‘Stakeholders to brainstorm on Abuja master plan’

The FCT Administration will soon organise a gathering of experts and other stakeholders to brainstorm on the Abuja Master Plan and how Abuja should be in the future.

The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, stated this on Friday, when members of the Nigeria Mining and Geo Sciences Society led by its president, Professor Gbenga Okunlola, visited him in Abuja.

The minister said the experts and stakeholders would discuss the city toward having a consensus on how they want Abuja to be in about 20 years from now and beyond.

Malam Bello said the present FCT Administration was jealously guarding the implementation of the Abuja Master Plan, adding that some of the wrongs perpetrated in the past were being corrected.

He said, “Since we came on board, we have always insisted on going back to the basis to safeguard, for instance, green areas for tourists attraction for the present and future generations.”

According to him, plots of land previously allocated on rock formations or near rock formations in the Federal Capital City have been put on hold to be preserved for future generations.

“It is our duty to protect and preserve such areas like rock formations, green areas and others that can be of immense attraction to tourists in the Federal Capital Territory,” he added.

The minister described mining as very important to Nigeria because government was determined to develop the sub-sector to reap needed foreign exchange.

He assured that the Nigeria Mining and Geo Sciences Society would be part of the experts and stakeholders to brainstorm on the Abuja Master Plan and the future of Abuja.

The President of the Nigeria Mining and Geo Sciences Society, Professor Gbenga Okunlola, noted that the society was one of the oldest professional bodies in Nigeria inaugurated in 1961.

He commended the present FCT Administration for the high level of security in the city as well as its efforts in completing abandoned road projects.

“The level of adherence to the Abuja Master Plan is also commendable,” he added.

He, however, urged the minister to engage the services of the society as the FCT Administration planned to embark on the geological maps upgrade and review of the Abuja Master Plan.

While saying that Abuja has six different kinds of rocks, Professor Okunlola revealed that building failures was mostly due to geological factors.