NO TIME LIKE NOW

The FCT Minister is renewing hope for residents, contends JACKSON UDE

Nyesom Wike is the 17th Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister. Since 1999, the starting block of the 4th Republic, Wike is the 8th minister of Nigeria’s fast-transforming capital. But even as one in a class of 17 members, Wike stands out. He always does. As governor of Rivers State for eight years, both his friends and foes agreed that he was bullish with infrastructure. Transportation infrastructure (roads, bridges and flyovers), healthcare infrastructure (hospitals and high-end medical equipment), education infrastructure (classrooms, laboratories) and housing infrastructure. Wike built all.

On February 13, 2017, then functioning as the acting President (standing in for President Muhammadu Buhari who was on medical leave), Professor Yemi Osinbajo, at a dinner after touring Rivers State and inspecting Wike’s numerous projects, nicknamed Wike ‘Mr. Projects.’ And truly he was, and still is. It was a commendable bi-partisan endorsement. Osinbajo was of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) while Wike was of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). But Osinbajo, a man of his own conviction, decorated Wike with verbal finery to accentuate his impressions of a governor steeped in infrastructure development. And Rivers State was the better for it. From Port Harcourt to the innermost precincts of the oil-rich state, Wike brought development closer to the people, connecting riverine areas to upland towns.

Now as FCT minister, Wike is replicating the Rivers infrastructure makeover in Abuja. I have lived many years in Abuja since the dawn of the 4th Republic. Never have I witnessed an FCT minister so passionate about the development of the FCT. Wike is not fixated on modernizing the city centre, he has extended his infrastructure magical wand to the suburbs and far-flung communities never before touched by his predecessors. The FCT has six area councils. They are Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kuje, Kwali, and Abaji. Wike has established infrastructure footprints in all. In the history of the FCT, Wike is the first minister that has ensured that suburbs which had been neglected and cut off from the city centre are now connected by his bullish road construction zeal.

The FCT is fast-transforming. And this is a warning to those who are visitors to the federal capital. Beware, you might not recognise the places you used to call ‘familiar places.’ You might miss your way. If FCT residents keep recounting how they could not recognise certain places they used to visit, how much more visitors, frequent or otherwise. A friend recently narrated how he drove past the usual turn that leads to his in-law’s house. Visiting last December after about eight months, he drove past the arterial conduit to a place he had been visiting for years. He got lost obviously. Unaware that within the intervening months after his last visit, Wike had constructed a flyover over the intersection (a hub of gridlock heading into the Utako axis) from where he used to navigate to his in-law’s house. He had to call his guest who told him that the road he used to drive through is sitting under the flyover. Such has been the frenetic makeover of the FCT city centre. But it is not only about the municipal areas. Wike has ensured that every suburb is a subset of his development masterplan.

A quick shortlist: the Paikon Kore–Ibwa Road in Gwagwalada; Gaba–Tokulo Road in Bwari; Garage Junction–LEA Secretariat Road in Kuje; Yangoji–Sukuku–Ebo Road in Kwali; and the Naharati–River Ukya–Unguwan Hausawa Road in Abaji. These are suburbs from where residents used to commute to the city centre everyday with agonizing tales. Those days are gone. Courtesy of Wike’s FCT-wide development policy, the federal capital has been collapsed into a networked community where commuting to otherwise remote places is at the snap of the finger.

Wike holds the view that infrastructure does not only provide jobs and facilitate growth and businesses in the real estate sub-sector, it also opens a community for investments including manufacturing, trade and commerce. Great leaders have always emphasized on infrastructure as the building block for development. Barack Obama, former President of the United States once said in his 2015 State of the Union Address: “21st century businesses need 21st century infrastructure: modern ports, and stronger bridges, faster trains and the fastest Internet.”

This, perhaps, is what drives Wike: to create a conducive environment for businesses and investments. Nigeria with a notorious infrastructure deficit, deserves a Wike-type leadership. Not only Nigeria, African leaders should primarily be infrastructure leaders. Power, digital, transportation, education, healthcare and housing infrastructure should form the basis of development for developing nations. If the advanced societies are still stacking up infrastructure, then African leaders have no excuse and Wike is showing the right path.

Perish the thought if you think Wike’s development agenda is all about rails, roads, interchanges and flyovers. While he remains the undisputed king in the provision of transportation infrastructure, he has, as he did in Rivers State, extended his infrastructure passion to healthcare, education and housing, the three critical aspects of human development index.

Armed with a clear understanding of the role of education in nation-building, Wike has rehabilitated several schools to improve the standard of learning environments. He has also intentionally increased budgetary allocation to education at a time some states are cutting theirs.

His attitude towards healthcare is laudable. The 2025 FCT budget for healthcare is N54 billion, a huge leap forward from the offerings of his predecessors. By prioritizing public health and public health infrastructure, Wike has taken into account the growing population of the FCT and the critical role of primary healthcare in the far-flung communities. Primary health centres are now better equipped.

Nyesom Wike is among the ministers and aides adding real, tangible values to the President Tinubu government. His work rate is peerless. His zeal to get the job done, and done well, is laudable. Upon assumption of office, he showed an earnest determination to make a difference. He was a ready workman, not one learning on the job. He practically hit the ground running and the result shows in the rapid, visible transformation of the FCT landscape. And this is not about politics. It’s about development. Development has no political party, no ethnic nationality, no religion. Development is what Nigeria needs at this time. Wike is giving it!

· Ude, mediapreneur and communication strategist, writes from Abuja