Where is Nyanya Labour Camp resettlement land?

On his inauguration as FCT minister four years ago, Sen. Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed promised to complete the Karshi bypass to ease the chaos that characterises the Abuja-Keffi highway. That traffic crisis still lingers. Residents in this part of the territory who commute daily to the central part of Abuja are held in terrible gridlock morning […]

On his inauguration as FCT minister four years ago, Sen. Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed promised to complete the Karshi bypass to ease the chaos that characterises the Abuja-Keffi highway. That traffic crisis still lingers. Residents in this part of the territory who commute daily to the central part of Abuja are held in terrible gridlock morning and evening.
That has not given Nyanya people much trouble. What ails them a great deal is the failure by successive FCT administrations to fulfil the promise government made for their relocation from Nyanya to Gidan Mangoro. The people are particularly peeved upon realisation that their land in Gidan Mangoro is no more theirs.
The diversion of this land is confirmed by the FCT minister of state, Chief Olajumoke Akinjide who recently told the House of Representatives Committee on FCT during oversight visit that Gidan Mangoro is no more for what it was earlier designated.
She told the House committee that the Labour Camp occupants of 6,993 households will “soon” be relocated to Gidan Daya. How soon is the question the “honourable people” failed to ask her.
Gidan Daya lies shortly after Gidan Mangoro. When this reporter visited the two places last week, there was not a single serious indication that FCT administration is working toward any relocation soon. The only government’s presence are two sign posts, one in the middle of the road leading to Gidan Daya with the words in higher case: “FCT AMINISTRATION THIS LAND IS PLAN [sic] FOR NYANYA HOUSING SCHEME 1 Keep Off by Order”. Another board with inscription: “THIS LAND BELONGS TO DEPARTMENT OF FCDA [Federal Capital Development Authority] TRESPPASS [sic] WILL BE PROSECUTED” was placed on a piece of land being developed.
Our investigations revealed that this very piece of land (being developed) belongs to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s staff multi-purpose cooperative society. CBN head of corporate communications, Mr Ugo Okoroafor in a telephone chat last Wednesday confirmed that the land belongs to CBN staff’s multi-purpose cooperative society, not FCDA. He was however not aware that FCDA had put notice on the property. The cooperative society plans to build an estate there. So far, it has installed electric poles with cables and a water tank.
It was gathered that the only asphalted road leading into Gidan Daya was constructed by the same CBN multi purpose society. The road divides Gidan Daya into two—right and left hand sides. The left side which harbours the multipurpose society’s estate and privately owned college called Angel Crown College of Education is designated Commercial Layout. A source said all the land has been sold by AMAC. Churches have also got parcels of land here just as private developers have also got theirs.The left side designated Residential Layout is equally acquired. Loyola Jesuit College sits on this land. Many private homes have already been built here. There is a large church called “CAFON adoration ground”. There are both corporate and individuals’ buildings there—some plots have been fully built, some under construction, some still empty.
In Gidan Mangoro, private developers have acquired the land and built their commercial homes. While some have been completed and occupied, some are under construction. The biggest among them is Shelter Origins. The question therefore is where is the land for Nyanya Labour Camp relocation?
AMAC returns to business
During el-Rufai’s time, AMAC was barred from selling land because of numerous complications that arose in the process. That has been reversed under the current minister. AMAC now allots land. The situation in Gidan Daya is clear testimony that AMAC has fully returned to business.
It is now feared that if another minister comes tomorrow and genuinely wants to tackle mess in FCT land deals, many land allocations will be revoked. This is because many developers who have got land in hacters scarcely meet the terms of the land deals. Many acquire land in hectares to develop infrastructure and build houses for the masses but end up reducing the land into plots and selling them to high bidders who are mostly top government officials and big business people.
State of Nyanya houses
The Nyanya Labour Camp that was meant to be temporary residential place for Julius Berger construction workers who were in Abuja when works on the new federal capital started in the ‘70’s is as old as the city. The houses were built to serve the purpose of housing construction workers at that time only. But with the speedy growth of the new capital, these labour houses became property of great interest despite their unsightly conditions. The United Nations Habitat has in particular pointed at these houses with much concern urging FCT administration to act fast. Yet government upon government only gives lip service.
The old rusty corrugated iron sheets atop Nyanya houses have turned dark brown and leak badly. Many roofs have caved in or are in the process of falling. The peeling walls are bare and coarse. Toilet walls in particular are replete with gashes. Some collapse when the rains are heavy. Alleys are horrid with either broken or overflowing soakaways. Many children bred in Nyanya have not known what pipe borne water is.
The challenges residents face
Many civil servants paid for these houses with the belief that government had good plans in stock for them. When it was announced that land was earmarked in Gidan Mangoro for their relocation, many were jubilant hoping that by now, they would have moved into decent abodes. After several years of waiting, some resorted to reconstructing their houses to make them look good. Those whose families have grown large too do additions to their houses but in all this, they rather add to the shabbiness. If every occupant may reason the same way and pool resources, maybe it would help. But many can hardly afford to repaint their walls not to talk of reconstructing the entire building. The houses are all attached so any major construction works badly affect the occupant next door.
The best option is to move out of the camp and enter a rented apartment or a house one has built. But how many have the wherewithal to purchase plots and build on their own? Many lament that huge money is deducted from their salaries in respect of the mortgage they entered when the houses were put for sale in 2005.
A medical personnel under the FCT health management board told our reporter that almost N6,000 is deducted from his salary monthly after he paid the 10 percent that was demanded by FCT administration during the sale of the property. According to him, his consolation was that new houses would be built soon and he would be relocated. But eight years after, he is still in the old scruffy Nyanya house without any hope of moving soon.
He brands himself unlucky because Aso Savings through which his mortgage runs is deducting too much. The original value of the house was N533,000. He bid for N633,000. Now, he pays nearly N6,000 every month. By his calculation, therefore, in 15 years when the mortgage payment will be done, he might have paid twice the price government intended to sell him the property.
Another problem is with state of roads. Nyanya being a hillside settlement is no doubt a beautiful place. The high Nyanya hills with their lush vegetation during the rainy season make the place striking. But government’s neglect has robbed this place of its scenic beauty.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God building on the main Nyanya road is wrongly situated. This building was marked for demolition during el-Rufai administration because anytime there is heavy downpour, the place is submerged making it a sordid sight. The church makes the way leading to Nyanya market mucky. Even church goers wade through mud while going for worship. Church members park their vehicles in the mud and walk through it.
Residents’ appeal
Mallam Salisu Kairu Ahmed popularly called SK is chairman of Nyanya Elders Forum. He spoke extensively on the efforts the forum has made over the years to improve residents’ living condition. He wants the FCT minister to give satisfactory answer to what led to cancellation of Gidan Mangoro as site for Nynanya Labour Camp relocation. He also urges the House Committee on FCT to not limit its oversight function to visits to FCT minister’s office but as well go to the sites where projects are said to ongoing and confirm developments. (see his interview on page 36)  
Zubairu Ladan who is secretary of Nyanya Elders Forum said not long after Mohammed assumed duty as FCT minister, he wrote him, congratulated him and sought audience with him to discuss matters concerning Nyanaya but he is yet to hear from the minister four years after.
He advised the FCT transport secretariat to construct bus stop shields for commuters saying many of them crowd under the Nyanya over head bridge during rainfall blocking the ever-busy highway and causing hardship to motorists.
Another resident, a staff in the minister’s office observed that the minister has opened as many as 13 new districts but has not helped those who yearn for help. He pointed at the minister’s proposal to construct the First Lady’s mission house in the 2013 budget with whopping N4 billion as height of insensitivity to the plight of those working for the minister and the FCTadministration. “Why should workers right under the minister’s nose live in filth and sweat profusely to come to work every day?” the source wondered. The Senate in June dropped appropriation for the controversial African First Ladies’ Peace Mission House project when it passed the N259.65 billion budget of FCT for this fiscal year.   
A staff of AMAC who warned against being mentioned here noted that nothing has been as popular as land sale under this administration. He said land is no more sold in plots in FCT but in hectares. He said the acquisition of FCT land by people of Bauchi State origin is also unprecedented.
He doubted that residents of Nyanya may get anything good from the current FCT administration. The AMAC staff who lives in Area B side of the Labour Camp expressed, “Since el-Rufai left, no minister has shown commitment to tackle the plight of Nyanya residents.
“el-Rufai earmarked Gidan Mangoro for us. The minister is talking about Gidan Daya. He must explain what has become of Gidan Mangoro. If the plan that was made is followed, we would have been relocated to Gidan Mangoro now. They have sold Gidan Mangoro. They now talk about Didan Daya. Tomorrow, it will be Gidan Biyu,” the visibly angry resident lamented.
He wants the minister to explain what happened to the money that government realised from sale of government houses in FCT. He said if government had put back that money in the resettlement project, much work would have been done by now. He said the FCT minister has shifted gruelling responsibilities to the junior minister who cannot do much.
The official expressed fears that Abuja residents might have lost much because very soon, all efforts will be shifted to electioneering; no more administration adding that he had heard that the FCT minister is interested in governorship position in his home state, Bauchi in 2015.
Indeed, the minister has come under fire over the way land deals are consummated. Rep Ibrahim Tukur el-Sudi (People’s Democratic Part, PDP, Tarabe State) recently accused the minister of not properly allotting land to individuals and corporate bodies.
FCT minister unperturbed
When we met the Chief Press Secretary to the FCT Minister, Mr Muhammad Hazat Sule, he directed us to the Director of Mass Housing FCTA, Mr Umaru Gambo Jibrin who was said to be on leave. But a senior staff of the department who refused to give his name said since monetisation policy came into effect and Nyanya houses were sold to civil servants, the department has lost touch with what happens there.
Curiously, this same department gulps millions of naira every year in the name of mass housing. In 2012, N2.5 billion was captured under FCT mass housing in the budget yet Nyanya Labour Camp did not get a kobo. This year again, over N122 million appears in the budget for FCT mass housing. This is third quarter going, yet not a block is raised.
Obviously, the settlements from Nynya, Karu, Jikwoyi, Pegi, Kurudu, Ajeta, Gidan Mangoro, Gidan Daya to Orozo, there is scarcely land for mass housing. Much of the land is sold to private developers. But most of the estates built by these private developers lack essential amenities. Occupants are forced to cough up money for countless services. Some of the amenities developers promised to provide in the first place are not there.
Even though to the minister of state, relocation is soon, to Nyanya residents, it is really still a long way to the promised Gidan Mangoro/Gidan Daya which is only about 13 kilometres away.