The Abuja Master Plan as submitted by the IPA proposed a programme of staged growth, planned to occur in incremental stages or phases, so that construction on one sector which represents a phase is completed before the next is begun to reduce the impacts of noise, dust and disruption accompanying a continuous long-term construction programme. The city is planned to be developed in four phases, with Ring Roads serving as boundaries between the phases.
The pressure and demand for lands for residential development and other uses, made all the plots of land created from Phase I to Phase IV to be completely allocated by the FCT Administration. That necessitated the introduction of Phase V. Consequently, the area hitherto considered as regional, under the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), was declared a planning area under the jurisdiction of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to constitute the Phase V. Because no development would take place in the absence of a guiding document for vetting and grant of building plans approval, all physical developments within the area were suspended. What it also means is that the AMAC has been stripped of all land allocation powers in the area.
It is imperative that in order to ensure that there is harmonious development of the area councils’ lands with the city, all the layouts produced by the area councils must obtain ministerial approval through the FCDA Urban and Regional Planning Department which is the custodian of the Abuja Master Plan. This is a major statutory requirement, even before the declaration of the area covering the subsequently introduced Phase V. Thus, any area council layout that did not meet up with the ministerial approval aimed at maintaining the sanity of development in the FCT is considered null and void, or fraudulent.
Determining the validity of the AMAC allocations made before the declaration is another procedure susceptible to manipulations, hence, the preponderance of multiple land allocations for the same land most especially in the Lugbe area. Other violations are the encroachments of important road corridors, particularly the Ring Road III and others on the guise of possessing AMAC allocations to the land.
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As a planned city, with zoning regulations, the importance of having a land use plan to serve as an instrument for development control, can never be overemphasised. Unfortunately, for more than a decade, the report of the consultancy awarded for the project is yet to be submitted. The Development Control cannot grant building plans approval without the necessary working tools, and has been in and out of Lugbe and Airport Road on a daily basis for various forms of enforcement exercise. The collusion between the unscrupulous staff in AMAC and URP would favour any highest bidder in the instances of multiple allocation on a plot. This category of staff would rather aid in frustrating the submission of the report for their ulterior illicit gains. The dubious concerned party could also clandestinely walk through to the consultant for the inclusion of his preferred land use in the plan against the overriding public interest.
Whatever are the causes of the delay, they are unwarranted. This is because due to its proximity and easy access to the city, the area has become very attractive over the years. Despite the absence of the land use plan and building plans approval, there are plethora of unauthorised developments littering the area. It constitutes indescribable security risks and disorder to the development of the capital city due to the ongoing grave consequences of illegal developments, land grabbing and other fraudulent activities presently in the area. The situation becomes more dire, due to the inclusion of parts of the Airport Road in the Phase V.
As the capital city of Nigeria, the Abuja Airport Road is akin to the gateway to the country. Whatever image a first timer to the country arriving in Abuja encounters would be what Nigeria is. What it means is that due to their strategic locations, the surrounding districts have the potential to make or mar our image to the outside world. Such should be the level of significance or priority to be accorded to the Phase V land use planning.
The completion of the report and submission for implementation, or the outright disengagement of the consultancy firm handling the project must be decided by the authority. Allowing the situation to continue unabated for almost 16 years is a major failure of the authority. No decision will be too high; it must be addressed, no matter how high the personalities involved.
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