The Nation Newspaper

Tag: FCT Minister

  • Once upon an FCT Minister

    Once upon an FCT Minister

    After God na government! That pithy pidgin English statement succinctly captures the awesome powers of government at any level. No matter how powerful or wealthy an individual may be they are quickly brought down to earth when they confront the government of the day.

    Not many today remember that once upon a time in the 80s and 90s, a certain Chief M. K. O. Abiola was one of the richest and most influential Nigerians. He was courted by the high and mighty, sought after by countless others who craved his benevolence to address their challenges.

    For most of his time in the limelight, the mogul was a friend of the most powerful people in government. That was until he decided to cross the divide and seek political power. It was a fated move, it would also prove to be fatal.

    Sentry was recently regaled with a true tale about the powers of government that played out a couple of decades ago back when the military ruled the roost. At that point an influential general from one of the Northern states was the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister.

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    At that time there was a massive construction boom in Abuja as the young capital city began to take shape. A key player in the industry was another Northerner who had built a thriving business renting out earthmoving equipment of all kinds. His operation was almost comparable to a monopoly because no one else had his array of equipment.

    But gradually the upstarts started encroaching on his turf by also acquiring some of the construction equipment as they had capacity to do so. In no time these little competitors mushroomed to the extent that the market leader began to feel the impact on his business.

    Alarmed, he ran to his kinsman for help. After laying out his predicament, he was assured that something drastic would be done to restore his near-monopoly.

    Not long afterwards, the minister issued an order directing that no one should operate in the earthmoving equipment business in the FCT unless they had the complete works. In one fell swoop the bit players were knocked out of business, while the monopolist was restored to his gravy train. Talk about the awesome powers of government! 

  • Breaking: Buhari meets Imams, Islamic scholars in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with Imams and Senior Islamic scholars from all the states of the Federation at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The closed doors meeting started around 12.03pm when President Buhari arrived at the venue.

    Top government officials in attendance included Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha and the Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau.

    Read Also: Buhari, CAN leaders meet in Aso Rock

    Also at the meeting were the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, FCT Minister, Mohammed Bello, Water Resources Minister, Suleiman Adamu.

    The meeting was still in progress at the time of filing this report.

  • Fashola, FCT Minister lead campaign for Buhari re-election

    The Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, along with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Muhammad Musa Bello, led a campaign for President Muhammadu Buhari’s reelection bid. The campaign, themed “FCT Next Level Task Force”, took place in Abuja on Friday. Fashola advised Nigerians to make an informed choice in the upcoming general elections in order to avoid regression in the economy and security of the country.

    “We are putting our record on the line, and our government, our party, our President, Buhari, and our candidates deserve another term,” he said in an interview. We expect that this campaign will strengthen our bid, not only for the president but for all of our candidates. And whilst we have the nationwide rallies led by the president, we also have some other campaigns led by the vice president, Senators, House candidates, and gubernatorial candidates reaching out to voters with our message of consolidation.

    “There are places here where you couldn’t go out by 7pm just three years ago,” Fashola spoke. “We must reflect on the fact that, while there is a lot of work to do going forward, we must remember where we came from three years ago. A lot of stability has happened here in the past three years. People have returned from IDP camps back to their homes and its one thing to lose your home and be in an IDP camp, and to build up lives which have been truncated,” Fashola said.

    FCT Minister, Musa Bello reiterated the important achievements of the present administration, and asked citizens to make wise decisions at the polls so as to better their own future.”

     

     

  • FCT minister appoints secretaries, political appointees

    The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Bello, has announced the appointment of mandate secretaries and political appointees into positions in Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).

    He said the appointments followed his commitment to reposition FCTA into a more robust and service-oriented administrative structure and enhance its operational capability.

    The secretaries are: Adamu Abubakar Bappah – Area Council Services, Nzekwe Stanley Ifeanyichukwu – Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Isa Maina – Education, Amanda Pam – Health and Human Services, Muhammad B. Umar – Legal Services, Oladimeji Ali Hassan – Social Development and Kayode Opeifa  – Transportation.

    A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Minister, Cosmas Uzodinma, said the coordinators of Abuja Metropolitan Management Council and Satellite Town Development Department are Umar Shuaibu and Isiyaku Tanko Yamawo.

    The Managing Director, Abuja Broadcasting Services, is Ibrahim Damisa.

    The list of political aides includes: Mohammad Bashir Mai-Bornu – Chief of Staff, Dr. Bala Mohammed Liman – Senior Special Assistant, Finance and Economic Matters, Olafusi Emmanuel Tosin Esq – Senior Special Assistant Legal and Multi-lateral Cooperation and Abubakar Muh’d Abdullahi – Senior Special Assistant, ICT.

    The following advisers on Community Relations have been appointed; they are Chika Alexander Nwatu, Abu Zarr Sulaiman Ribadu and Isa Dara Bwari.

    The minister said the appointments are as provided by sections of the Federal Capital Territory (Establishment of Functionaries and Departments) and Ministry of Federal Capital Territory (Dissolution) Order No. 1, 2004 as modified.

    They are premised on the desire and commitment of the administration to ensure quality service delivery, particularly social services to Federal Capital Territory residents.

    The appointments take immediate effect, while arrangement for swearing-in will be announced later.

     

  • FCT Minister, please repair Bwari roads

    It is a common all over the country today as urchins and jobless youths take to road repairs to eke out a living. The vacuum created by the absence of federal roads maintenance agencies made it possible for this army of the unemployed to resort to voluntary road rehabilitation work for instant reward. They wave to vehicle drivers plying the roads in appealing gestures for reciprocation. Bwari Area Council has its own fair share of this voluntary public works army of the jobless.

    Bwari Area Council is one of the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory. It is strategically ensconced between hard high-rise rocky hills that border Niger and Kaduna States. The natural monument gives the area its beautiful and splendid panoramic view.

    Bwari village, which over time has been undergoing rural urban gentrification, is host to the Nigeria Law School, the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) headquarters, Usma Dam, Military Defence Camp, Bwari Pottery and other private hospitality services. This process of rural gentrification perhaps was occasioned by the location of the area council secretariat on the land. Since then, other intervening social factors have helped in triggering influx of people, trade and services into the area.

    Top among these factors is the threat of demolition and actual demolitions in some parts of the FCT in the past. Another worthy factor of note that escalated the influx is the worsening economic crisis. The centre has become too expensive for the average income earners. Artisans and traders are perennially under siege by government agents over environmental related laws and its violations. Hence, given the contiguity of Bwari to AMAC, it becomes the refugee location for all those fleeing from pain, embarrassment ensuing from constant harassment. This influx has mixed impacts on the host community as available land and roads come under severe utilization and stress. The village became over populated and very sordid lacking sanitation and social amenities.

    The roads came under severe decline due to over use and lack of maintenance and rehabilitation. For vehicle owners and commuters alike, the fear of Bwari road is the beginning of wisdom. What would have been a sigh of relief for the residents is the Urban Mass Transport service. This relief was cut short no sooner than it started. Reasons abound as to why the service has been far from the expected objectives right from the outset. The fleet deployed on that route is hardly sufficient due to huge population of commuters.

    It is a long stretch of rural road commuted on a daily basis by numerous suburb dwellers. It is home to many who commute from the city arterials to their various places of endeavour. The urban mass transport company must as a matter of public service interest rescinds its decision not to deploy road worthy new model buses on Bwari road. The commuters are punished unduly as the task of road building and maintenance lie with the government through its relevant agencies. The people over time are over stretched, as they toil in the midst of plenty, yet have nothing to show for it. They continue to suffer and smiling even in the midst of the grinding harsh economic reality on ground.

    • By Comrade Ogbu A. Ameh

    onwaters2011@gmail.com

     

  • Minister woos Polish investors

    The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello has urged visiting a delegation from Poland to make Abuja the hub for Polish investment in West Africa.

    The FCT Minister made this call when organisers of the Polish-Nigeria Business and Investment Summit (PONBIS) paid him a courtesy visit.

    The Minister expressed concern that the commercial relationship between Nigeria and Poland has been so skeletal even though the country is one of the fastest growing economies in Europe today.

    The Minister cited Poland’s proficiency in the construction and heavy steel industries. His words “I think this is the right time for you to come fully into Nigeria because the government is serious about encouraging trade between Nigeria and countries like yours. I am therefore very happy that you are already liaising with the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), which is the right organization for you to deal with because they have the expertise.”

    He unveiled the various investment opportunities in the medical field especially in equipment and medical diagnostic services while advising that Poland should facilitate cultural exchanges between them and Nigeria. Other areas, the Minister mentioned include; educational exchanges between lecturers and students, saying “You can encourage your scholars to come here on sabbatical leaves, maybe to undertake  some aspects of their studies.”

    Malam Bello highlighted the attractiveness of Abuja as an investment destination enumerating its qualities such as being the capital of a great country, its central location, well developed infrastructure and enabling investment climate.

    He informed the visitors that the Abuja’s International Airport right now operates four international flights to Europe, namely; France, Britain,  Germany and Istanbul.

    Malam Bello invited Polish Companies to come into Nigeria and to take necessary steps to generate the needed awareness especially by establishing a trade office here in conjunction with the NIPC. He urged the commercial department of the Polish Embassy to create forums for the enlightenment of interested Nigerian business men on Polish businesses.

  • FCT minister and ongoing road projects

    IR: Earlier in the year, the FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello did promise that projects that had started in line with the Abuja Masterplan and for which budgetary provisions have been made would be given priority. The minister reasoned that the present FCT Administration could not afford to continue the legacy of waste by following the trend of abandoning projects started by predecessors, amidst the harsh economic realities and for the sake of the people.

    Today, it gladdens the heart that despite the heightening recession, the FCT Minister has followed through on his words by ensuring that critical ongoing road projects he met on ground are given the desired impetus to ensure that work continues with some of them partially completed and opened to the public for use. One of the projects that readily come to mind is the gateway into and out of the capital city – the trumpet overhead bridge linking the Bill Clinton Drive with the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua Expressway (Airport Road) and Gwagwalada-Giri axis.

    Before the coming of this present administration, that segment of the airport road, including some stretch towards the Gosa Village area regarded as the Centenary, remained uncompleted. As a result, traffic coming from the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport had to be redirected to go and take a U-turn around the Giri axis of the road and then the traffic coming from Gwagwalada and going to the airport, had to go through some clumsy arrangements because that portion had remained uncompleted, arising from non-payment of accrued liabilities to the contractor. As a result of these lapses, driving on that road at the time became a huge nightmare with the huge traffic buildup doubling and even tippling the time it took motorists to get into and out of the city. A lot of people also missed their flight because of the traffic holdup encountered along this road.

    Now the road has been completed, fully opened to traffic.  The man-hour hitherto being lost on that road is now a thing of the past and economic activities have also been improved.

    Beside the airport road, there is the Inner Southern Expressway (ISEX) around the Nyanya/Keffi axis of the city. Without any doubt, this is one of the major infrastructure projects of the city that during the last one year, the contractors have been able to connect the railway bridge and all the other intersections along that road and now the final portion of that road is being readied for commissioning.

    Other ongoing road projects that are nearing completion as a result of improved funding by the FCTA include the central boulevard’s B6 and B12 Roads otherwise known as Constitution and Independence Avenues respectively, which traverse the World Trade Centre and the Diplomatic Zones. There is the Kuje/Gwagwalada road which was stalled but has now been revived and the contractors are on site working daily. These are major infrastructures that hold the key to the economic and social vibrancy of the city and the FCT minister deserves kudos for giving the, adequate attention.

    All of these developments are heart-warming because if you have a hundred projects and none is completed, no matter how much the resources you commit to them, by the time you allow massive projects to start and wait for a long time before you continue, then degradation sets in and by the time you revamp the project, you may end up doing them at twice the cost.

     

    • Danladi Akilu,

    Gudu District, FCT Abuja.

  • FCT Minister solicits investments in waste management, Abuja rail

    The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has called for Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in waste management in the territory.

    Bello made the call when he received a delegation of non-career Nigeria Ambassadors-designate who visited him in Abuja on Thursday.

    According to him, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), provides one of the best economic opportunities for big businesses and the waste management sub-sector has enormous potential to be harnessed.

    The minister advised the ambassadors-designate to always promote and project the various investment opportunities in Nigeria, especially the huge business prospects in waste management in the FCT, to their host countries.

    Bello said the presence of good infrastructure as well as the relative peace and security in the territory combined with its massive population, will surely make Abuja a preferred destination for investors to do business and reap huge benefits.

    “One area that we want you to consider as you discuss Abuja with your host nations is the waste management.

    “For those of you that are in Europe, we understand there is a lot of funding for green projects of such nature; these are areas that we are very much interested in.

    “Apart from its huge population and location advantages, the territory is well connected to Europe, West, East and South African countries through a number of air carriers that fly in and out of Abuja daily”, he said.

    The minister said although Lots 3 and 1A of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit were well funded by the Chinese EXIM Bank, opportunities still existed in the Lots 2, 4, 5and 6 of the ongoing rail system projects.

    “We have what we call the Abuja Rail Mass Transit System which is under construction on the basis of six Lots.

    “Already, Lots 1A and 3 are being funded by the Chinese EXIM Bank and hopefully that would be completed by the first quarter of 2018.

    “But there is opportunity for investment in Lots 2, 4, 5 and 6. So, these are some of the areas that when you get fully settled, we may be able to communicate with you on some of these issues”, he said.

    Amb. Sola Enikanolaiye, leader of the delegation and Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the visit was to introduce the ambassadors-designate to the minister.

    He said the visit was also to find out some of the economic and investment potential and opportunities in the FCT.

    Enikanolaiye said FCT Administration could furnish the new envoys with necessary information on government’s priority projects, particularly those in the FCT, to enable them to promote such projects.

  • FCT Minister tasks Presidential Electoral Reform Committee on use of ICT

    The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, has called on the Presidential Committee on Constitution and Electoral Reform (PCCER),  has called on the Presidential Committee on Constitution and Electoral Reform (PCCER), to strengthen the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in future elections.

    Bello made the call when he received members of the PCCER led by its Chairman, Sen. Ken Nnamani, on Thursday in Abuja.
    According to him, the credibility of the 2015 general election has enhanced the image of Nigeria to the outside World; therefore, it should be improved upon.
    “The election was largely made credible, because of the use of biometrics and card readers by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
    “I am urging the committee to look into strengthening the use of ICT in all subsequent elections in order to sustain the achievements.
    “The use of card readers in elections in Nigeria is a revolution that should be sustained, as it would go a long way in reducing the number of litigation after elections,’’ he said.
    According to him, Nigeria is ripe and Nigerians are now well-educated and enlightened in the use of ICT in elections.
    “This is considering how the populace made use of mobile telephone in addition to internet data mostly for news media (social media),’’ he said.
    The minister assured members that the FCT Administration will support the committee in its work to ensure that subsequent electoral processes were fair and credible.
    Bello lauded the contributions of Sen. Ken Nnamani to the country when he was the Senate President, saying that history will remember him for his role in ensuring the sustenance of democracy.
    Speaking earlier, the PCCER Chairman, Nnamani commended the minister for his effort in completing abandoned projects across the 8,000 square kilometres of the Federal Capital Territory.
    He said that the committee was in the FCT to hold a national public hearing to collate more information from the residents before turning out an all-inclusive report to the government.
    “In addition to this, the committee will also bring up relevant bills for enactment by the National Assembly,’’ he said

  • UN house soon to be ready – Minister

    UN house soon to be ready – Minister

    The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello said on Thursday that the first phase of renovation work on the United Nations House in Abuja has since been completed.

    A statement signed by the Minister’s Chief Press Secretary, Hazat Sule in Abuja, noted that the minister stated this when the United Nations Development Programme Resident Representative in Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon visited him.

    According to the minister, the second phase comprising of security equipment and furnishing is being fast-tracked to enable its agencies to move back into the building.

    Bello was quoted to have said that the government would do everything possible to complete the remaining phase of the renovation work and deliver it to the end users as soon as possible.

    He assured that the FCT Administration will strengthen its relationship with the UN Agencies and will continue to support them to achieve their mandate in the country.

    The minister noted that the FCTA had made efforts to complete abandoned projects in the capital city and intends to carry development to the Satellite Towns and Area Councils to reduce pressure on the city centre.

    Speaking earlier, the UNDP Resident Representative, Mr Edward Kallon, who is a Sierra Leonean, promised to connect the FCTA with global development partners.

    He said that the UNDP would also work to promote ICT development in the FCT to assist in making Abuja a smart city for youth development.

    NAN recalls that the FCT minister, during an unscheduled visit to the site recently directed the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to hasten the complete rehabilitation of the House to ensure quick handover.