Recently, His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III, called on the authorities in the Federal Capital Territory to urgently decongest the Abuja City Centre by paying more attention to the development of Satellite Towns in the Territory.
He reasoned, and rightfully so, that such would reduce pressure on existing infrastructure in the City Center, thereby stimulating the much needed development of the Satellite Towns.
Lending credence to the views canvassed by the revered Monarch, the Hon. Minister of State of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, expressed concern over the alarming rate of urbanization in the country while speaking at the 50th National Conference of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners at Ibadan, the Oyo State Capital, recently.
While noting that developing countries like Nigeria face greater challenges of urbanization than developed nations, she equally decried the prevailing situation where a large population of the urban populace live in slums and squatter settlements without the basic necessities of life.
It is edifying that no less personality than the Minister of State of the Federal Capital Territory, Dr. Ramatu Aliyu, herself a Town Planner, shares the concern of many about the important need to free the Capital Territory from both human and material pressure by developing the Satellite Towns in the Territory.
It is also worthy of note that the Minister herself worried about the high rate of the population proportion of city dwellers and even predicted that such will most likely rise by 50% in 2025.
The cherished import of her intellectual disposition is a willingness on her part to use her office to occasion the development of Satellite Towns in the Territory.
As a conscious measure to address the problem, we urge her to deploy her profound sense of mission in ensuring that the Abuja Master Plan is revived through a creative and sustainable process of developing Satellite Towns in the Federal Capital Territory.
Needless to say that this will spread development to other parts of the Territory, and thus decongest both human and material pressure already being exerted in the City Center.
Already, we are encouraged by the laudable strides she has recorded in various sectors of the development chain in the Federal Capital Territory within the relatively short period of time she has been on the saddle as Minister of State.
Of particular interest is her commendable efforts to take development to the rural communities in the Territory as attested to by her fact finding visits to virtually all the six Area Councils in search of the true position of things in these areas.
We hope she will utilize the lessons learned from these visits to enrich the badly needed development initiatives required to take these communities to the next level.
We enjoin her to remain conscious of her place in history and ensure that despite teething challenges occasioned by paucity of funds and other sundry bottlenecks, she remains committed to the task of elevating the Abuja Capital Territory to a world class abode for both Nigerians and friends of Nigeria.
