After the roads, categorized as Expressways, Arterials Collectors and Local Access, the major mode of transportation which implementation was delayed in the structural components of the Abuja City building fabric is the railway. All the circulation corridors, both roads and rail, were provided and reserved, but implementation is in phases, mostly determined by prevailing priorities and resources.
Over the years, these corridors were bedeviled by barrages of encroachments.
If not for the ever vigilance of Development Control and Park and Recreations Departments of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), the entire areas reserved for the future developments of the Road and Rail would have since disappeared over the years.
I could recall one of the cases around year 2002, that was about 23 years ago, while serving as a site officer for the Central Area District in the Development Control Department, I had cause to serve a stop work and quit notice on a petrol filling station project, which development had just commenced on a plot adjoining the central area market and along Olusegun Obasanjo Way. That was the NNPC Mega Filling Station.
The grounds for my action were, firstly, there was no approval for the development. Even if a plan is approvable and is located in an area earmarked for such development, the developer must wait until the approval is granted before development can commence. The approving authority must be sure that all architectural and engineering designs were satisfactory, otherwise, it will be communicated, for the developer to effect corrections prior to the final approval.
Perhaps, because it is owned by a powerful government agency, this provision was violated. The contractor could have felt that there was no need to comply with the regulations of acquiring the building plans approval prior to commencement.
Secondly, and most importantly the use of the area for petrol filling station is against the land use requirement. The NNPC mega station was not the only one, either erroneously or deliberately allocated for filling station on the strip. At the time of the commencement of that work, we have earlier stopped others from development, for the same reason as we had stopped the NNPC.
The fact is that, all the allocations along that strip contravenes the provision of the Abuja Master Plan, because being the district site officer, I was aware that the whole strip adjoining the market to the east is earmarked for transportation corridor. Specifically the plot being occupied by the NNPC Mega station is earmarked for parking space for the adjoining city center market, now the multi-storey world trade center.
We must choose between the two contending uses; to have the transportation corridor, which shall contain among others the city metro or Rail Mass Transit as originally planned in the Abuja Master Plan, or, to jettison this proposal for the filling stations that allocations were made in contradiction with the development regulations.
This distortion is attributed to the allocation. Accordingly, the first point of consideration by the officers saddled with the responsibility of plots allocation in Abuja is the allocation’s compliance with the proposed land use requirement for the area. This procedure was violated. It is the responsibility on the development control to stop the work and draw the attention of the lands department to make necessary corrections by providing alternative site that shall suit the proposal. As the prevailing district site officer at the development control, that responsibility was squarely on me, and I have discharged it accordingly not minding the might involved.
For more than a month the contracting firm could not proceed with its work.
In such circumstances the contracting firm was charging damages from its client. Unfortunately, instead of commending our resilience aimed at ensuring corrections, we were astonished to learn that we were reported to the highest quarter, as trying to frustrate the Federal Government policy of establishing NNPC mega filling station in Abuja.
Security agencies were drafted to investigate us on the matter. We were eventually forced to rescind from continuing with the enforcement of the law as regards the development of this Mega Station, but despite the pressure and threat, we have never committed myself to wrongly recommending for the compatibility of the development which could lead to the official granting of the building plans approval for the development. To my knowledge, the building plans for the development were never approved. Unless, it was after our exit. In that case, that development is termed as temporary.
The imperative of the implementation of the Abuja Rail Transit program as proposed is never in doubt due to its dire need for easing of mass transit for the city. Even if the Mega station was approved, it was done in violation of the extant rules and regulations. I was fully aware that the evil day was only postponed. Because in the future when the authority decides to embark on the metro project the option shall be weighed against the NNPC mega station.
To be continued.
