The Abuja Master plan as submitted by the IPA proposed a program of staged growth, planned to occur in incremental stages or phases, so that construction on one sector which represent a phase is completed before the next is begun to reduce the impacts of noise, dust and disruption accompanying a continuous long term construction program. 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 residentialdevelopment 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 landswith the City, all the layouts produced by the Area Councils must obtain a Ministerial approval through the FCDA Urban and Regional Planning Departmentwhich 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 of the 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, orfraudulent.
Determining the validity of the AMAC allocationsmade before the declaration is another procedure susceptible to manipulations, hence, the preponderance of multiple land allocations for 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.
As a planned City, with zoning regulations, the importance of having a land use plan to serve as instrument for development control, can never be overemphasized. 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 daily basis for various forms of enforcement exercises.
The collusion between the unscrupulous staff in AMAC and URP would favour any of the highest bidder in the instances of multiple allocation on a plot.These category of staff would rather aid in frustrating the submission of the report for their ulterior illicit gains. The dubious concerned parties could also clandestinely walkthrough to the consultant for the inclusion of their preferred land use in the plan against the overriding public interest.
Whatever are the causes of the delay, they are unwarranted. 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 unauthorized 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 direr, due to the inclusionof 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. Whateverimage a first timer to the country arriving to Abujaencounters, would be what Nigeria is. What it means, is that due to their strategic location, the surroundingdistricts 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 on the Authority. No decision will be too high, it must be addressed, no matter how high the personalities involved.
