos to Abuja
-
The mission is to build Abuja
city ad territory in compliance with the Abuja
master plan and to deliver services. This is aimed at improving the overall
quality of its residents.
-
To also ensure and manage efficiency, performance and
output through key performance indicators.
In
achieving the key deliverables, the FCTA had increased the impact and outcome
of government spending on the resident through the national and statutory
budgets and internally generated revenues and other sources.
The cost
and benefit of the relocation of the capital city from Lagos to Abuja
Cost
|
Benefit
|
1.
It lead to high cost of site
2.
Compensation cost
3.
Increase in transportation
4.
Increase government expenditure
5. Cost of
physical development
|
1.
It increase value of the land
2.
Employment opportunity
3.
Abuja is well
planned over any city
4.
Centrality of the capital city
|
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