Onaiyekan seeks end to demolition in Abuja
THE President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, Rev. John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan yesterday called on all Nigerians to appeal to President Olusegun Obasanjo to halt the ongoing demolition of alleged illegal structures by the authorities of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja.
The prelate, who spoke during the church's 2004 thanksgiving service, said over 50,000 Nigerian families had been displaced through the demolition of two rural communities of Kado and Dantata villages in Abuja.
The bishop described the decision of the FCT Minister, Malam Nasir el-Rufai to demolish another sprawling rural community of Karmo as a declaration of war on hundreds of thousands of impoverished residents and a gross human rights violation, which must be halted to avoid human catastrophe.
Onaiyekan disclosed that he had appealed personally to the authorities of FCT on the urgent need to provide alternative accommodation for thousands of residents displaced by the demolition squad. He described as "barbaric and an abuse of the fundamental rights of Nigerians" to have shelters.
The church leader, who spoke amid applause from the galaxy of personalities that turned out for the yearly event, said that the situation in Abuja fostered by the demolition was too dangerous to keep silent.
"The current policy of demolition is a tacit declaration of war on the hundreds of thousands of residents of rural communities in the FCT, majority of whom can not afford the exorbitant rent being charged by the Abuja landlords in the urban areas."
Suggesting a way out of the problem, the clergyman, who is also the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, stated: "There must be a humane and human alternative to the heartlessness of the current demolition exercise. The poor people in our community must be given alternative living houses or we may end up breeding social rebellion and revolution. I am calling on all good people of Nigeria to speak out and persuade the President to halt this senseless demolition exercise, which has so far brought untold hardship on hundreds of thousands of people in the Federal Capital Territory.
"We must speak out because as Prof. Chinua Achebe rightly said, the situation is too dangerous for good men and women to keep silent. There are over 50,000 families that have been internally displaced by the action of officials of the Federal Capital Territory. Nigeria is currently afflicted by the wickedness of a few people who called themselves political leaders."
The chairman of the occasion and former Governor of Bauchi State, Gen. Chris Abutu Garba called on the government of President Obasanjo to implement its reforms with greater consideration for the people.
Garba added: "As leaders, we will be failing and getting far outside God's plan for us, if we refuse to be operating in love and diligently committed to the socio-economic and political restoration of the societies in which we live. Jesus Christ did not do that. His ministry focused fully on and was committed to, social responsibility. The restoration of social, economic and political well-being of humanity was very high on his agenda."
Among the dignitaries that attended the event during which over N10 million was raised for the completion of the ultra-modern church building were the first military governor of old Bendel State (now Edo and Delta) Gen. Samuel Ogbemudia, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Alex Ogomudia and chairman of FCT's Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, Peter Okolo.
