.....promises to bring back Abuja glory
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory FCT minister, Nyesom Wike on Monday assumed office, with a declaration that he has not come to Abuja to fly any party's flag.
At his maiden news conference, the minister, a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party PDP was reacting to questions about whether he would fly the national flag and that of his party or that of the ruling All Progressives Congress APC.
"Why should anyone be bothered about what party flag I will be flying? Okay, bring PDP flag, I will fly it, bring Labour Party flag, I will fly it. The FCT is in this state and you think the people are bothered about the party flag I fly? I will fly the Nigerian flag and ensure the FCT returns to the dreams of the founding fathers.
"We will bring FCT back to where it ought to be. So many people have complained that this is not the FCT of the founding fathers. We must tackle issue of security. FCT should be where people come for holidays."
Wike who spoke at length on his mandate, also pledged to restore the city's master plan, adding that land allottees who have been given Certificates of Occupancy but failed to develop would also lose their lands to give way to those ready to build.
"If you know you have built where you are not supposed to build, it will go down", he said.
He also reeled out a 10-point agenda with emphasis on Security, City Sanitation, Preservation of the Abuja Master Plan, Infrastructure Development, Restoration of Green Areas, Removal of Shanties, Plugging Revenue Leakages, Ground Rents Payment, among others.
He warned that the Administration under his leadership will not take excuses from security agencies as they will provided with the required tools to work as issue of security is germane.
On the landscape of the city, Wike said; "Abuja has turned to a slum city. Sanitation is bad with refuse everywhere. We cannot allow that. We will look at issues of waste disposals.
"If you build on a green area, sorry, it will go down. Those who were allocated land and refused to develop them, we will revoke such lands and re-allocate them to those who are ready to develop them.
“Those who don’t pay ground rent, we will not notify them to do so, but I will not be tired of signing revocation notices.
“Uncompleted buildings that have become a safe haven for criminals will be reclaimed by the government and put them to good use.
"Land racketeering days are over. Those who refuse to develop turning to land speculators will lose their lands.
"All these are our short term deliverables so as to bring back people's confidence in Government."
The minister also added that roadside trading, illegal motor parks and bus stops would no longer be tolerated, adding that they constitute part of the security challenge in the FCT.
We are not going to tolerate the issue of everywhere is market, as it must be within the limit of the law. Yes I know that things are difficult, but it doesn't also mean that you must cause crisis for other people.
"In a city like Abuja, people are selling with umbrella under the trees. These things cause insecurity. No we can't allow it at all. So security people must map out a strategy on how we must move them out.
"We cannot also have everywhere as motor park and bus stops. It is not going to be allowed. I don't care whom you're, where you come from and what religion, what we know is that we must sanitize the place. My happiness is that the people of Abuja are happy.
"So, Minister of State and myself, we are going to work, to make sure we achieve this, that will make people say Abuja has returned to what it is supposed to be.
“If you have a brother, sister, or uncle involved in any of these, please tell him that the time is up. The goal is to sanitize Abuja and make it safe for everyone.
“We will consult with stakeholders, the natives, and herdsmen to address some of these problems, including open grazing.
“We will provide alternatives to reduce the suffering of the people, particularly those without private vehicles.
“We will bring back mass transit to improve access to public transportation, and therefore, the person in charge of transportation must keep his records clean.
“We will provide security agencies with necessary tools and logistics and after that, we will not want to hear any excuses. What we want to see is results.”
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