THE MOVEMENT OF THE FEDERAL CAPITAL FROM LAGOS TO ABUJA

FEDERAL CAPITAL

By February of 1979, the Abuja master plan was ready but the building of the city did not really commence until 1980, after the assumption of office of Alhaji Shehu Shagari as the nation’s president. He devoted much time to the building city. 
 

  The construction work going on in building the city during continued.

It was the alteration of the master plan, with buildings springing up in the wrong places, that force Mallam Nasir el Rufai, former Federal Capital Territory minister, to insist on the demolition exercise that he embarked upon. According to the former minister, it was imperative for the nation to preserve the beauty of the capital city. But the exit of el-Rufai from government has not led to the end of the demolition exercise as effort are still on to rid the Federal Capital of anything that would detract from making it a city that will elicit pride from Nigerians and foreigners alike.

Speaking recently on the effort of the government to improve the state of Abuja, the current FCT minister Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, said the FCT administration was doing its best to upgrade infrastructure and facilities in the city to meet the international standards.

He added that the FCT administration was committed to the development of not just the Abuja but also the satellite towns as a deliberate way of decongesting the city center. He also disclosed that the administration was improving the transportation links between the Federal Capital City (FCC) and the area councils through the construction of light railway networks and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) lanes for mass transit buses.

However, despite the splendour of Abuja, the major concern of the common man is that the initial plan of making the Federal Capital Territory a home for every Nigerian is fast becoming mirage.

The ongoing renewal exercise in the city has driven away many low-income and middle income earners in the city because of cost of living in the capital city is way above the means of the average Nigeria. So, to the average Nigeria, Abuja, the Federal Capital, is for the very wealthy and the political class and not a home for all.

The reason for the movement of the Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja  

–         Geographical, economical and political

1.     Inadequate land for expansion

2.     Urban crises

3.     Lack of proper cosmopolitan orientation

4.     Lack of locational centrality

5.     Urban congestion

–         Inadequate land for expansion: – There is no enough or not good enough land in Lagos for development in terms of structure. The space in Lagos is not enough for future development and as a capital city, there should be a room for development. The space that is been used for federal capital in Abuja is about 800,000 hect.

–         Urban Crisis: – The rate of difficulty in Lagos is at the high side, the dangers in Lagos and the rate of crime in Lagos state is too much and as a capital city, there should be peace in the country.

–         Lack of locational centrality: Lagos state is not been center in the map, and there is a need for the capital city to be centralize for so many reasons.

–         Urban congestion: The population in Lagos state is too much.

Justification of the movement of the Federal Capital From Lagos to Abuja

–         The mission is to build Abuja city ad territory in compliance with the Abuja master plan and to deliver services. This is aimed at improving the overall quality of its residents.

–         To also ensure and manage efficiency, performance and output through key performance indicators.

In achieving the key deliverables, the FCTA had increased the impact and outcome of government spending on the resident through the national and statutory budgets and internally generated revenues and other sources.

The cost and benefit of the relocation of the capital city from Lagos to Abuja

Cost	Benefit
1.     It lead to high cost of site 2.     Compensation cost 3.     Increase in transportation 4.     Increase government expenditure 5.     Cost of physical development	1.     It increase value of the land 2.     Employment opportunity 3.     Abuja is well planned over any city 4.     Centrality of the capital city