The Nation Newspaper

Tag: KUJE

  • Kuje residents bemoan prolonged power outage

    Residents of Kuje area council in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have lamented the prolonged power outage in the council.

    Some of the residents who spoke with Abuja Review said that the power failure has almost crippled business in the council, mostly in Kuje town, appealing to the council chairman, Hon. Shaban Tete to  rectify the problem.

    Mr. Samuel Joseph, a resident of the council, lamented that his business has almost crumbled following the general power failure, which, he said, has lasted over five days. He said his woes were compounded by the fact that he could not get fuel to power his generators.

    “We are really suffering in this council,” he said. “This issue of light is a big problem. I operate a restaurant and bar, but we do not have power to cool our drinks and foodstuff in the freezers; now most of our things in my freezers are spoiling by the day, and there is no fuel in filling stations to use for our generators.”

    Another resident, Mallam Isah Yahaya, a vulcaniser, lamented that the power outage has crippled his job too, adding that since the power failure in the council, he has not been able to work and his business is suffering.

    “My business is really suffering, nobody knows what is wrong with the light. The only thing that we can remember is that the light went off almost immediately after the President and National Assembly election. We believe that most of the transformers in the council are bad and we are calling on the council boss to help us in the council,” he said.

    Speaking with a senior staff of the Kuje power distribution company, who pleaded anonymity, explained that the Kuje power source has dropped from 8megawatt to 4megawatt, which has made it difficult for the council to have appreciable power supply.

    She further said that most of the electricity transformers in council have become faulty, which has led to the inability to supply electricity light in the council, saying that the engineers in the company are working tirelessly on the transformers and other sources, in order to rectify the problem.

  • Kuje market for upgrade to check fire

    The Kuje Main Market will be upgraded with modern facilities to, among other things, check fire incidents. The modernisation project will be carried out under a build, operate and transfer contract.

    The chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Ishaku Shaban Tete signed the contract.

    The multi-million naira project is a partnership between the Kuje Area Council and Greenhouse International Ventures Limited.

    In the Memorandum of Understanding signed by both parties, Greenhouse International Ventures Limited will rebuild the market and transform it into a market of international repute.

    According to a statement signed by the Managing Director of Greenhouse International Ventures Limited, the company is expected to rebuild the market, manage it for twenty five years and later transfer it to the Kuje Area Council.

    It reads: “It is expected that the developer will be able to recoup its financial resources put into the project within these twenty five years.

    “This contract is a great example of the Federal Government’s public, private Partnership initiative designed to promote the development of infrastructure in the country. When completed, the market will have facilities such as 532 lock up shops, two warehouse, 500 open shops, 72 Plaza stores, one modern Abattoir, Day care center, Medical Center, places of worship, police post, toilets and conveniences, one bank, fire service post, organized car park, central refuse evacuation point, modern and well secured gates, security cameras and other convenient facilities which will uplift the statues of the market.

    “The market under this new arrangement will cater for the needs of different categories of traders thereby giving the market a cosmopolitan profile. Even though the land area housing the market is limited to about 3.2 hectares, it will be designed to have most modern infrastructure that traders will be proud of because of the centrality of its location.”

  • N40m goods lost in Kuje market fire

    N40m goods lost in Kuje market fire

    It was a sad day for Kuje traders when many of them lost goods worth N40 million to fire outbreak

    According to an eyewitness, the blaze destroyed so many goods because it could not be controlled due to the haphazard nature of the environment.

    About eight shops were burnt in the incident which is the second time in less than one month that some parts of the market were razed by fire.

    The blaze was said to have been caused by illegal connection of electricity wires by some shop owners.

    While addressing newsmen when he went to inspect the level of damage, the Vice-Chairman Kuje Areal Council, Mr. Mohammed Baba who represented the chairman expressed sadness that the incident had become worrisome as it was the second time the incident has occurred in less than one month.

    He said the council authority will take appropriate measures in compensating the affected victims, even as he added that the council and market managers would meet with the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to form a committee on how to carry out proper electrical connection in the market in order to prevent future occurrence.

    The Chairman of Kuje Traders’ Association, Alhaji Yunusa Isa sympathised with the affected traders, adding that goods worth N40 million were lost in the fire as a result of illegal connection in the shops.

    Isa, therefore, urged the area council to upgrade the standard of the market and create access road within the market for easy access to the market.

    He advised traders to ensure they switched off all electrical appliances while closing for the day’s business.

    Meanwhile, traders at the market are lamenting over regular fire outbreak in the market, even as they called on the council chairman, Mr. Shaban Tete to expedite action in finding possible solution to the regular fire incidence.

    Mrs. Martha Ikechukwu, one of the traders whose shops were not burnt said that the two fire incidences that had destroyed shops and property in the market is beyond their imagination. She stressed the need for government to seriously look into the situation and find lasting solution to it before it gets out of hands.

    According to Mrs. Ikechukwu, the cause of the fire incidences in the market recently is not clear. I will say that it is something nobody can give explanations to, because it has never happened like this in the past, where fire will destroy shops and property in one market two times in less than 20 days. I believe that there are questions that seriously need answers.

    “I thank God that some of our shops were not affected and I sympathise with my co-traders for their losses. The entire thing is getting out of hands. How can one market experience two fire outbreaks in 20 days? The whole thing is becoming a mystery and nobody is taking serious action to put an end to it. All we hear are promises from the council leadership and no action.

    “The first time fire destroyed some shops and property in the market in December, the leadership of the council, led by Mr. Shaban Tete, visited the market and promised to investigate the cause of the fire incident and find solution to it.

    “Since after that visit, nothing was done. No investigation was carried out to know the exact cause of the blaze. If there was an investigation, it would have helped in averting this recent one. I guess they want the entire market to burn down before they find solution to the cause of it,” she said.

    Another trader who pleaded anonymity said when the council chief visited the market in December and promised to put an end to such occurrence in future, they thought the council leadership would immediately do something to avert future fire incidence. After the visit, no council official visited the market to carry out any investigation or to proffer solution to future occurrence of the incident.

    “One of the problems we have in this country is that our political leaders make promises that they will not fulfill. If proper measures had been put in place to correct the illegal electricity connection that they identified as the cause of the fire in December when the first fire incident occurred, the recent incident would not have happened. They just came here to see the extent of damage done and went to their houses to relax, because it did not affect them directly.

    “There are no markets in Kuje. The only market we have is under threat of being burnt down completely and no positive step is being taken by the council leadership to avert it. Nothing is happening in this council. There is no new infrastructure.

    “Other area councils are building model markets and upgrading the old ones for their people. Instead of building better markets for us in Kuje, they want the only one we are managing to burn down completely before they find solution to the fire problem.

    “The chairman, Mr. Shaban Tete should rise to his responsibilities and make things work for the benefit of Kuje people. During the last administration led by Hon. Danladi Zhin, nothing like this happened, because, he always tackled problems immediately before it got out of hands, and he always mapped out ways to better the lives of Kuje people. But we are yet to see that seriousness in this administration,” he said.

  • Kuje council chief urged to rebuild market

    Senior Special Assistant to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) on Political Matters and National Assembly, Senator Jibril Wowo has called on the chairman of Kuje Area Council, Shaban Tete to rebuild the Kuje main market and bring it up to contemporary standards.

    Wowo who sympathised with the council and all the businesses affected by the recent unfortunate fire incident that destroyed properties worth over N50 million said while the incident was destructive, it has created an opportunity for the Council to provide a better market structure for the people of the area.

    He disclosed this to reporters who accosted him at Gwagwalada, a community in Kuje Area Council.

    He said the market inferno which has no doubt affected the economic life of the owners and businesses destroyed also noted that the Almighty Allah showed mercies and prevented loss of life in the incident calling on the market union to remember to thank God for that.

    Wowo said the unfortunate incidence offers the council opportunity for improved development in reconstruction of the council main market.

    He tasked the council’s administration to maximize it and rebuild the market to meet contemporary business environment status for ease of access encompassing other safety measures.

    He noted that Kuje Area Council is one of the first choices for residence by most visitors to the Abuja after the city centre and this calls for responsive strategic thinking by the council to face the challenge and meet up with this strategic position and responsibility.

    Wowo commended the Council, Federal Fire service and the residents who stepped out to put out the fire before it totally got out of hand, thereby preventing  a major disaster.

     

  • Kuje residents seek compensation for demolition

    Kuje residents seek compensation for demolition

    There are many problems associated with living in satellite towns in Abuja. Poor transport system is one of them. Inadequate security is another. Then add the bad road or lack of road networks. There is also the issue of lack of social amenities. These are enough reasons to live in fear in any of the satellite towns in Abuja. But most disturbing of these problems to residents who leave in these satellite towns are the presence of bulldozers pulling down structures deemed to be affecting development projects. When buildings are marked for demolitions, residents become apprehensive, sleeping at night becomes a nightmare. In Abuja, marking buildings for demolition has gradually become a common culture. The trend started with the administration of former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir El – Rufai. El-Rufai won the praise and hatred of many for his campaign, which he said was to protect the city’s master plan. At the time, it was common for families to lose

    their homes and other property.  However, what is not common when these structures are pulled down is the compensation. Who pays the compensation for pulling down houses? For many, the wait for compensation is elusive; they never get any. In this regard, the residents of Pasali, a community in Kuje Area Council are asking for compensation. The Federal Capital Territory Administration’s (FCTA) Department of Development Control, recently, commenced the demolition of some illegal structures in the area. The FCTA had on November 28 and 29 marked some houses for demolition.  The new demolition move which will render many residents of the community internally displaced when carried out, will pave the way for the construction of the FCT rail tract. Residents of the once quiet town, since the demolition notice was served on their houses now live in fear from being sacked by the FCT authority.  Investigation revealed that over 1225 marked completed houses as

    well as the numerous demolished uncompleted ones are built on an extended landmass originally designated as “government residential lay out.” Located in the extended landmass that accommodates six settlements, namely Pasali, Action areas 1, 2, 3, 4 and 4 extensions, Government Girls Science Secondary School, and the Hajiya Asara community, no less than 20,000 people will be displaced even as the proposed demolition will lead to loss of economic investments. Some residents whose houses have been marked for demolition by the authority described the plan as harsh. An indigene and resident of the area whose house has been marked for demolition, Shehu Sule said he has had sleepless night since the action by officials of FCDA.  He said: “What the government is doing is not good and I have remained worried ever since they marked my house I built two years ago on the land I bought from Kuje Area Council for demolition. Just like that, they have marked my house for demolition without any explanation for their action. Government has started breaking down some houses in the area which has not been completed. We don’t know when they will come again to continue from where they stopped.  ”I want government to help even if they say they must demolish our houses; they should give us money we used to acquire the land and show us another place where we can go and build our houses. “Because I don’t have any other place to live again apart from this place.” However, Spokesman for the Demolition Control Department of the FCDA Mr. Kalu Emeta, in response to the allegations of the residents said: “The marks on their walls are adequate notification and that will last for 21 days and that is what the law prescribes. Anyone who says he has not heard of this demolition is not been truthful and he or she is behind the trend because it has been highlighted in the media severally. “We do not remove structures for the fun of it, the structures being demolished in Kuje were built on the rail track and now that work is progressing on the railway, the structures have to go.” But Chairman of Kuje Residents Association, Pastor Emmanuel Okorie in a chat with our reporter at the weekend said that the settlement was designated government residential layout, a reason he said was responsible for settlers to build residential houses in it.

    He said: “All the houses marked for demolition were built on lands properly got from the government with all papers of allocation necessary. If government wants to use the land they gave us, the law requires that they compensate us adequately both for the economic trees and give us time to relocate. If for overriding public interest, the government wants to use the land for a project it considers is in greater interest of the public, then it should compensate those it will affect, that is our prayer. They have to pay for the lands and for the structures and other investments like trees already made on that land.” Also, the Chairman of Action Area (AA3) Residents Association who spoke on behalf of some affected residents, Alhaji Olayiwola Olayinka, said they were surprised by the sudden marking of their houses for demolition by the FCDA to pave way for the proposed rail line project, as nobody was informed about the exercise.

    “But when we saw markings on our properties, we started asking questions about what was going on; then they explained to us that they were marked because they were sited along the way of the rail line project.

    “The FCDA officials told us that they want 200 meters mapped out, because in addition to the rail line there is a road 106 project that is coming too, and everything is parallel to each other. All the rail line that is usually seen, the highest you can see is 50 meters, but this one is big.

    “It is embarrassing that you wake up or return from work one day, just to see red markings of demolition threat on your property, if they put food on the plate one wouldn’t have the appetite to eat or sleep well. If that is the situation, we are not opposing the government development imitative in the area, but the real fact is that it should be done in line with the applicable town and regional planning law in the country.

    “What we are asking for is that, since government wants to pursue public interest, it should pay appropriate compensation and give us time within which we must move out. Because if they should come and demolish without any compensation, then it means that they are slapping us.”In a telephone interview with our reporter, the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Resettlement and Compensation, of the FCDA, Joseph Atta, said that the issue of compensation and demolition has been put on hold as regards the FCT rail line project.He said: “Before any compensation must hold, there must be a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) and approved building plans by the Development Control Unit. If they don’t have any documents, there is nothing anybody can do.”

  • Kuje residents lament demolition

    Kuje residents lament demolition

    Residents of Pasalli community in Kuje Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) are lamenting over the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) railway demolition exercise taking place in the area without due compensation.

    Some of the residents who spoke with Abuja Review lamented that they are not being enlightened by the FCDA, because of the unexpected bulldozer demolished two of the affected houses, that they never expected the demolition will take place until after the Christmas and New Year celebrations, when the landlords have been compensated.

    Emmanuel Omo, an occupant of one of the affected houses said that despite they all saw the demolition marks on the houses, they were not told when the demolition was going to commence, until they saw a bulldozer demolishing two buildings, that was when it dawned on them that the demolition exercise can take place anytime, even without compensation.

    According to Omo, the painful thing is that most of the landlords of the affected houses are not telling their tenants anything, and the entire community is in complete confusion, because, they have never experienced such a thing in the council before.

    “When I saw the markings and confronted my landlord, he told me not to worry, that the demolition is not immediate. But, the ways things are going, nobody knows what would follow, because, most affected areas in the FCT have been demolished. Now, it is our turn. I do not know what to do, I am very confused,” he said.

    One of the landlords who pleaded anonymity expressed pains that there are rumours that immediate demolition will commence soonest and it is beyond their expectation, since they expected that they would be compensated before any demolition takes place.

    “But since they have gradually started the demolition, nobody knows what to expect any more. I do not see any reason why the FCDA will come to demolish our houses without compensation. We got our land legally and we have to be compensated if there is going to be any demolition. We spent money to build these houses and we have to be compensated, for us to start afresh.

    “I was told we will be having a meeting with the council chairman, Hon. Shaban Tete, the Gomo of Kuje and other stakeholders in Kuje town, because, we cannot just sit down and allow our houses to be demolished without compensation. We are human beings and we should be treated as such,” he said.

  • Kuje women trained in computer

    The FCT Administration is training women in the territory, especially women of Kuje Area Council, in different skills including computer literacy programme.

    The FCT Minister of State, Olajumoke Akinjide stated this while inaugurating the Women Development Centre in Kuje.

    The centre, which is a project under the social development secretariat of the FCT, will train women on different vocational skills and acquisition programmes. Some of these programmes are an ICT room for computer literacy and skills development, fashion designing and instruction room and hair dressing and demonstration component.

    Also included is catering and catering service facilities and jewelry making techniques.

    She assured them that the administration will do everything possible to support women in the FCT.

    She also infprmed the women that: “On August 15, women all over Nigeria will be honouring Mr President here in the Federal Capital Territory with a march led by the First Lady, Patience Jonathan. I urge women of Kuje to come out en masse and support the President.”

    The secretary, Social Development Secretariat, Blessing Onuh, in her speech explained that the project is one of the many women empowerment programmes embarked upon by the FCT Administration. They aim at breaking the cycle of poverty among women in Kuje Area Council and the whole of the FCT.

    She said: “We believe that with women taking advantage of these skill acquisition programmes, the impact will be visibly felt in their families as this will improve their socio-economic circumstances.”

    The leader of Market Women Association in the FCT, Blessing Sani, expressed her appreciation over the social development in the areas, even as she said that it is no small job in bringing up women.