Senator Bala Mohammed’s responses to Senate Committee on FCT misinformed directives on Abuja plots.

Our attention has been drawn to various media reports  in which the  Senate  Committee   on  FCT  accused  the  previous administration   of illegally converting  the green areas of Maitama District  into  developable   lands and  allocating  same to  named individuals.

While   we   had  not   wanted   to  join   issues  with   the   Senate Committee,    however,   the   exuberance   of   the Committee’s Chairman  that  borders  on  ignorance  of  the  limitations   of  the doctrine   of  separation   of  powers  under  the  constitution    has necessitated  us to set the records straight:

1. Throughout the  tenure   of  the  previous  administration,    all allocations  of land in the FCT were based on professional  advice, availability  of layouts and the provisions  of the  Land Use Act. In reference  to  the  Ministerial   Hill, which  the  Senate Committee    . gave the  Department  of Development  Control  directive  to  stop work, we state as follows:

2. That sometimes   in  2010,  the  FCTA under  Senator  Adamu Aliero  commissioned   Fola Consult Limited to advise the FCT   Administration     on  the   extent   of  the   area  in  Maitama Ministerial  Hill that  could be converted  for  residential  use;

3. That  Messrs.  Fala  Consult   Limited   submitted    its  report highlighting    the   history   of   the   area   and   rationale   for   its development   as follows:

1. a) The redesign of Plot 2278 was carried out during the regime of Air  Vice   Marshall    Hamza   Abdullahi    in   1998   to accommodate  the   Federal   Ministers   who   moved   from Lagos into the FCT;
2. b) That the change in land use was captured by the Land use plan  produced  in June 1989 by Dynasys Resource Company in association  with Alpha Consult Rome;
3. c) That the redesign  of  Messrs.   Dynasys Company  was  not comprehensive   since the sole aim of the design was just to create  plots to accommodate  some few  Ministers’  houses;
4. d) That the area was not designated  as recreational   area or park but was designated  as undevelopable   area based on its difficult   terrain  and that  the  level  of technology  at the time  was the  major  consideration   for  its classification   as undevelopable;

4. That Fala Consult Limited  advised the  Aliero  Administration that   additional    plots   should   be  created   to   justify    existing underutilized      infrastructure      m    line    with     its    land    use categorization  as a low-density  residential  area;

5. That sometimes in 2014, the Department of Urban & Regional Panning   also  made   recommendations    that   additional    plots should  be created  on plot  2180 to justify  existing  underutilized infrastructure   around the Mississippi street  of Maitama;

6. That  the   immediate    past   FCT   administration     was  fully convinced  that  the  master  plan is a dynamic  road  map for  the city’s  land  use and infrastructure   development,   guided  by the demands of change and time.  Hence, on the basis of the above recommendations,    and  in  recognition   of  its  responsibility   to ensure full utilization  of resources, the administration   approved the  redesigns and subsequently,   allocations  were  made  in line with  the  Land Use Act;

7. That the FCT Administration  allowed  for  commencement   of work  on  the  plots  after  the  allottees   got  due  building   plan approvals  from  the  Department   of Development  Control  which approval,  needless to add, can only be reversed by the authority of the Hon. Minister;

8. Apart from insisting that such new developments  were  based on the green city concept,  the approval  process was predicated on a  robust  environmental   impact  assessment conducted   by a team of professionals  within  the FCT Administration.

9. That the Senate Committee is advised to seek adequate information  from    the    FCT  Administration      before    issuing wrongful  directives.

With the above said, we consider  it imperative,  at this juncture, to  make some clarifications   on the  concept  of the  master  plan, green areas and the dynamism  of city development.

The Master Plan Concept

I  am not a Town Planner, but a Master  plan has been defined  by professionals  as that  broad policy document  meant to guide the growth  and development   of a town  or city.

May  I    add that  the  life span of a  master  plan which  is not  less than Ten years minimum,  is so wide that there is no way changes will    not    occur   for    a   document     based   on   assumptions, predications   and  projections.   As  soon  as gaps  are  observed between  these proposals and realities, as is the case of the Abuja master plan over time, a review or redesign becomes imperative.

Above  all, nowhere  in the  world  and on any town  or city  is  a master plan implementation    achieved at 100 percent  level even in developed  countries.

Concept   of   Green   Areas   and   the    Dynamism –    of    City Development

Green  area is a  land  use provision  within   the  master  plan for recreation,   flood  drains,  city  buffers,  urban  farming,   reserved lands   and   contextually    undevelopable    area.    However,   for reasons  of   population    growth,    expansion   in  infrastructural facilities,     security    concerns    and    logistical    demands,    city development all  over  the  world   has  never  remained   static. Rather,  it  has been a  dynamic  process.  Abuja  has not  been an exception.

Thus,  long  before  the  advent  of  the  last  FCT Administration, Ministers    had   reviewed    and   re-conceptualized    green   area provision’s  in the  Abuja  Master  plan.  For instance,  part  of the Presidential  Villa  was a green  area in the  master  plan.  So also were the office  of the  National  Security Adviser (NSA), the  High Court,  the  residence  of  the  Chief   Justice of  Nigeria  (CJN) and recently,  the residences of the presiding officers  of the National Assembly.  Military   formations   such  as Camp Wu  Bassey and Niger  barracks,  and  urban  fringes  including   Usuma,  Maitama Extension  and  Mpape  Districts  etc.  were  part  of  the  changes made to the master plan. Many other examples abound of green areas being converted  to other  uses by previous ministers  based on need of the time  to make the city more functional   and more so.cio-economically viable.

In fact, all of what  is termed  the “Urban .Fringe” including  Usuma and  Mpape  Districts,  was a  green  area  and  was supposed  to constitute               a  buffer  zone between  the city on the  one hand and the  regional  space, on the  other.  However,  it  was  utilized  by previous administrations   for the building  of the various barracks, Asokoro      District,  Guzape District,  Sunrise Hills   Estate and parts of  Apo.  These  urban   fringes   were   redesigned   by  previous ministers  in accordance  with  the  powers  conferred  on them  by the Land Use Act.

For emphasis,  it  is important  to  note  that  even  part  of  the present  Presidential  Villa  and the  Eagle Square were  changed from Transportation   Center to what they are today, while  under the Master  Plan, what  is now known  as Maitama  Extension was supposed to be a Sports Center but was redesigned by previous administrations.  Even in the  city center  occasions arose where the Boulevard  Project in the Central Business District area led to redesign of many plots in the original  master plan.

For the  enlightenment   of all stakeholders  and members  of the public  who  are  ignorant   of  the  historical   background   to  this matter,  it was Mallam  Nasir  El-Rufai as FCT minister  who, seeing the  lack of capacity  on the  part  of  the  FCT Administration,    to maintain  the green areas, started  allocating  them  to individuals in  the  hope  that  the  allottees   would   live  up to  expectation. Unfortunately,   they  did not.  Instead,  most of the park allottees converted  the green  areas to  commercial   uses thereby  placing them   on  a   collision   course   with   the   Development    Control Department.   Overnight,   restaurants,   hotels,  showrooms,   beer parlours,  pubs etc sprang up in these areas, in complete  negation of the master plan. In some casesthese  unapproved  conversions

constituted  not only a nuisance to the public but a grave security threat.  To tackle  the  deplorable   situation,  the  immediate   past leadership  of  the  FCT set  up  a  committee   headed  by former Director    General    of    the    Nigerian    Tourism    Development Commission,  Otunba  Segun Runsewe which,  in the course of its activities,  established  that  most  of the  beneficiaries  had made heavy investments  in the green areas. It was therefore   decided, that  in deserving  cases, the  allottees  should  retain  only  10% of the  green  areas while  the  remaining  should  be developed  for public use with  the firm  belief that  if the administration   needed to recover the whole  land, it could do so since it was not covered by deeds and titles.

We   have  gone  to   this   extent   to   explain   dynamics   of  the transformation    of the  green  areas to  prove the  point  that  the immediate     past   FCT    administration     was   simply   following precedents   in  adopting   out-of-the-box    strategies   that  would guarantee   more  effective   land  use management.   The truth   is that  the previous administration   drew immensely  from  both the  · Accelerated  Development  Program of El-Rufai and the Sunshine Hills Estate of  Abba  Gana, in  prosecuting  its  highly   ambitious mass housing  programs.   It is on record that  the administration, under   Senator   Bala  Mohammed,    collaborated    with    estate developers  and institutions  like the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and  the  Trade  Union  Congress, TUC to  develop   districts   for workers  while  the  administration    itself  conceived  three  social and affordable   housing schemes in Wasa and Mamusa  Districts which were allocated  to co-operatives  to provide  housing to the lower cadre.

Conclusion

From the above, we want to conclude  as:

1. The Minister never acted outside the limits of his powers in the matter of land management in the-FCT.
2. The Abuja Master Plan has never been inviolable. At various times in the  past, Senator Bala  Mohammed’s   predecessors had        managed   the   plan   to   achieve   a   functional    and harmonious  development   in the  city.  For all his actions  in the area of land management,  there were precedents  by his predecessors some of whom  are still  serving the  nation  in various capacities.
3. What we  do  not  understand   is the  Senate  Committee Chairman’s   unusual   interest    in  the   Minister’s    Hill.  The committee     needs no reminding  that  all the beneficiaries  of plots at the redesigned Minister’s  Hill are Nigerians who are legitimately               and   eminently     qualified    to    receive   the allocations     that   were   made   within    the   constitutional powers of the minister  following laid down procedures  and precedence    set   by   his   predecessors.   Some   of   these predecessors are not just around they are still very much in the service of the nation

4. We recognize the prerogative of the Chairman of the Senate Committee   on  FCT to  carry  out  his oversight  functions   in any  manner   he  chooses  but  that   should   never  include making  unguarded  statements  that  tend  to  ridicule  those who  served  to  the  best  of  their   ability   or  derogate   the powers   of   the   executive   to   carry   out   their    normal constitutional   duties.

5. The committee will  need  to  be  reminded   that  a  similar effort  to  revoke the  last minute  allocations  by El-Rufai on the eve of his departure  could not stand. Ironically,  it fell on Senator Bala Mohammed  to resolve the matter  and restore the  status  quo, which  led to  massive development   in the FCT and alleviate  unnecessary litigation.

6. The former minister  is available  at  all times  to  clarify  hisactions  in the  area of land management  thereby  avoiding unnecessary  dramatization   of  ignorance  or grandstanding for media attention.

 Emma Agu

Media Consultant  to Senator Bala Mohammed,  CON Former Minister of the FCT