As Nasarawa chases dream to Singapore

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Ambassador Nonye Rajis-Okpara, has during the visit, organized a team of investors in the south-east Asian country to meet with the governor, and discussions were held on various business interests, including the development of a master plan to recover the state’s landscape from the steady growth of slums.The state government […]

Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Singapore, Ambassador Nonye Rajis-Okpara, has during the visit, organized a team of investors in the south-east Asian country to meet with the governor, and discussions were held on various business interests, including the development of a master plan to recover the state’s landscape from the steady growth of slums.
The state government already has an ongoing reform programme in land management. Its implementation has led to the award of a N2.7 billion multi-faceted contract called Nasarawa Geographic Information System (NAGIS).
 Although the project was conceived during the first quarter of 2012 and awarded   on May 19 of same year, the state government appears to be taking a cue from development programmes in Abuja, where the Abuja Geographic Information Systems (AGIS) is already reaping mouth-watering revenues for the FCT Administration (FCTA).
Al-Makura’s first official visit to Singapore last year further inspired the shopping for investors in the execution of NAGIS.
 The Nasarawa Development Platform (NDP), an initiative of Siraj Consulting Engineers; Aeroprecisa Limited, GIS Transport, and Nasarawa State Ministry of Lands, Survey and Town Planning (MLSTP) were partners in project execution of GIS and Digital Aerial Mapping, which are all expected to beautify the state and create a twin city to Abuja. The road map has already been created and the dream of achieving a city like Singapore in Nasarawa is being actualized gradually.
A supervisor of the project, Sonny Agassi, said the implementation will also lead to the creation of six cadastral districts for a start. According to him, decent and liveable cities will be created at Karu, the gateway to Abuja, Lafia, parts of Doma, as well as Keffi and Akwanga.
 “It is an implementation that will give us an out-of-this world landscape. The governor’s dream is to execute some mind blowing and live able cities in order to phase out the growth of slums in the gateway state called Nasarawa. Our project is further inspired by our August 2012 visit to Singapore which has emerged as a model for live able and sustainable cities. We are second to Abuja with the GIS project but I bet to insist that ours is something Nigeria has never seen,” Agassi said.
The 2012 visit to Singapore was at the instance of Centre for Liveable Cities (CLC) and the Singapore Civil Service College(CSC), which jointly organized last year’s summit that attracted over 1,000 delegates, up from 800 delegates in the 2008 event. Those that attended included ministers, governors, mayors, senior government officials and business leaders.
 The governor, Agassi as well as Barrister Abdullahi Mohammed, the then state’s attorney -general, were in attendance at the World Cities Summit (WCS) otherwise called World Mayors’ Forum, which is a premier event that brings together practitioners and policy makers with leading experts in their field to identify innovative solutions to the most pressing challenges facing cities today.
It is an international conference series on public governance and the sustainable of cities safe environment in terms of clean water and sanitation.
Speakers representing diverse cities in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia presented papers to address issues on the practical aspects of city governance and integrated approaches to urban development under the summit’s theme of ‘Liveable and Sustainable Cities for the Future’. Executive Director of UN-HABITAT, Haruhiko Kuroda, President of the Asian Development Bank and Mr James Adams, vice- president of East Asia and Pacific Region, World Bank, were there, as part of the team that the Nasarawa delegation robbed minds with.
So, when the governor returned to Singapore this time, although on a different official mission, he appeared to have had a mindset.
At the meeting with the array of investors from Singapore at the instance of the Nigerian High Commissioner, Al-Makura informed them of his implementation of NAGIS and his desire to take Nasarawa State’s project close to the landscape of Singapore. He said the project is executed by a multinational firm called Siraj Holdings.
“Our administration is bent on taking Nasarawa State at least close to what we have seen here in Singapore. Singapore, to our administration represents more than a beautiful city; it is a place for big dreams; where dreams are actualized into big realities. The landscape is such that tells a first time visitor about the story of a people determined, and committed to building a liveable and sustainable city.
“We have a land reform system whose implementation is superb, and is already yielding dividend for our people,” the governor said.
 He described Nasarawa as a place where population growth is steady because of its proximity to Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
“Workers in Abuja and their families populate Nasarawa and overstretch the few existing infrastructure we have. If we do not work to turn around the state, we are going to have serious problems in the near future. NAGIS is the first step to solving this problem and through NAGIS; we are planning districts with basic facilities for health, school and commercial centers. Our landscape and interlock with Abuja, will not look different from the FCT,” he said.
One of the investors who listened to Al-Makura’s presentation was Er. Tay Heng HockLouis, managing director of Surbana, a multinational, premium building consultant with offices in 16 cities across Asia and the Middle-East. Over the last 50 years, Surbana has sculpted the skyline of Singapore, created a million homes for over 85 percent of the population in an integrated living environment.
Er. Louis who listened keenly to Al-Makura, hailed his courage and dream. He talked of the big dream that is today, Singapore, adding that the country’s first Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew, ideas moved the south-east Asian Island’s from a third world to a first world country.
He said housing and decent environment are political tools in Singapore as acceptance of politicians into leadership positions are determined by people’s accessibility to shelter. He said the continuation of leadership depends on how much decent shelters are afforded to their citizens. The businessman advised Al-Makura to pursue his habitat project to a reality.
Ambassador Rajis-Okpara, who presided over the business talk, informed investors about the investment opportunities in Nigeria.
She said Al-Makura’s administration in Nasarawa State has shown zeal and commitment in developing the state and hailed the NAGIS, a project she said earned the governor a name far outside Nigeria. The envoy urged him to explore the Singapore business world in order to take Nasarawa to places.
She told the investors that the NAGIS is a project that seeks to regularize and put all of Nasarawa’s land use into   computer.
Alhaji Ibrahim Usman Jibrin, Senior Special Assistant to the governor, also informed that the initiative is already leading Nasarawa (a gateway state to Abuja) into a liveable city with facilities and layouts that will serve as a twin city to the FCT.
The 24-month project has three components: Digital Area Mapping (DAM) to be carried out by Aeroprecisa Limited; GIS to be undertaken by GIS Transport and the planning of cadastral districts to be done by Pragmatic Solutions Consult Nigeria, Envicons, and National Environmental Design Associates.