29 years after, Zik Centre remains uncompleted

Some meters from the Minna-Tegina road, in Zungeru town in Niger State, the remains of the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Centre stands, surrounded by thick shrubs and tall grasses. It has been in such a state for about 29 years; abandoned midway into its construction by the contractors due to lack of funds and vandalised by […]

Some meters from the Minna-Tegina road, in Zungeru town in Niger State, the remains of the Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe Centre stands, surrounded by thick shrubs and tall grasses. It has been in such a state for about 29 years; abandoned midway into its construction by the contractors due to lack of funds and vandalised by scavengers.

However, even in its forlorn state, and stripped of the intended glory, the structure still towers over the birth city of Nigeria’s first indigenous president.

The edifice was conceived as a tribute to immortalise the late Owelle of Onitsha and its foundation laying ceremony was supposed to coincide with his 89th birthday in 1991. And, the idea for the project according to Salman Yusuf, Chairman of the Zungeru development Association, was well received by Zik himself.

“The late Dr. Zik’s love for the centre was never in doubt as he had in 1983 during his presidential campaign under the platform of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), taken time off his political schedule to offer prayers at the spot very close to his birth place in Zungeru. He promised to uplift the spot by erecting a library of international standard before the idea of the centre was sold to him,” he explained.

Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that there was a fund-raising ceremony aimed at mobilising fund for the project which cost was put at N 55,000,000.00.  The fundraising, which had the then military president, General Ibrahim Babaginda, as the special guest of honour, was attended by the crème-de-la-creme of the society. In attendance were Lt. Col. Lawan Gwadabe, the then Governor of Niger State, who was the chief host; the late Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero as the chairman of the occasion; while Chief Gabriel lgbinedion, the Esama of Benin, the chief launcher and Alhaji Maitama Sule, the Dan Masanin Kano, was the chairman of the fundraising committee.

The project, which was expected to serve as a historical site, was designed to accommodate some offices, a library and a conference centre with 6,000 capacity. Daily Trust on Sunday learnt that a total amount of N65,000,000.00 including cash and cheques was realised from the effort outside the many pledges. However, when the project commenced, it was discovered that only N20,000,000.00 was in the account, with some of the cheques bouncing at the point of clearances while the pledges were not redeemed. The structure that came out of the cash at hand is the skeleton that hangs over the ancient town today.

Salman said during the foundation laying ceremony, the late Owelle had noted that commissioning the edifice would be last wish on earth. “What would have been my wish and joy is to witness the commissioning of the centre named after me as I have just witnessed the fund-raising and foundation laying ceremonies,” he was quoted to have said.

However, the expectation did not come to pass as few years after the ceremony, the project was abandoned and with it, its progenitor’s dream. The late Owelle did return to the spot six years later but not to certainly commission it, but to pay his last respect to the town which had birthed him. Precisely on November 12, 1996 his corpse was taken to the abandoned centre as part of activities to mark his final burial rites.

Salman said the gesture was also part of the strategies to draw attention to the need to complete the centre as a mark of honour to the late Owelle. However, the “show” never achieved the intended effect as it’s fast becoming one of the many relics of Lord Lugard’s Zungeru.

Today, the uncompleted structure plays host to lizards, snakes and their likes in the day and hoodlums who converged there to launch raids on the town at night. The structure, has also suffered vandalism as the rods used for the building were scavenged. It was also gathered that the materials ordered by the contractor before the project could not progress, have since been stolen.

Malam Tanko Madaki, an elder in the community reflected on the many benefits the project would have attracted to the town.  “The project would have brought development not only to Zungeru but the state considering the fact that its aim was to serve as a tourist attraction.

It would also have opened up commercial opportunities for the town, in addition to drawing attention to other tourist sites in the town,” he opined. He said abandoning the all-important project shows how ungrateful a nation can be to the town of its birth and even leaders.

Many are wont to agree with Malam Tanko’s misgivings as the nation and its leaders watched as this all-important town in the history of the country’s amalgamation declined and stagnated through decades in importance and civilization. The cache of history in the ambit of Zungeru town is enormous.

Beyond serving as the birth place of Nigeria’s two illustrious leaders, late Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, it was where the northern and southern protectorates were merged by Fredrick Lord Lugard and also served as the colonial headquarters where the affairs of the country were administered.  So, the relics which hitherto defined such existence were diverse and scattered across the old city but the bigger challenge is that they are in ruin.

The Government House, where Lugard once ran his government; his office and residence; the United Mission Church built in 1905; the railway terminus; the steam generators that provided 24-hour transmission of electricity and water to colonialists’ homes; Officers Mess; the head offices of pioneer multinationals – John Holt, the Royal Niger Company and UAC, and of course the Executioner’s Gallows, where troublesome traditional rulers were tried and killed, among others are the many relics that needed conserving for posterity.

Not less important were also the homes of the great Zik and Ojukwu, who both added to the glory of the ancient town of their birth. But even a professional conservator would know that salvaging the remains of the town’s colonial past would be a herculean task.

The town’s community association, led by Salman, has been battling to document the town’s rich history through what it code named “Operation Safe Zungeru”. However, like folklore, information on all that transpired over 100 years ago were handed down through generations by those who even watched the proceedings from afar. “It is a work in progress and I can tell you that we have made appreciable progress,” Malam Tanko averred.

A teacher and researcher, late Mohammed Abdullahi, led the preservation team, having not only inherited the knowledge of Lugard’s Zungeru at its zenith, but played around most of the edifices while growing up around them. As a teacher in the community primary school, Mohammed has been the natural guide to most visitors who pause to have a glance at Nigeria’s colonial past. Even while around, his son Jibrin, became well armed to run that errand in his stead and following his demise some years ago, Jibrin naturally stepped into his shoes.

A tour round the relics by any visitor to the town would naturally start from what remains of the western bridge, which purpose was to demarcate the natives from the foreigners. Then the ride over Gada Mai Tulu across River Inna Maye which connects the railway station and the second section of Zungeru city where offices and residential accommodation were constructed for colonial staff.

Mai Tulu, which was completed in 1902, got its name from the pot-like shaping of the bridge. Mai Tulu has weathered all unfriendly storms for over 100 years, standing tall and remaining unbowed even as other relics succumb to the harsh reality. It was and remains the only link to other sites like the high imposing residence of the Governor General on a hill south of the Inna Maye River.

But the intimidating structure, which dwarfs all others across the town, has since bowed to age and neglect. So also is the famous amalgamation office and hall where the marriage between the Northern and Southern protectorate was consummated over a 100 years ago. “It was in this place that the name Nigeria, which was suggested by the wife of Lord Lugard, Flora Shaw, was adopted,” Salman offered.

The Governor General’s mess, where he retires after a hard day’s work, has long bowed to the elements, but the stone table south of the main building where he hosted guests to afternoon tea and the swimming pool were still visible reminders of those glorious past. The stone table still stands; as well as the flower vessel and swimming pool, which interior now has weeds in place of water.

Other facilities such as the officers mess for the Europeans and Africans; the OC Calvary’s residence; the visitors’ lodge; the Kila Kwata (Clerks quarters) have all been reduced to rubbles, leaving only the foundations as references.

Even the execution gallows, where troublesome traditional rulers were put to death also suffered the same fate. But the stoops; the concrete footpath through which the offenders walked to their gruesome end and the slab where the executioners wash themselves of the splashes of blood after the act, are the standing reminder of such offensive display.

However, unlike the others, the railway segment of the development of Zungeru survived, having been inherited by the Nigeria Railway Corporation. Some of the quarters are still housing the corporation staff and only slight modifications have taken place in the station.

Also visible are the gigantic columns that once held the famous folding bridge on River Inna, which connects the railway station with the Lugard residence. “The bridge was for the exclusive use of the Governor General. It derived its name from a foldable extension that is laid out anytime Lugard wanted to cross from his lodge. It is in two parts – the southern embankment of the river and the second section which can be folded is from that point to the embankment,” he explained.

Like the other relics, the dam across Inna Maye River, which served as a source of electricity and water to the residence of the Governor General and offices and homes of European staff as well as railway quarters has since been buried with sand.  What is left is the embankment and the tank where water is pumped into before distribution. With the systematic decline of the town over the years, the Zik centre initiative was to raise the hope of residents and key stakeholders, only to be dashed when it was abandoned.

Hope again rose for the town when the nation was to celebrate its centenary birthday. But that also was not to be because in preparation for the centenary celebration, the organisers picked Abuja for the event. “We were hoping that this town which gives birth to what is today Nigeria would have had the honour of being the centenary city with the Zik Centre as the secretariat,” Samanu Yusuf said.

He however advocated that “The centenary secretariat can still be moved to Zungeru, especially with the new focus on developing tourism.” But whether the nation’s policy designers would take the advice remains to be seen.