Still on developments in FCT

THE Abuja light rail project is an area that one could say has witnessed tremendous improvements. When the FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, was appointed in 2015, the light rail was just about 70 percent completed with respect to bridges and intersections.

But the project is now 98 percent complete and the minister has promised that before Christmas, anybody coming to Abuja by flight could access the airport railway station and terminate at the station in the Central Business District or the metro station.

That way, you don’t have to drive for 44 kilometres before you come into the city or go out of the city.

The minister has shown FCT residents that he is an astute public administrator who sets priorities in the interest of the masses and sticks to them, despite lean resources.

The minister has once again assured that the focus of the FCTA in this phase two will be mainly to provide additional support facilities to transport, education, health and ICT to make Abuja a smart city, following up on the IBM grant to Abuja for smart city development.

The key focus also includes strengthening institutional frameworks for the delivery of services and embarking on a wide range of reforms to make the institution of the FCT more vibrant and more relevant.

The urgency and enormity of the work required have been underscored by the appointment and swearing in of the Mandate Secretaries, Chief Executives of selected extra-departmental agencies as well as the senior political aides to help continue to drive the change agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari and the vision of the founding fathers of the FCT.

Danladi Akilu

Durumi II, Gudu District, Abuja