The Senate’s plan to empower the Abuja Satellite Towns Development Agency will help bring about proper physical planning and development in the Federal Capital Territory, SUNDAY ABORISADE writes
Information from the Abuja Geographic Information System indicates that the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, came into existence by virtue of the FCT Act of 1976. The territory covers an approximately 8,000 square kilometers, while the city proper has a land area of 250 square kilometers.
The Federal Government approved a master plan for the city and the territory, designed by the International Planning Associates in 1979. Construction work started in the early 1980s, while the seat of the government finally shifted from Lagos to Abuja in 1991.
Efficient control, administration and management of the FCT landmass became the key to successful implementation of the Abuja master plan and the orderly development of a “city-beautiful” envisaged by the plan.
Of course, achieving this successfully cannot be without a reliable and up-to-date cadastral and land records. The Land Use Act of 1978 was the principal law guiding land acquisition, resettlement and its allocation to all eligible Nigerians, private, government organisations and non-governmental organisations.
It provided for the government to hold land in trust for the use and common benefit of all Nigerians, for the realisation of equity, fairness and justice in the control and management of land, resettlement and compensation purposes.
The system was, however, prone to a lot of problems such as multiple allocation of plots, land use abuses, encroachments, inefficient system of revenue generation, and proliferation of unplanned/squatter settlements.
Others are the use of obsolete survey equipment, rampant subdivisions and redesign of plots and extensions beyond the FCT master plan limits. This has resulted in serious limitation on good governance within the FCT.
Worried by the development, the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, recently warned residents against distortion of the master plan, saying defaulters would face the full wrath of the law.
The minister gave the warning while inaugurating the tree planting, landscaping and beautification of the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road) in Abuja.
He reiterated that the FCT Administration would not compromise the aesthetic beauty of Abuja, stressing that the city remained the window through which the world sees Nigeria.
He said, “I must warn all those who deface the environment of our beautiful city and abuse the Abuja master plan that the FCT Administration will take adequate and necessary steps to enforce discipline in these areas.
President Goodluck Jonathan, while inaugurating the board of FCDA, directed the FCT administration to continue to maintain the integrity of the master plan.
Jonathan, represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim, maintained that his administration was committed to developing Abuja and welcoming new initiatives to accelerate the transformation of the territory into an excellent capital.
He noted that the ongoing prosecution of officials found wanting in their handling of public funds was a proof that his leadership rejected the notion of governance as business as usual.
He said, “There are two things of equal importance that must be uppermost in your minds. First, the Federal Government will not condone any abuse of the master plan. Second, there must be transparency in your operations.
“We are committed to attracting private sector investments for the development of the Centenary City, as the initiative will brand Abuja as an international destination of choice with a distinct Nigerian flavour of culture, recreation and leisure: a green city, a business hub and a model for our continent.”
But even as the President and the FCT minister sounded this note of warning, the Senate did not want to leave anything to chance. It was therefore not surprising that the Upper House initiated a move to prevent the abuse of the master plan. For the lawmakers, one of the ways to ensure sanity in the physical planning and development of the city was to develop satellite towns by shifting the attention of real estate developers to the FCT suburbs.
So, last week, the lawmakers unanimously voted in support of a bill to create an agency charged with the development of the satellite towns in the FCT. In fact, our correspondent gathered that the document scaled second reading last week.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on FCT, Senator Smart Adeyemi, who sponsored the bill read for the first time last March 19, in his lead debate, noted that demographic studies put the population of Abuja’s urban residence at 2,245,000 as of 2012. The statistics, he said, made the city the fourth largest urban area in the country.
Justifying the need for a satellite development agency, the lawmaker noted that no city functions effectively while independent of its regional areas.
Adeyemi, who said the benefits of the development projects were the enhancement of socio-economic well-being of the people, added that the majority of those living in the rural areas were “the marginalised FCT indigenes.”
He added that the development of the new towns would provide formal and informal employment, boost food security in the country, and provide access to the villages.
The senator said, “It must be known that it is never going to be possible for all the people working in the FCT to reside within, as multitudes are repelled to the surrounding satellite towns.
“The responsibilities of the Satellite Town Development Agency included to open up/develop the satellite towns by providing infrastructure to the teeming rural dwellers, thereby improving their living standard.”
The lawmaker listed Bwari, Kubwa, Karshi, Kuje, Kusaki Yanga, Dobi, Anagada, and Gosa as the designated satellite towns.
He noted that in the 2013 FCT budget there was provision of N25.96bn for the agency’s take off. From the sum, he stated, N108m was for personnel costs while N1.7bn was for overhead cost.
Adeyemi added that the balance of N24.1bn was for capital projects for the services of the satellite towns for the year.
Some of the major projects for execution, as captured in the 2013 budget, included provision of engineering infrastructure to the satellite towns; dualisation of Jikwoyi – Karshi Road and selected township roads; and the construction of 5,000 units of affordable housing in satellite towns.
Other projects included the construction of STDA headquarters at Wasa; urban renewal and upgrading of Nyanya Labour Camp to accommodate 4,000 families; the design and construction of dam, treatment plant, tanks and other bulk water supply infrastructure to Karshi and the development of markets in four of the satellite towns, among others.
Some residents of the FCT who spoke with our correspondent described the move as laudable and urged the government to vote more funds for the provision of affordable housing estates and good road network in the identified satellite towns in order to encourage people to relocate there.
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