By Daniel Tyokua
The Minister of (FCT) Nyesom Wike, has promised to support government agencies in the territory where necessary.
He stated this when a delegation of the Nigerian Law School, led by the Director General, Prof. Isa Chiroma, paid a courtesy visit to the his office, yesterday.
Wike told the delegation that his administration would consider the request of the institution for the construction of a staff quarters and provision of vehicles for the school.
The minister acknowledged the importance for agencies within the FCT to be given every necessary support and directed the General counsel of the FCT Administration to liaise with the school, so that the requested construction of the staff quarters will be added to the budget.
“As far as we are concerned, we are here to make institutions, agencies of government that carry out business in the FCT, to give them every necessary support. You made two requests which are very germane: the staff quarters and vehicles. So, the General Council will liaise with you so that before we submit our budget to Mr. President to convey to the National Assembly, if it will be necessary, between now and Monday, the General Council will liaise with you and see whether you have the designs, so that we will be able to know what it will cost us and then see whether we can include it in the budget.
And then the vehicles we talked about, we don’t know the type of vehicles, but I believe they are not SUVs. Maybe you are looking for buses and Hilux. So, we will look at the number we have, and then be able to make that available to you”, he said.
Wike also explained the reasons for the heavy security presence within the Bwari Area council where the Abuja campus of the Law School is located, noting that it was based on intelligence gathered by security agencies, and that any incidence at the school would be a setback for Nigeria and the FCT.
“As far as I am concerned, when I heard about the opening of the section, I was told I had to send security, without even talking to you, because we didn’t want to take any chances at all, knowing fully well that period, the information we were getting, the intelligence we were getting. So that is why it does appear there was so much security within Bwari. We didn’t want to take chances, because if anything happens there, of course it’s a setback to the entire country and then to the FCT”.
Earlier, the DG of the Nigerian Law School, Pro, Isa Hayatu Chiroma, informed the Minister that the purpose of the visit was to congratulate the Minister on his appointment, and to inform him that he was a recipient of an award at the NLS’ 60th Anniversary.
“On behalf of our colleagues who are here, and those who are not here, on behalf of the Council Management, and Staff as well of the Nigerian Law School, we welcome you to Abuja. Why we are here also is to inform you that this year, Nigerian Law School is 60 years, and we are mandated to inform you that you are one of our distinguished awardees on this sixtieth anniversary”, he said.
