Expect more life-changing projects in FCT — Wike

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, in this interview with journalists addressed expectations following the recent commissioning of projects in Abuja, assuring residents that more infrastructural and social development initiatives are underway. The former Rivers State governor also pointed out that his administration has maintained active consultations and is investing in education, youth development, and rural connectivity. Excerpts:

By and large, what should Abuja residents expect after the commissioning of projects?

Well, having commissioned projects does not mean that our work has ended. What we commissioned was to celebrate the second year anniversary of Mr. President in office. Of course, there is still more work to be done. More work is going on and I would expect that after some time, we will also invite you to flag off other projects that will have positive impacts on the lives of the people living in Abuja. There are so many, so many that I cannot fill out. There are many projects and I think that we have ongoing: the road from Pai to Gumani, we have the …. road, we have the Karsana road where we have the Renewed Hope Agenda Housing Estate, we have the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division; we have the Justice Quarters for the judges of Federal High Court, FCT High Court and Court of Appeal, Abuja Division. We have the Body of Benchers’ Office Annex. We have 10 flats which we believe before the end of the year will be completed for the Nigerian Law School, Abuja.

Also, just like the ongoing completion of N5 Road, we have the N20 Road ongoing and so many other roads. We have the Kenty–Takushara Road ongoing. So many things to be done like the rural water which will be concentrated in Kubwa, Karu and part of Bwari.

We also have a project to mark the age of Abuja. Of course, you know that Abuja will be 50 years old by February next year, which will be the golden jubilee year. Remember when Mr. President travelled to China, we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the CGC and CCGC where they will provide… you know we have problems with contractors and the one in charge of streetlights — today vandalism, tomorrow that. So we are trying to once and for all tackle that issue and we came up with these very formidable companies, assuring us that they are going to provide security devices and maintain them for four to five years.

We think that will help us a lot to take over the entire city and then we can now allow all other people to go to the rural areas to provide solar power. So many things to be done and we are doing a lot of rehabilitation of schools, so many. So the work is endless but we believe by the grace of God that we will all continue. But for your information, I have not taken any break since the commissioning about two weeks ago — that is 16 good days. Of course, I don’t know how many people would have survived that. I will still try to take my time to rest. It’s very important.

Yes, that’s where we are.

Honourable Minister, I know you have been inundated with acclamations in the last several years you have been in office. You have spoken about your infrastructural revolution that you have been able to bring to the FCT. However, your critics are not relenting. What they are saying is that you are concentrating on the street and modern form of governance, infrastructure, and reform so much.

They are saying that you have neglected some more enduring aspects of governance, talking about inclusive urban planning, stakeholders’ engagement and consultation and that’s what you should be showcasing. Are you not bothered?

Bothered about what? From the question you asked, providing infrastructure and showcasing is just playing to the gallery? Urban planning — how do you provide infrastructure without urban planning?

It is unfortunate that we are not engaging with stakeholders? How would you know when we engage stakeholders? You are aware that when we came on board, it never happened that we had to visit all the six area councils where we sat with the youths, sat with traditional rulers, sat with the women and that was the first time that the stakeholders said, look, this is our major priority.

You also remember how the Youth Secretariat was created by Mr. President; how the Women Secretariat was created. Those were never in existence in Abuja. It was as a result of interactions with stakeholders, who cried to Mr. President and Mr. President in his wisdom approved the creation of these secretariats. So, when people talk about non-engagement of stakeholders, who are the stakeholders? I hope you don’t say a stakeholder is somebody who will be shouting on national television that I’m not inviting him or her. That is not correct.

So, there has been engagement of stakeholders. I’m happy when you say infrastructure — who are those that are using the roads now? What drives the economy of any country? What made investors come to say, look, we are willing to invest?

Will an investor come, provide infrastructure? Will an investor come and provide roads? When the things are not in place, it will not encourage anybody to come, because these are the primary things an investor will see and say, yes, I want to establish an institution here. Is there any access to that? I want to establish a private hospital here. Are there roads?

I want to set up manufacturing, I want to invest in mechanised agriculture. Are there access roads that will help me bring my produce to the city? So, people just criticize for the purpose of criticism when they don’t have anything to say. I will use one local thing we normally say in my place and pardon me to say that, you know my people say, if you don’t have anything to say against somebody, you will say, “see as em be”, because you have nothing to say. I mean, you must appreciate when a government has done well, you don’t need to like the person in charge.

By the grace of God, you have talked about infrastructural revolution in Abuja, that means the government of Mr. President is working. I appreciate that and we have not said that we will solve the entire problem in two years. Where has it happened?

This is a government that inherited so many problems and we are doing all our best, taking time to fix them and suddenly within two years, something you have not done for 10 years, 20 years, since 1999, within two years, everything must have been fixed? That must be a miracle. I put my hand out there and said, be healed, and you are healed. It’s not possible.

It is interesting that you mentioned rehabilitation of schools and there are more projects that are coming. Tell us more about the social development plans that you have beyond schools? Are there any? For instance, health, urban poverty, homelessness, what is the FCT doing in that regard?

I also want to appreciate. You just said here that people noted that we are doing well in terms of roads, connecting rural roads, but are you also accepting, are you convinced that in terms of education, that we are doing something?

We don’t know…

You see, that’s why. Now, the important thing is that I want to give a challenge to this, and I would plead that the Mandate Secretary of Education will give you funding logistics and I will give you one month. Go to the rural areas and see the schools that are being rehabilitated and furnished.

The problem is because we didn’t go to commission them. If I went to commission, you wouldn’t have asked this question, because for me, I thought, well, am I going to commission rehabilitated schools, furnished schools? For me, it’s not important.

Also, in terms of social development, in terms of youths, go and see what we are doing in Nyanya, the Youth Development Centre. As we speak to you now, we’re doing three Sports Centres for our youths — one in, I think, Gwagwalada and then two in the city here. So, we’re taking it serially so that we know that once we are focused with this, we are done with this, we move to another.

So, these are things that we’re doing. Maybe it’s not possible for us to say we want to commission a project. It’s not possible. We take what we think are very, very important projects that we spent billions of naira on that people should see what we’ve done. But it’s a project where we are spending one point something million on this and that — by the time we say we want to go and commission these projects, you will also say, must we commission everything?

So, I think that you help us, when we provide these logistics, go with the Mandate Secretary of Education, Mandate Secretary of Social Development, and then go and see things on ground. We’re not saying that — and I will continue to say — that all problems cannot be solved. Even if this government stays 20 years, no government can solve all these problems, but the government is solving problems that, at least, will help to improve the lives of the people and that’s what it’s supposed to be.

That question on schools, she took it right out of my mouth because there is a flaw, and perhaps after this programme, I can show you some pictures with regards to the state of some schools in the area council…

This is the problem we have always said. How many schools do we have in FCT? How many schools do we have? Now, assuming we have about 10,000 schools, actually, you go and take three schools that are bad — the mischief makers. For example, these schools you are talking about, that are bad. When did they become bad?

You haven’t let me ask my question. Let me quickly ask the question. It’s about the area council.

I mean, who are supposed to be responsible for primary education? Do they also have the mandate to build these primary schools? Are they directly under them? If they are, do they have the funds to do so, or are you intervening?

I will not answer whether they have the funds. First of all, I thank God you know that the primary schools are the responsibility of local government councils or area councils.

Which aspect of it? Is it the software which is the salaries of the teachers?

It is the same. You cannot remove this and take this. However, most of the schools that have been rehabilitated are being carried out by us, by the FCT, because we believe that, yes, it’s their responsibility. But again, if anything happens, nobody will talk about that.

Just like when the teachers were on strike, NULGE was on strike, it is not FCT’s strike. But we felt that the teachers were on strike. What do we do? Secondary school teachers were not on strike. People should have that in mind.

The tertiary education under FCT are not on strike; people should know that. Now, what do we say? They told them to go to the gate of FCT, carry children, and stay there, trying to embarrass the government. I know it’s just blackmail, we have got to intervene. The funds they are having, they said, were not enough. Remember, the increment in the minimum wage affected them.

Now, if a local government or an area council, take for example Gwagwalada, is getting maybe in a month over N300 million allocation and then we have IGR — their share of 10 per cent — assuming they get something like over two billion naira and share among the area councils not on equal bases but on their contribution.

So assuming you get an additional N150 million or N200 million as the case may be and then add to the N300, or N500 million, what is the salary structure? What is the salary of the staff of Gwagwalada for teachers and local government staff? It’s more than N500 million. Now, if you explain that, what other money do you have to carry out other services? That’s where there’s a problem in our federal system. Where you go to the headquarters, to the capital, and know the share for minimum wage for states and local government councils. What is the capacity of these area councils or local governments to be able to pay? And look at people saying employ, employ.

It is total madness. In FCT alone, we have over 55,000 workers. How do you justify it? 55,000 workers doing what? However, you can’t take a step. They will say oh! industrial crisis, but nobody talks about the funding. Where will the money come from? FCT area councils are not like other local governments where you have oil producing states and all that. FCT only depends on taxes. Remember, what goes to the FCT is 1% of the allocation of the Federal Government. So if the federal government, for example, gets N800 billion in a month from the share of the federation account, what they will pay to FCT is how much? 1% is & billion.

So understanding the challenge that the area councils are facing, particularly in that area of education, would you say that you would declare a state of emergency in the infrastructure around education, given just how decrepit and how underfunded they are?

No, no, no. Declaring a state of emergency to achieve what?

At least, I will say, decent infrastructure in the area of…

You see, that is why I quarrelled with somebody who says she is a senator representing FCT. All we’re interested in is that you want to evaluate what jobs we are doing. But ordinarily, as a senator representing the FCT, and members of the House of Representatives should make a case for a special intervention fund for the federal capital territory. But there is nothing like that.

You’re in a good place to make that request.

No, no, no. That’s why, as a senator, as members of the House of Representatives in a National Assembly, you start from there. Let people understand that, yes, you are really speaking on their behalf.

Have you approached the senator to work with her?

No, I don’t need to approach you. You went and said you want to go to the Senate. You went to say you want to go to the House of Representatives. Therefore, you should know the roles you should play. It’s not only coming out of national television, “he’s not inviting me for commissioning of projects; he’s not inviting me for us to have a drink.” That is not the job we’re talking about.

Honourable Minister, let’s talk about your image when it comes to the education sector in the FCT. You have mentioned that mischief makers are afraid of the fact that you’re putting so much attention on the education sector in the FCT, and you’re building bridges for so much and you said that you don’t publicize some of these works that you have been doing in the education sector due to the size of the projects as compared to the roads and bridges that you have been doing. Don’t you think that perhaps putting more attention, or some special level of attention, on the education sector and the works that you’re doing there will help your administration shut these mischief makers up?

Maybe you have not understood me. I didn’t say the level of work we’re doing is not enough. I’m saying, probably because we have no room for commissioning. It’s not only commissioning that you can publicize.

Do you have plans of commissioning anything perhaps collectively?

I think I did say here that I would provide for the businesses. You have media people, and the Mandate Secretary will take you out for one month, and then you now see what we have done in education, and then you have to put that out to the people. I have said that here. So I don’t know what you want me to do when you said if I have a mind to do any commissioning. You know what, I’ll give you the assignment. Again, I would also say, I don’t see how a rational person will say that building bridges is a showman. I don’t understand that. I don’t understand. How do you go to school when there’s no road?

So many of you have complained that taking your children to school is a problem. Something that should take you 30 minutes will take you two hours. A government has come to say look, this can’t continue. It has to be not even 30 minutes, it has to be 20 minutes. Now you say it’s a showman. Without roads. What do you do?

I know that you’re making progress in terms of infrastructure. In terms of healthcare, I know that if you also concentrate on the hospitals and workers the residents will be happy…

In terms of what? What do you think we have not done in the health sector and what do you think we should do?

I just noticed that some councils do not have general hospitals.

Must every area council have a general hospital?

You see the problem with Nigeria? Take for example, and that is the politics we play in the country and is so bad. Inasmuch as one provides access to education, you don’t want to talk about the quality of education. Everybody wants university to be in his community. Nobody has asked, these two universities you have provided, what’s the quality? All we are interested in is, let there be university everywhere, but no quality.

I would prefer that I have three universities for example, and then you can talk about the quality of that university, or schools. Now, the same thing, you have not talked about in terms of general hospitals. I don’t know why anybody would think that within two years in office, you would have provided general hospitals in all the area councils. That is not possible except if you’re talking about warehouses. What you would get as a hospital must have the proper equipment that’s supposed to be there.

Today, we are trying to reconstruct the Utako General Hospital that was abandoned. We are renovating the Gwagwalada General Hospital, and then the one in Gwarimpa. Go and see the doctors’ quarters. Go and see the work that we are doing there. Like I said, this is just two years in office. It is not possible for you to turn around all these sectors. It is not possible, but that does not mean any sector should be neglected and we are not neglecting. It’s just like talking about the transport system. It is chaotic. We are trying to see what we can do to put things in order, which we have started. You know I appreciate the problem that we have. Like I said before, things were so bad and so a government has come, let everything be solved now.

I appreciate the fact that because you can see we are doing well, and therefore, you believe that we shall do well in everything. No. We should know that government does not work that way. A government must be focused on targeting that from this period to this period, this is what we are going to do in this area. From this period to the other period, this is how the government is supposed to work, not just if government comes…

I just hope that the Honourable Minister understands what we are trying to do here. We just want to reflect what the people say. Before we give to the people, the more they ask for it.

I agree with you. I agree, but that’s what I’m saying. Let the people also hear what we are doing and this is the way the government is supposed to run.

You are not shy of interviews. This conversation you have every month is regular and extended. However, people would say that your Mandate Secretaries should be out there, taking questions, taking concerns, and explaining to the people as well what exactly is going on under your mandate.

So they are not satisfied with what I’m briefing them until when the Mandate Secretaries brief them?

No, no, no, no, no. You have your own time to go to them and ask them questions. You will not advise us how, in terms of public appearance, in terms of interviews — take for example, you didn’t listen to me. You hear what the mandate secretary always has to say…

This is very unfair. If you ask me whether my office supervised the Mandate Secretary, that would be very much unfair. How would I sit and approve funds? You know me very well. I sit and approve funds for you to utilize and then you’re asking me if I supervise. Do I look like somebody who will sit in the office? I mean, that would be unfair. That would be an unfair question to say if I supervise my commissioners.

We are seeing you with so many roads, so many projects. People are not happy you didn’t commission?

So the anger of the people is that I have not gone to commission a school project. So let me make a promise and I promise you too, if that’s what you want. What I mean by you is you are speaking on behalf of them, because of their worries. So I have now said, to satisfy them, to satisfy you who asked the question, we will take up 10 schools. As I leave here, I will tell the Mandate Secretariat and tell the protocol to set up a programme and, of course, we won’t do the ones in town. We have to go to the rural area and I hope you will oblige us to also be there and two, we won’t do it live. I hope you like that because you know where I am going to and you know who benefits from the live programme.

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Let us go into something different Honourable Minister. About two weeks ago, you signed an MOU for the Abuja City Walk. We understand that the Abuja City Walk is modelled after the Dubai City Walk. For those of us who don’t know what the Dubai City Walk is all about, would you want to give an insight into what the Abuja City Walk will bring to the table?

Let me tell you. It is very unfortunate what we found and that is why I said leadership is very key in everything you are doing. We are privileged to have traveled and then when you go to some of these cities, you say wow! What is this? What is so difficult that we cannot replicate? This is what investment is all about and how it grows the economy. When we come back home, we will be like yes, I have been to so-so city, very fine and fascinating. But what makes it fine? A city where you can find anything that will improve the lives of the people, that will make life easier for the people, that will improve the economy and create jobs. So why is it that it is not applicable in your own place? You have the opportunity to also tell your people what you found in that area.

With the right leadership, I don’t know whether you have been to Dubai, until I got this proposal, I have been in government and seen many people coming with all kinds of proposals with a portfolio and putting on a PowerPoint presentation. I am not a fan of that. I want something that yes, you are serious, yes it can work, not just to come and take our land and all that, which has been the case all the time. So, I was invited and I went to Dubai. It’s a place where you will find everything, everything you can talk about in life. It’s not a place where you talk about the rich men alone. Schools are there, all kinds of business, you will see how compact.

So when they came and I said, part of our problem is bureaucracy and I have this experience of people coming to say look they have 18 billion dollars, they have 10 million dollars and at the end of the day you don’t see anything rather they take your property or land as the case may be to go to bank and collect funds. When I was a chief of staff in Rivers State, it happened. I don’t want to mention name so that the person will not say I went on national television and embarrassed him. A businessman. We had to bring down a popular cultural centre for the proposal. At the end of the day, what happened? So when I became governor, I went to take back our property and it became politics. In fact, the person went out to start saying that because he is an Ijaw, that’s why I’m doing what I’m doing.

So when they came, I said, listen, what do you want? They said they want so-so and so-so place and I asked what time limit? They said they want to go and come back when we are ready and I said look, we are ready now. We’ll take you to where we will take you and all those who will be involved must accompany us: the Director Land, the Director Survey, the Director Development Control, the Director Urban and Regional Planning. I said, yes, move them to the place. And they were very happy. I said, okay, what do we do? Can we have the design? I said, Director Development Control, I don’t want to hear bureaucracy, or oh! some staff are trying to sabotage. I don’t want to hear that. I told them, bring the drawings, I will take it and submit it to the Development Control. Development Control told them the charges. Within 24 hours, it must be done and it was done and they paid the fees and I said Director Land, prepare the allocation for them. However, if in this first phase, you are not able to complete the first phase or achieve it, the land will revert back to us automatically. Not where you see people applying for mass housing, 10 years, nobody’s doing mass housing. Ten years they are dividing and selling the land.

Look at the problem we had with SNECOU Group Limited. You know where Sunrise is? A huge chunk of land. SNECOU claimed that the FCT gave them 500 hectares for housing. For how long? Instead of them to develop the houses, they started dividing the land and selling. When I came I said no, this is not right. If it’s to sell land, the government could as well sell the land and make money and develop the city. What happened? All over the television, social media, the noise is that I am fighting the Igbos. I’m doing this. That is the country we are in. Now, on this investment, which the people have signed, that so-called Abuja Technology Village. Who owns Abuja Technology Village? If you see the corruption, Abuja Technology is the baby of FCT. FCT provided the infrastructure for more than 20 years. Go and see litigation, grabbing of land. 20 years, nothing has been done. 20 good years. You go there, they have rented there, you see where tankers, NNPC tankers are parking, they collect money. You see somebody one side, they collect, oh my God! So you see, so many people are now claiming that they have C of Os. I said, I can’t understand this. I said, okay, I’m going to solve this problem.