Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, the Minister (he doesn’t like “Hon. Minister”) of Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been waging war on illegal structures, Nigeria’s greatest tourist attraction, and demolishing buildings without proper documentation or built on un-approved places. While many, especially those meant to be excluded from Abuja, but who happen to work there, providing services to the rich as drivers, cooks, gardeners and gatemen, are abusing el-Rufai for bulldozing their shanties, others are hailing him for the courage to take on those weaned on the philosophy of might is right.
Whenever el-Rufai wants to defend his demolition exercise, he anchors it on the need to restore the Abuja master plan! And there are many people who have joined him in chorusing this “Abuja master plan” propaganda. Any time I hear people talk of “Abuja master plan”, I feel sad, I feel embarrassed, and I ask myself, which master plan are they talking about? I believe that what many call master plan is no more than the big map that shows plots allocation! That is not the same thing as a master plan. If there was ever one, what was the intended end result? Why is that result not showing in spite of the illegally erected structures? Even if there are 1000 structures erected where they were not supposed to be, should they have been enough to totally obscure the beauty of the master plan if it had any? In short, was Abuja master plan intended to result in a suffocating monolith of mortar and cement?
I am not a town planner. The nearest I got to that was an O’level Geography. But I can tell you I have seen planned cities around the world. Abuja is not one. Abuja is a failure, our failure. Abuja is no more than a structural expression of our greed and a constructional showcasing of our indiscipline! Abuja is a bold statement on the aesthetical limitations of those who drew the map as well as the lack of standards of those who accepted it as a master plan! Abuja simply confirms our inability to match the money we throw around with appropriate lifestyle. If we had standards, we would have put it on show at Abuja. Abuja puts the neon lights on the bar of our highest possibilities so that nobody misses it!
Abuja was a virgin land when we went there to build a new capital city. We therefore had the greatest opportunity to express ourselves, tell the world what we think about ourselves, about our zest for life, our cultures and our seriousness about tourism. But except in the earlier silly political attempt to make Abuja wear Islamic look, we failed in all that. Yet we talk seriously about a master plan! Master plan my foot! (Excuse me, Mr. President!) It then means that given a virgin land to send to the world a clear message about our standards, this is the best we can do. Or are we going to build another new city? But do you know the greatest problem? Many people would by now be saying that I am out of my mind! Many people do not find anything wrong or odd about Abuja! Everybody that has a piece of land in Abuja thinks the city is the greatest thing to happen to any nation! And that includes those who lead us!
You can now understand why we are forever operating at a primitive level! We are led by those whose standards do not surpass Abuja standards! And since Abuja is such a masterpiece, and everybody wants a piece of it, it is not surprising that all our cities are ugly and unliveable! It is no surprise that not many governors have changed anything in their states since the last five years. Instead they are gallivanting from place to place for lascivious social frivolities and self-promotions. Every governor believes he has done well. There are people who praise them daily as magic workers! They think they have surpassed themselves!
Take Lagos for example. Many capitals in the world had to construct artificial lakes and lagoons, which they turn into money spinning transportation and tourist places. Lagos is blessed with lagoons, creeks and beaches. We neither use them for transportation nor for tourism. We pour SHIT, and I mean shit into them! Look at the premier beach, the Bar Beach. It is the filthiest in the world! Waterfronts are being parcelled out to developers to raise mortar and cement structures. Yet Local Governments harass offices and homes with ridiculous tax demands for the money they could easily make from the lagoons, creeks and parks! Lagos is being choked off by traffic congestions, and the roads cant last a season. Yet we can't explore marine transportation. Port Harcourt is even a worse story as an unliveable city. Tiny and rickety boats are capsizing and killing people everyday. Yet the priority is a N4.6 billion Governor’s Lodge!
Abuja, like many things we do, is about lowering standards in order to carry everybody along. You don’t make progress that way. Some people must have to meet others at the destination. All that is important is to show them the way and set them on the way! I would have not minded if Abuja turned out to be a place I would tell visiting foreign friends: Come and see where our Big Men live! I can only say now: Come and see where our Greedy Men live! As usual, when we open up or sand fill a new area (mind you with tax payers’ money) every big man wants a piece of the action there! Remember Osborne? To cater for everybody’s greed we chop the place into small plots and everybody competes in building ugly (they call them designer) houses! No authority regulates the type of buildings.
What would I have done with Abuja? First it would not have been a place where every Nigerian must go to do business, especially with Government. It would not have been a place for street traders and kiosks. It would have been a truly showpiece! A masterpiece instead of a master plan! I would have said to the world here we come; Nigeria, the largest black nation on earth! Anybody over-flying Abuja would have been told with the symmetry of every structure, including the trees, that this is a planned city! Right now Abuja looks from air, like a disorganised scrabble tiles on a board that had a violent kick!
I would have ensured that for each area, the type of houses are designed and insisted on. All variations would have been internal. No democracy in this! Abuja would have had two major boulevards only open to pedestrians. These would have had major shopping malls, restaurants, cinemas, bars, truly five-star hotels etc where tourists could stroll and savour Nigerian hospitality. At Asokoro, nobody would have got less than the equivalent of three plots. Here there would be no prison walls. The perimeter fences must be designed to allow a peep into the mansions of the rich.
The emphases here would be lush green lawns and gardens. Every house must have trees, a specific species at the same spot in front.
I would have given Abuja artificial lakes that complement the rocks and the valleys. Abuja streets would have been lined with trees, different species for different areas and zones. Signboards and billboards would have been outlawed in many areas of Abuja. Street signs would have been more creatively done.
Abuja streets would have run away from the narrow British types to wider roads with emphases on open spaces! Corner shops would have been out of the question. Nigerians would have learned how to go to the appropriate place for everything. For the first time, Nigerians would have seen a truly beautiful city, and knowing that it is a Nigerian city, designed and built by Nigerians, would have changed our sense of self-worth! Remember, someone envisioned Las Vegas! Someone envisioned South Africa’s Sun City! These are today among the world’s top tourist destinations. What was the vision of Abuja planners?
