The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Barr. Nyesom Wike, has ordered the immediate demolition of houses and other structures obstructing water channels in Maitama and other flood-prone areas of Abuja.
Wike gave the directive on Tuesday after inspecting areas affected by flooding in Maitama, warning that no property owner, regardless of status or political influence, would be spared if found to have built on designated waterways.
He said the demolition would begin immediately and continue until Saturday, insisting that the exercise would not be suspended because of the election season.
“We will demolish all those houses found on the water channel. Some of them are senators. Some of them are big men,” Wike declared.
“Whether there’s election or there’s no election, all those houses will go down. Heaven will not fall. Rather, heaven will be at peace that the right thing has been done.”
The minister said the inspection revealed that some property owners had blocked channels designated in the Abuja Master Plan for the movement of stormwater.
According to him, the recent flooding had exposed several human activities contributing to the problem, including construction on waterways, indiscriminate dumping of refuse, blocked drainage systems and failure by officials to properly supervise developments.
“Unfortunately, we have gone there, and we have seen how people have blocked channels where, in the Master Plan, that is the right way where the water is supposed to be channelled,” he said.
‘No sacred cows’
Wike said most of the structures found in areas that were not designated for development belonged to wealthy Nigerians and had existed for several years.
“All those built-up areas that were not supposed to be built up, not a single poor person will live there. Those houses are houses built by well-to-do Nigerians,” he said.
The minister said some of the affected properties had been standing for between eight and 10 years, suggesting that previous administrations may not have had the political will to enforce planning regulations.
He, however, warned that the present administration would not tolerate such violations.
“And let nobody make the mistake that this government lacks the political will to do anything. The person must be making a very big mistake,” Wike said.
“If there is one minister that has that political will, I have. I have the political will.”
He directed the FCT Development Control Department to commence the exercise without delay.
“From today to Saturday, if Development Control delay, let them find any excuse to run away. They cannot,” he said.
Wike blames human activities
The minister said while flooding could occur naturally, human activities had worsened the situation in Abuja.
He attributed the recent flooding partly to climate change and unusually heavy rainfall but identified the construction of buildings on waterways, development in prohibited areas, blocked drains and indiscriminate waste disposal as major human factors.
“Flood could be a natural disaster,” Wike said, noting that flooding had occurred in major cities, including Dubai, the United States and the United Kingdom.
“We are in a climate change period. The kind of rains we have experienced, or we are experiencing now, we have not experienced before. But that is not that there are no man-made factors. There are.”
He directed the relevant FCT authorities to immediately commence desilting of identified drainage channels.
“The facility management is not here. Director is not here. Yes, we have to immediately start desilting some of the areas we have identified,” he said.
Wike also appealed to residents and traders to stop dumping refuse into drainage systems, warning that blocked drains could worsen flooding during heavy rainfall.
‘I won’t waste energy on political commentators’
The minister rejected attempts to turn the flooding into a political controversy, saying he would not engage political commentators criticising the FCT Administration.
“I don’t want to reply to political commentators. I don’t want to reply to people who think that appearing on TV, in their houses, will give them an edge to win an election that they have lost. No,” he said.
Wike said the FCT Administration had recorded significant achievements in its first three years but acknowledged that it had not solved every problem confronting the capital.
“Nobody can diminish what this administration has done in the past three years. Nobody can diminish it,” he said.
“This administration has done very well as far as the Federal Capital Territory is concerned. That does not mean that I can claim that it has solved all problems, no. Are there problems? Yes. Have they solved major problems? Yes. Will they continue to solve problems? Yes.”
He also cited the issuance of Certificates of Occupancy as one of the administration’s achievements, saying 26,000 C of Os had been signed within three years, compared with about 7,000 signed by two previous administrations over 13 years.
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Green areas under threat
Wike also warned against the conversion of designated green areas in Abuja to other uses, saying the FCT Administration would continue to protect the city’s environmental assets.
He said the existence of an illegal development for several years would not make it legal or prevent the government from taking corrective action.
“Something that was done wrongly will not be corrected? No, we will not allow that. We won’t,” he said.
The minister maintained that the administration’s priority was to address problems confronting residents rather than engage in political arguments.
“My interest is we’ll continue to do the right thing in FCT, where no one will stop,” Wike said.
He added that the flooding had provided an opportunity for the government to identify and tackle structures and activities contributing to the problem.
“Thank God the flood has come. It has drawn our attention to the place. Now something will happen,” he said.
