The Abuja master plan produced in 1979 gave the ultimate population of the city to be 3.1 million inhabitants when fully developed. The regional development plan for the FCT also gives a population projection of 2.6 million inhabitants for the remaining parts of the territory. In all, the expected population of the entire FCT (city inclusive) was put in the region of 5.7 million inhabitants by the year 2000.
By any planning standard a projected population of 5.7 million inhabitants for a land area of 8,000km square and over 60 per cent of that concentrated within 25,000ha (city area) is itself an economic resource of an unimaginable purchasing power when one considers their expected demand for goods and services and the necessary infrastructure that will have to be provided to make such a city an efficient functional entity.
Among the arguments laid against the continuation of Lagos as the Nigerian capital were inadequate land for expansion and endemic traffic congestion. While the total land area of Lagos was estimated at 621.2km square, 8,000km square is earmarked for the FCT. In 1965, Lagos had a concentration of about 32 per cent of the country’s total manufacturing plants. But for Abuja, when the 250km square for the city is extracted, there is a huge 7,750km square size remaining as a regional area for lots of activities.
Considering its regional influence, the city of Abuja is a core in a central place structure, while the surrounding areas are peripheries, and each peripheral town is a polarised region with its respective centre. It is also known that the boundary of the polarised region is that line beyond which flows and connections are predominantly in some other directions towards some other poles. But as the national capital, Abuja is a pole whose periphery is the national boundaries, with the potential of becoming a national market and industrial hub.
The initial concept of creating the New federal capital is for it to function as an administrative city. However, beyond that, other opportunities would not be ignored. Centrality has been argued to help beat down the cost of transportation and reduce the burden of long-distance communication.
Primary industries involve the extraction of natural resources such as mining, fishing, forestry, and agriculture. They are the backbone of any economy as they provide employment to a significant part of the population and contribute towards the economic growth of a country. A booming primary industry sector has a direct correlation with the overall growth of the economy.
In order to have efficiency in goods and services delivery for the city, the Federal Capital Territory should be self-supportive and/or obtain its basic needs from sources within the sub-region, not far from the capital city. Accordingly, Idu District is in the phase III of the city development, and is earmarked for development of light industries.
Light industry creates products that are relatively small, easy to use, and often found in our daily lives. This subcategory usually doesn’t require massive machines or extensive raw materials. It’s the kind of industry that makes things we use at home or wear, like clothes and household items.
Heavy industry, on the other hand, is planned to be in the regional area, specifically, Gwagwalada. It deals with making heavy and large products. These products are often used by other industries to produce bigger products. Examples include steel, heavy machinery, and chemicals. Unlike the light industry, this one needs significant machines and a lot of resources because it deals with making large and intricate items. It plays a crucial role in creating the foundation for other industries to work with. The major challenge to industrial establishment at Gwagwalada, as all parts of the country, is inadequate or total lack of power.
The main agro-allied industries projected for the FCT include bakeries, dairy products, meat products, grain milling, food preparations and animal feeds, saw milling wooden furniture and fixtures and fish preparations. It is projected that new flour mills might be established to mill domestically produced wheat and imported wheat to feed the capital city and its satellite towns. With the proposed grazing reserves in the FCT, a network of urban dairies is projected to emerge to cater to the dairy needs of the city.
The huge grain and cereal consumption projected for the FCT requires substantial grain-milling capacity, and the industrial layout of the city must incorporate this in the planning. This is true to what is presently being implemented at the Idu Industrial Layout. Considerable emphasis must be placed in the FCT’s requirements of animal feeds, since it is projected that the FCT provides a significant proportion of its poultry feeds.
Over the years, a lot of progress was made with the emergence of many types of industries at the Idu Industrial Estate, mostly in the area of agro-allied and household items production. However, there is not much in the area of manufacturing at Gwagwalada, but a lot is being expected in the near future.
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