Demolition: Attention Ministerial Committee, FCDA
The proposed demolition exercise in which Lugbe and 18 other communities are penciled down for demolition is worrisome. Lugbe has an estimated population of over 1.2 million people. If Lugbe alone which is prominent among the 18 others has this staggering population one then wonders what the population of Aleita, Kuchigoro, Piwoyi, Chika, Tudunwada and […]
The proposed demolition exercise in which Lugbe and 18 other communities are penciled down for demolition is worrisome. Lugbe has an estimated population of over 1.2 million people. If Lugbe alone which is prominent among the 18 others has this staggering population one then wonders what the population of Aleita, Kuchigoro, Piwoyi, Chika, Tudunwada and others will be.
The timing is very wrong, I am not saying that the government cannot demolish, but it must have a human face. How can government at this precarious existence of the nation come about an exercise like this? In this era of Boko Haram, killings here and there by gunmen, I think the government and all those involved in this plan should have a rethink of the matter.
The plan should be shelve for now until the country is stable. The demolition if carried out will further worsen the security situation along the Airport road. Moreover the exercise will be the mother of all Boko Haram attacks.
Lugbe for instance has over 90, 000 students and pupils in schools. It has more than 19 standard hotels, bakeries, poultries and a whopping 100 boreholes located in all the nooks and crannies of Lugbe.
The population of artisans, welders, tailors, carpenters, fruit and provision sellers is over 30,000.
The sad aspect is that if the demolition is eventually carried out, pupils and students maybe out of schools in the next one year or so. I think this will be very callous on the part of the government. For once the Senators and House of Representative members should rise up to the occasion and help us out of this dangerous situation.
In 2006, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, the then Minister of FCT carried out enumeration of Lugbe. After the exercise, relocation forms were distributed to residents who paid fee of N21, 000 to the FCDA account. Up to the time of writing this piece, nothing has happened to Lugbe in terms of relocation. The communities relocated were Piwoyi, Aleita, Idu Karimo etc. The FCDA refused to relocate Lugbe and the money (N21, 000) was not refunded.
During the tenure of Dr. Aliyu Umar Modibbo as FCT minister, he said Lugbe should be planned and integrated into the Abuja master plan. In a meeting with representative of Lugbe residents, the urban and Regional Planning Department agreed to the arrangement. Things went awry with the appointment of Alhaji Adamu Aleiro who was working in accordance with enemies of the masses who were determined to share Lugbe and other communities to themselves.
At this stage of our development and in view of what is happening now, it is high time the leaders and those in authorities carry the poor masses along or else very soon, the wind of revolution that is taking place in North Africa and other parts of the globe will come to Nigeria and if it happens it will be very bloody.
What happened during the post-election violence of 2011 should teach every right thinking ‘big man’ of this country a lesson. For now my prayer is that the powers that be should spare Lugbe and the 18 others communities this agony of the proposed demolition, Let us for once have the fear of Almighty God.
Mr. Mmanta Okike Chukwu, Kaura, Opposite Prince and Princess Abuja.