…SEEKS COMMUNITY LEADERS’ COOPERATION FOR FCT’S DEVELOPMENT
AMINA HUSSAINI
The FCT Minister, Muhammad Bello, on Tuesday, said the demolition of illegal structures and shanties in the Federal Capital Territory is always the last resort of the Administration.
Bello asked political and community leaders in the territory to cooperate with the administration for the overall development of the capital city.
He made the appeal when the FCT political and community leaders led by its representative in the Senate, Philip Aduda, paid him a courtesy visit.
The visit came in the wake of the demolition of illegal structures and shanties at Apo Akpajenya and Dagbalo in the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC).
The minister reiterated the importance of cooperation between the political and community leaders and the FCT Administration, stressing that there was need for constant communication between the administration and community leaders.
He said, “Dialogue and sensitisation, community engagement of traditional, religious, indigenous communities as well as the area council political leadership and overall information dissemination are solutions to community issues.
“I assure you as advised, the relevant departments will make sure that what happened doesn’t happen in the way it happened.
“The case of Apo Akpajenya and Dagbalo was inherited by this administration. Demolition is always our very last resort.”
Bello, however, advised the FCT political and community leaders not to shy away from reality as there were a number of pending projects that would require the cooperation of the communities to ensure success and the overall development of Abuja.
He said that he was an advocate of community integration and urban renewal where urban development would be implemented around indigenous communities.
“But this will require the cooperation of those communities,” he said.
Bello decried situations where community heads refused to cooperate with the administration for the development of certain areas within the FCT.
He reminded the leaders that the development of towns and cities took years and could not be accomplished within short periods of time.
The minister, therefore, encouraged community leaders who were relocated and resettled to move to the new locations to encourage members of their community to follow suit.
Bello also enjoined community heads to show leadership and lead by example.
Earlier, Aduda, representing FCT, said that the delegation was in the FCTA to register concerns over the removal of illegal structures in the affected communities within AMAC.
Aduda said that in future, before such exercises were carried out, enough notice and time should be given to the affected communities to forestall any hardship.
The FCTA had last Saturday demolished 134 makeshift houses at Apo Akpmajenya indigenous community to pave way for the construction of a major road network in the area.
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