By Ladi Patrick-Okwoli
Over the years, residents of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), especially those in satellite towns and rural areas have been denied of basic amenities.
These categories of FCT residents, including those living within the city centre have had nightmares due to the poor state of roads in their areas which connect them to the city centre.
Just a few road construction projects, particularly in recent years were done in the city centre, ignoring the bulk of the population who reside in satellite towns and rural areas.
Relief came with President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Nyesom Wike on August 21, 2023, as the 17th minister of the FCT.
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In the last nine months, the pace of development under Wike’s administration has been visible across the capital city.
The minister hit the ground running on the assumption of office, reminding those who cared to listen that the mandate given to him by President Tinubu was a marching order. “We must bring the FCT back to what it was supposed to be. We are willing and we have the capacity do that. That is the message. It is not going to be business as usual,” Wike had emphasised.
He left no one in doubt, being conversant with the challenges of the territory with a lot of courage and boldness to confront them.
For the first time in years, the much-awaited Abuja Rail Mass Transit, also known as Abuja Light Rail is completed and is set for commissioning as part of President Tinubu’s one-year celebrations. Abuja residents will enjoy two months of free ride on the rail and could be extended, Wike assured last week.
Also scheduled for commissioning in the FCT are a series of road projects which are already completed.
The minister dedicated his first budget to infrastructural development with the N1.15 trillion 2024 proposed FCT Statutory Budget designed to transform the capital city and rural communities.
He explained that out of the N1.15 trillion, N421.44 billion was earmarked as recurrent expenditure, representing 36.7 percent, while N726.3 billion was set aside for capital expenditure, representing 63.3 percent. He also explained that the proposed capital expenditure would be dedicated to the development of infrastructure, with an emphasis on the completion of ongoing projects.
Wike added that out of the N726.3 billion proposed capital expenditure, N80 billion was allocated for SUKUK loan projects, while N29 billion has been earmarked for the Abuja Light Rail project.
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To achieve this, the FCT minister inaugurated the construction of 42.2 kilometres of rural roads across the six area councils.
Giving an account of his administration, Wike said he was tackling infrastructure, security and education in the federal capital.
He also mentioned that civil servants in the FCTA have been motivated to do their job better, following the establishment of the FCT Civil Service Commission.
“We found out that one of the problems inhibiting infrastructural growth is the Treasury Single Account (TSA). Because of this restriction, we could not even utilise our IGR as we deemed fit. Mr President approved that we should pull out from the TSA and this has enabled us to do certain things that people think is a miracle,” he said.