A PARADISE TO BE INVENTED

Okello Oculi chronicles the misery of living in the Abuja suburbs

From 24th to 26th September, 2018, officials and guests witnessed mental fireworks inside a conference hall in the corporate headquarters of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA). Here are some gems: ‘‘Declare a state of emergency over FCT because the whole territory is turning into a slum’’; ‘’Productivity is low in Abuja as workers from distant suburbs like Nyanya and Kubwa arrive at 10 a.m. and must leave office at 3 p.m. to get home before midnight’’; ‘’The use of the word ‘slum’’ is degrading: call it ‘’Underdeveloped’’ part of FCT so that we do not feel ashamed’’; ‘’There has been no development-planning ever since El-Rufai was Minister of FCT’’; ‘’Elderly people are carried on backs of their children to beg for their pensions’’; ‘’In rural communities women draw drinking water polluted with sewage from hotels’’.

The Federal Capital Territory Authority (FCDA), the UNHABITAT and HUAIROU Commission had assembled participants to an intensive intellectual ritual of ‘’talking bitterness’’ about conditions in Abuja and boldly propose the beautiful urban environment they hope to build. The quality of their deliberations, would qualify the city for a novel global classification as ‘’Abuja Urban Thinkers’ Campus’’.

There were moments of passionate outbursts, with ‘’Abuja indigenes’’ repeatedly demanding apologetic attention to their rights. A senior official recalled visiting a community and a traditional ruler telling him that ‘’anybody who has a ‘’Certificate of Occupation’’ (for a land allocation) is a stranger, a foreigner. As for us, we do not need C of O: We have owners’ rights’’. One member of their delegation reported of a school for indigenes in which ‘’one teacher teaches all subjects in all the classes’’. Their sense of bitter victimhood was deflated by information that Indigene youths studying Law and Medicine have their tuition fees paid by the FCT government; and an Abuja University of Science and Technology may start operation in 2019.

The President of the National Association of Market Women combined delicious zest with bold wits to throw women’s demands into the policy arena. In puncturing the claim that Abuja Enterprise’s Micro Financing Bank had given grants to 223 women from among seven cooperatives in the Federal Capital Territory, she claimed that she had led 5,000 women to get loans to no avail. ‘’They go to their village and bring women and call them ’market women’ and give them loans of N50,000’’, she alleged.

She challenged the practice of rich people paying N7 million for shops offered at N4 million: ‘’How do I pay N4 million in a place where I will sell Crayfish? Educated people spoiled Abuja; a market woman who travels from Lugbe to hawk groundnut on her feet is driven by poverty’’. She was angered by an official who referred to hawkers as ‘’scavengers’’ who bring shame to the city. ‘’Abuja must be for all’’, she insisted.

The transport sector drew considerable rage, including the assertion that it had received attention from the very beginning of the FCT. The pain of crowds of people at road junctions waiting in rain or blazing sun and sporadically scrambling to yank doors of a taxis and grab a seat were a daily occurrences. Also noted was the contradiction of rivers of vehicles in traffic jams as people come to work in the morning, but lanes for opposite directions are empty. Keeping expensively constructed roads empty for over six hours is evidence of lack of mutually connected policy-making by FCT officials.

The educations sector got its share of brain-light flared at it. Private schools which charge as much as N1 million per term were not offering commensurate quality of teaching. Pupils who are offered British and American syllabuses combined with Nigerian syllabuses are often ‘’unable to pass Common Entrance Exams”. The FCT should adopt guarantees for top quality teachers similar to those evolved by Finland and South Korea. In Finland only students who graduate in the top 10 ranking (at 75 % and above) are allowed to become teachers. In South Korea the ‘’Second Best’’ are channelled into medical schools. Both countries work with the dictum that: ‘’You cannot give what you do not have’’.

There are rural communities where children are taught under trees. In some urban areas the commercial impetus has resulted in private schools ‘’with no more than three pupils’’. This contrasts with ‘’communities that do not know how to demand for schools’’ and remain deprived. There was a report of a school with 400 pupils but only two teachers that teach English language – a compulsory subject for a certificate.

The media was rebuked following a revelation that only two journalists were in attendance. Under the dictum that if the media do not report an event it has not happened, this was a dismal showing. It was recognised that the media are severely handicapped. The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA), for example, currently has only six cameras for coverage of 30 events daily. It would be useful to educate journalists about FCDA affairs by making them members of committees.

Abuja City should promote Kunun Geda, Zobo and other traditional beverages; abolish ‘’Task Forces’’ inflicting ‘’Urban Governance Terrorism’’ on hawkers, and build sheds similar to those in Ghana. More food/beverage kiosks than petrol stations along major streets would yield vital income. This ‘’Abuja Urban Thinkers Campus’’ was thrilling.

‘DECLARE A STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER FCT BECAUSE THE WHOLE TERRITORY IS TURNING INTO A SLUM’; ‘PRODUCTIVITY IS LOW IN ABUJA AS WORKERS FROM DISTANT SUBURBS LIKE NYANYA AND KUBWA ARRIVE AT 10 A.M. AND MUST LEAVE OFFICE AT 3 P.M. TO GET HOME