Nyesom Wike has promised more development projects and the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy for indigenous lands in the Federal Capital Territory as part of efforts to deepen infrastructure development and address long-standing land ownership concerns.
The minister pledged on Thursday during a thank-you visit to Kuje Area Council, where he continued his tour of the six area councils of the FCT following the successful conduct of the recent council elections.
Addressing traditional rulers, political leaders and residents at the Kuje Town Hall, Wike explained that the visit was directed by President Bola Tinubu as a mark of appreciation for the support shown to candidates aligned with the administration during the polls.
He said the president instructed him not to take the people’s support for granted but to return to the area councils to personally acknowledge their role in the outcome of the elections.
The minister said, “Mr President has directed me not to take your support for granted, to make sure I go back to all area councils in the FCT to tell the traditional rulers and the leaders of those areas that he appreciates you. He asked you to vote for candidates who will support him or who are supporting him, and you did not hesitate; you voted for them ”.
Wike, who pledged more projects in Kuje following a request by the chairman-elect of the council, Hon. Danjuma Samuel Shekwolo, for three key road projects, said after the swearing-in of the chairmen in June, he will call for a stakeholders’ meeting to prioritise the projects for execution.
“I am very interested in Kuje, and because Kuje people have done it for us, we will do it for you,” he said.
He likened politics to a social contract between the people and the government and further reiterated the administration’s commitment to fulfilling its pact with the people by providing tangible infrastructure.
The minister recalled his 2023 meeting with Kuje’s royal fathers, where specific requests were made regarding the abandoned Airport Road to Kuje town and the dualisation of the Garage Junction to LEA Secretariat road, and proudly announced that the dualisation project has already been completed and commissioned, while the Arab Contractors handling the Airport Road project have been mobilised back to the site. He assured the residents that “this major landscape-altering road” would be part of the projects to be inaugurated by the President during his third-year anniversary celebrations.
He further updated the residents on the ongoing 17-kilometre Kuje-Gwagwalada road project being handled by Gilmor Engineering. He noted that work was progressing rapidly and expressed optimism that the president would commission the project in June this year. He assured that the current administration was determined to change the narrative of politics in the territory by ensuring that the lives of residents are significantly improved through finished, high-quality projects rather than empty campaign promises.
Reiterating a landmark policy shift announced during his thank-you visit to AMAC, Barr. Wike also pledged to reform land ownership for FCT indigenes. He vowed to begin signing Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) for ancestral lands, noting that as someone from a similar background, he understands the pain of land displacement and is committed to “repairing” the system.
“I made a promise yesterday, and I want to repeat that promise I made to the indigenes of this area. I said yesterday that I’m going to change the pattern of land ownership. This time around, I’m going to be signing C of Os for you to also own properties here because I know where I come from. To come from a city, there are advantages and disadvantages. So, I have suffered it; I know how to repair it for you,” Wike stated.
He urged the people to remain unified and avoid being deceived by those he described as ’emergency democrats’ who ignored Kuje during their previous tenures as governors or ministers but have now surfaced to seek the presidency.
While congratulating the Kuje chairman-elect for overcoming the odds to emerge victorious at the polls, the minister advised him against becoming a “runaway chairman” once sworn into office. He urged the incoming leader to prioritise the welfare of the people and remain as accessible as he was during the campaign period.
“I do believe that you will not abandon your people. I know that people demand a lot but try to do your best. Don’t run away from listening to your people because when you were campaigning, you were always at home. Now that the result has come, don’t be a runaway chairman,” the minister said.
Speaking on the FCT representation at the Senate, Barrister Wike also cautioned the electorate to be more discerning in future legislative elections. He encouraged them to vote for individuals who truly understand the local community’s problems rather than those who focus on media appearances and “love magazines”, promising to unveil a suitable candidate at the appropriate time.
In his welcome address, the incumbent Chairman of Kuje Area Council, Hon. Abdullahi Suleiman Sabo, stated that Barr. Ezenwo Nyesom Wike was the first minister to appreciate the people of Kuje for their conduct during an election. He described the Honourable Minister as a ‘bridge-builder, a repairer and a field marshal in Nigerian politics’. He said that elections had come and gone and that, despite political differences, the Kuje people would not allow politics to tear them apart.
Also speaking, the Gomo of Kuje, Alhaji Haruna Jibrin Tanko, expressed delight that all the developmental projects requested from the honourable minister were “already receiving express attention”. He appreciated the good intentions of the minister for the people of the Kuje Area Council. He, however, hoped that more roads, such as the Kuje-Abaji roads, could also be constructed.
The royal father also lamented that in spite of Kuje’s proximity to the Abuja Municipal Area Council, it still lacked pipe-borne water, leaving residents to depend on wells and boreholes as their source of water.
In his address, the chairman-elect, Danjuma Shekwolo, thanked the FCT minister and Kuje residents for believing in him and promised to work with the minister through President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
Hon. Shekwolo lauded the visible infrastructural development in the Council, which, he said, had eased the movement of people,, and urged the minister to consider three more road projects, which, if constructed, would help to grow the economy of the area.
He identified the roads as Gaube to Kuje, Kuje to Rubochi, and Kuje to Kabi.
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