Re: Abuja and its overseers

Mahmood wrote on the general administration of the FCT in which he expressed dissatisfaction with the present administration under the current minister, Senator Adamu Mohammed Aliero. From my understanding of what he wrote, two paragraphs from his article can be used to highlight the thrust of his argument and I quote: “Dr Modibbo, who took […]

Mahmood wrote on the general administration of the FCT in which he expressed dissatisfaction with the present administration under the current minister, Senator Adamu Mohammed Aliero. From my understanding of what he wrote, two paragraphs from his article can be used to highlight the thrust of his argument and I quote: “Dr Modibbo, who took over as FCT minister in 2007, tried to sustain the momentum. However, these gains are now being threatened under Senator Adamu Aliero. The FCT is simply becoming rowdy, disorderly and unruly. If one goes to Berger Junction, the disorder is simply unbearable.”

Then in his closing paragraph, Mahmood had this to say: “Thus, Abuja must be kept clean, green and serene. The roads must be adequately maintained, even if some money should be charged for that from the motorists. Electricity, pipe-borne water and telecommunications must be efficiently provided. Housing must not only be made available but the standards must be international. Schools and hospitals must not only be provided but they must be of international standard. In short, what is required is an efficient urban planning and management for Abuja to make it a modern, international city commensurate with the status of Nigeria as the greatest black anchor nation on earth. In this regard, Senator Aliero and his team must be alive to their responsibilities.”

I hope the reader will have the patience to read these two paragraphs carefully. First of all, was it not the same Mahmood who wrote an article last year criticising the administration of former FCT minister, Dr Aliyu Modibbo Umar? Another FCT minister before Modibbo, Malam Nasir el-Rufai (who increased land rent by more than 2000 per cent) was even more mercilessly criticised while implementing his own plans for the FCT. The point is not to say that Mahmood equivocated, but to underline the complexity and difficulty of administering a city owned by a culturally and economically diverse group of some 140 million people. Whatever you do, you are bound to do wrong by some people; in which case, the worst offence that an administrator of the FCT can commit is to do nothing.

Consider also some of the very weighty demands that Mahmood is making in the second paragraph quoted above. Let me borrow one word from Adamu’s own article: Pray, where does Mahmood expect the money that would meet his huge money-guzzling demands to come from? I think he would be helping Abuja and its owners – the Nigerian people -if he could make some simple research and find out how other cities that enjoy the facilities he listed are run, how those facilities such as “schools and hospitals of international standard” are paid for. He would find that some of the best cities in the world are often the most expensive.

However, this is not to say that Abuja must be expensive, but the FCT Minister, Adamu Aliero, has consistently made the argument that if Abuja is to move ahead in line with the vision of its founders, then it must explore additional revenue sources quickly. He has pointed out that there are projects worth over N300bn in the FCT waiting to be funded.

This brings us to the article written by Adamu Adamu which subject is possibly the hottest topic of discussion especially among Abuja residents and other stakeholders; that is, the issue of the increase in the money a land allotee within the FCT is expected to pay before he receives what is generally referred to as C of O (Certificate of Occupancy). Since the increase from N2000 per square metre to N18000/sqm was announced about two weeks ago, there has been a lot of debate over the matter.

I think both the antagonists and the proponents of this policy have made their cases sufficiently for the basic arguments to be understood. Those who oppose the policy say that the increase would finally put land beyond the reach of the average Nigerian while increasing rent and property prices within the FCT. And the FCT is countering that if anything, the increase would make land, in real terms, cheaper. Why? Because now the FCT is bypassing the huge profit cornered by land speculators and taking a modest sum for itself, which the FCT would then use to develop the infrastructural facilities that people like Mahmood are yearning for. It is as simple as that.

Secondly, Adamu Aliero and other members of his team have repeatedly said that apart from this payment being staggered so that those who are economically weak can pay in instalments, the fee is not a blanket application covering all areas of the FCT; there are in fact some parts of the FCT where the premium is as low as N500. As for the fear over the increase in rent and property, estate developers are exempted from this policy, which is a deliberate effort to ensure that such fears do not at all materialise. I strongly believe that on balance, this is one radical policy that Nigerians should give a chance.

I think all the critics of this new policy, including Mahmood and Adamu Adamu, mean well; what they need to do is to extend the same benefit of the doubt to Senator Aliero and give him a chance. They should remember that Rome was not built in a day and you can’t make an omelette without breaking an egg.

Sadiq wrote from 55, Nairobi Street, Wuse II, Abuja