by Emma Elekwa

Barely one month after some traders in the Kubwa main market were sent packing by the authorities of Bwari Area Council through demolition, most people affected by the demolition are yet to get over the shock occasioned by the exercise.

While some are presently staying with relations or friends, who are shop owners at the market, others have resorted to displaying their wares at other convenient places available to them.

Others still, have completely closed down business, as they could not face the challenge and risk of losing their valuable goods in the course of being pursued by the task force officials.

One of those affected, Kamilu Adamu Sauwa, narrated his ordeal to Aso Chronicle. He said that he is yet to overcome the emotional and physiological trauma he encountered as a result of the exercise.

Visibly devastated, the 30-year old man disclosed that he had spent not less than 15 years in the market selling garden eggs, the business he had used to train himself and others in school. 

A second year student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kamilu expressed fears that the abrupt suspension of his ‘lucrative’ business as a result of the exercise might lead to the end of his academic pursuit.  

According to him, although they had earlier been informed of the imminent closure of their businesses, the visit by task force officials still stunned most of them.

“They told us that that day was sanitation. So we came out a bit late than the usual time we used to come. By the time we came, we saw our tables and chairs being packed into the trucks,” he lamented.

Kamilu, who further accused the council authorities of insincerity and insensitivity to their plights, wondered why they should be treated as aliens even in their fatherland.

“They said they would pursue those who have converted some of the shops to residential apartments. They have not carried out the operation yet but they have rendered us jobless,” he bemoaned. 

While acknowledging that where they were trading is illegal, he pleaded with the authorities to facilitate the relocation process in view of the economic loss and other adverse effects they face. 

However, Chairman, Shop Users Association, Simon Peter Onuoha, expressed appreciation to the council authorities for the measures been taken to give the market a face lift.

He however urged them not to stop only at removing the illegal structures, but to provide the market with some basic facilities like water and toilet.

Meanwhile, the Head of Department, Environmental, Bwari Area Council, Haruna Labaran Ahmed, has called for patience, understanding and cooperation from the aggrieved traders as he said his team is not resting on its oars to ensure they are properly settled as soon as possible.

He said the government was not unaware of the present challenges being faced by the traders as a result of the exercise. 

Haruna explained that the move was “both in their best interest and that of the customers, who hardly patronize them due to the absence of parking spaces in the market.”

by Kubwa Online

Dr Ahmed Danfulani, the Chief Medical Director (CMD) of Kubwa General Hospital in the FCT, on Monday said the hospital had begun Internet booking to seek medical attention.

The CMD announced this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Kubwa.

He said the service for booking appointments was a new way to alleviate most sufferings being faced by patients who needed medical attention.

``A portal is created to book appointments with doctors, unlike what operates before now when patients will come and wait for a very long time.

``After such long waiting, they will still be asked to come back, but on this new method, an appointment could be cancelled and rescheduled.

``The Website will introduce all the services we offer; it will also introduce the various staff and the departments we have in the hospital.

``This is just all about improved service delivery we have to offer to the public and that is why we are here.

``Whatever we can do to make our service delivery easier, better and much affordable for the people is our priority and we will not hesitate, `` the CMD said.

Danfulani said the Website was also meant to intimate patients on the various services that the hospital could offer to them.

He said the Website would always be an interactive one to ensure that the needs of the people were met instantly.

The CMD said the hospital would satisfy the need of the people, with a pharmacy that had the latest software in the country.

He said the Website would also display drugs for inflow and outflow to patients.

The CMD said the lines of doctors were accessible to patients anywhere in the world on the Website for necessary inquires.

He advised the public to log on to www.kubwageneralhospital.com to book appointment with doctors and seek pharmacists’ assistance. (NAN)

Kubwa Online

by Emma Elekwa

A middle-aged man was recently run over by a truck at Kubwa while taking a nap under it.

A witness said the victim, who was fasting, had gone to take a rest under the parked truck after observing a prayer.

He said he had slept off when the driver of the truck came out to move the vehicle without knowing that someone was under it.

According to the witness, the driver initially thought it was a log of wood he climbed over but when he alighted from the vehicle, he saw it was a human being.

He said the victim was immediately rushed to the Kubwa General hospital for medical attention.

The hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit Head, Paul Olise, confirmed the incident, but said the victim was later moved to General Hospital, Asokoro.

Kubwa Online

Sex Workers

The Social Development Secretariat (SDS) of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) has recently relaxed on the arrest of sex workers in the territory.

The Secretary, SDS, Mrs. Blessing Onuh, at a press briefing explained that the secretariat had to quit on the realization that arresting the sex workers was not within its jurisdiction.

She said that while the secretariat was doing a good job, it was important for it to ensure that it was in line with global best practices, thus the decision to stop the arrests.

“Looking at social work from the perspective of global best practice, we were at the end here. SDS cannot make arrest. We cannot apprehend. It is not part of our responsibilities to go on the streets. Ours is to rehabilitate if you take these people off the streets as an enforcement agency and bring them to us,” Mrs. Onuh said.

Kubwa Online

 

Residents of Dutse community in Bwari area council have dragged the FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed before an Abuja high court seeking a declaration that the marking of their houses for demolition by the defendant is illegal, null and void.

The plaintiffs have joined in the suit, the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the minister of the FCT and the department of development control as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd defendants respectively.

The plaintiffs, in a writ issued on their behalf by Samuel Ogala of FALANA & FALANA’S CHAMBERS, Abuja said the threat is a violation of Section 47, 61 and 83 of the Nigerian Urban and Regional Planning Act Cap N138 LFN 2004. Consequently, they are seeking an order of court mandating the defendants to upgrade Dutse community into a modern community by providing the community with basic infrastructure such as good road network, pipe bore water, health care facilities for a decent and standard living.

"An order of this honourable court mandating the defendants to integrate the plaintiffs and all residents of Dutse community into the upgrade of Dutse community and give the plaintiffs right of first refusal for lands in the upgraded Dutse community."

They also want the court to issue a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from the demolition of the plaintiffs property located within Dutse community of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and any properties located within Dutse community pending when the defendants submit before this honourable court, a site plan of Dutse community that integrates the plaintiffs into the site plan for the upgrade of the community into a modern community.

When the matter came up yesterday before Justice S. Garba of court 5, for mention, it was adjourned to August 2, 2013 for hearing of the plaintiffs’ exparte motion.

Kubwa Online

 

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Kubwa Online

A 64-year-old man died last Tuesday after falling off from a moving vehicle at Kubwa in Bwari Area Council.

A witness said the deceased, Malam Alilu, was trying to alight from the coaster bus he boarded, when the driver, not knowing that he had not completely alighted, zoomed off. He said the deceased hit his head on the door of the bus and sustained serious injuries.

The witness, who said the incident occurred around 7.30pm, disclosed that the deceased was taken to the Kubwa General Hospital for medical attention.

Reacting, the Head, Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital, Paul Olise, said the deceased was brought into the hospital in an unconscious state, but was later certified dead after steady gasping.

He further disclosed that his corpse had been deposited at the hospital morgue.

In a related development, a middle-aged woman was nearly crushed to death by a trailer after falling off a moving motorcycle at the popular El-Rufai Park in Kubwa.

A witness said the victim fell down from the motorcycle after the cyclist lost control as a result of the on-coming trailer. He said the trailer crushed the victim’s hand, leaving the hand badly damaged, adding that she was immediately rushed to the Kubwa General Hospital for medical attention.

The Head, Accident and Emergency Unit of the hospital, Paul Olise, said the victim is under intensive medical attention, but is responding to treatment.

Kubwa Online

Posted September 2012

Experts believe there is an urgent need to redesign Abuja’s concept to reflect modern-day cosmopolitan realities that emphasizes human integration rather than exclusivity, writes BENNETT OGHIFO

Last week, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, faulted the nation’s planners and administrators for designing and building Abuja as an abode for privileged people and with little room for support-population. Abuja’s inner city, the minister said was conceived to accommodate a million families but that it is now home to over six million people.

Naturally, it is good to have a perfect master plan that shapes the growth of a city. It is better if the plan includes every part of the landscape where it covers but it is best to have a plan B that can regenerate a built-up space instead of total clearance in the event the master plan fails or is not implemented fast enough to match the speed of urbanization, as it is with Abuja and its satellite towns.

The rapid rate of urbanisation of the Federal Capital Territory without a plan to upgrade basic infrastructure could harm the future of the city itself as well as the millions of people living there with potential spillover effect on other parts of the country, according to experts.

Government, they say, still has not embraced the fact that Abuja is a mega city, not just a federal capital territory, and so requires conscious planning and development to cope with it now and in the future. “The city is surrounded by built-up communities, jungles of unplanned settlements stretching in all directions to Niger State or Nasarawa State. In other societies, you leave the capital city and emerge in lush green or even desert landscape,” explained Muyiwa Adams, a town planner resident in Abuja.

“These days you could hardly tell the boundaries between Abuja and Nasarawa State and the Zuba-Gwagwalada stretch is almost built-up and this means that government needs to act fast to make these areas functional communities complete with basic infrastructure such as feeder roads, organized electricity infrastructure, running water, health facilities and schools, among other amenities. House-types can be prescribed to ensure uniformity instead of having an unsightly mix of shanties and solid structures,” he said.

Attraction

Not everybody in the Federal Capital Territory was attracted there by the bright lights and well paved streets. Most came in search of baseline livelihoods; people who had tried to eke a living elsewhere and needed to seek better options for whatever it is worth.

For the millions who could not afford the high rents charged in the city centre or its hotels, ended up on the fringes of town and in communities like Mpape, Bwari, Gwagwalada, Kubwa, Nyanya, Karmo, Lugbe, Karu Jikwoyi, Masaka and Mabushi, among others, hoping actualize their dreams.

Dutse, for instance, is a sprawling suburb in Bwari Area Council, under the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Abuja. The town grew from the main city centre where most lower cadre civil servants, artisans, construction workers and some traders found cheaper accommodation in that axis of the city. People in this community initially had enough ‘infrastructure’ to keep them going.

In reality, there were no planned structures or access roads, neither were there government facilities like pipe borne water, drainage and road networks. Similarly, Dutse, Kubwa and Maraba-Nyanya became the only available areas to absorb the large population of people displaced after the demolition of satellite towns like Idu-Karmo, Lugbe, and all the other settlements along the airport road.

Today, these satellite towns are largely the abodes of mostly civil servants, traders and other people who service the city’s economy. These days, they travel through congested roads to the metropolis. Most of the roads and other infrastructure in these satellite towns are in deplorable conditions, having been neglected by the area councils.

These satellite towns have been neglected for so long by the relevant authorities that it is now very difficult to use their inner roads, especially during the rains season. These areas do not have proper drains to take storm water that end up flooding the areas. But a good drainage system could save the area from perennial flooding and erosion.

Some residents complained there is only a single lane road passing through Karmo town and that this road also links other settlements like Kado, Gwagwa and Idu. Apart from that, the road is also a very busy. Residents pointed out that they have expressed concern over the conditions of roads but nothing has been done.

As the population increases, the number of satellite towns continues to grow in the FCT and it is almost certain they are here to stay, which is not a bad thing since everybody has a stake in the nation’s capital anyway.

Moreover, living in the satellite towns is a lot cheaper even though it has its drawbacks like lack of basic sanitation in small houses clustered together without approved plans. The owners, if not occupiers, are mainly interested in the rent. As such other facilities like bathrooms and other conveniences are the concern of the tenants.

Deplorable Conditions

But the danger is that living conditions have become worse in these satellite towns, especially after the influx of people whose homes were demolished in other communities. “Good accommodation is not easy to come by these days,” said Godwin Apepe, a civil servant in Lugbe. “Rental prices in Lugbe have increased significantly in recent times, compared to a few years ago because of the demolition exercises that affected many satellite communities.”

The status of government facilities in some satellite towns unfortunately does not sway FCDA to provide infrastructure in such communities. For instance, the Bwari-Dutse road is one of the busiest in the territory, as it is home to many federal government institutions like the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board and the Nigerian Law School. The road can be rehabilitated by the FCDA which governs the axis. Some residents of the satellite towns say road construction there has been suspended pending when residents are relocated. There are plans to relocate residents of Karmo to Shere, Wasa or Anagada.

Also, another frightening scenario is not just the lack of infrastructure in Abuja’s suburbs. The metropolis itself has a waste water treatment problem to worry about. The central sewerage system has a temporary plant now in use that has the capacity to serve only 50,000 people that is, 25 percent of its present population, showed a study by UNESCO. It is therefore not able to provide adequate treatment of the wastewater, the report indicated.

Reviewing the Master Plan

The FCT will continue to be a melting pot for Nigerians and foreigners. Accordingly, the people in the satellite towns have a right to be there and should be provided for in planning, experts said. “The critical first step is for policymakers to recognise the rights of poor people to live in cities and share in the benefits of urban life. The next is to plan ahead for their land and housing needs within a constantly updated vision of sustainable land use,” added George Martine, past President of the Brazilian Association of Population Studies and Dr Gordon McGranahan of International Institute for Environment and Development, in a recent study.

These experts observed that Nigeria and other African nations should take a cue from the urban regeneration success of Brazil, whose failure in the past to plan for rapid urban growth, exacerbated poverty and created new environmental problems and long-term costs that could have been avoided.

They advised that policies focused on slum clearance aimed at preventing or retarding urban growth instead of preparing ahead for it will only make matters worse. “Looking ahead, policymakers need to pay special attention to the land and housing needs of the poor. This not only improves the lives of poor people but enables the city to become prosperous and habitable for all. The story of Brazil’s urban growth shows how deep-rooted inequalities have combined with a negative policy stance to generate many of the social and environmental problems that still plague Brazilian society,” said George Martine.

“Urbanisation and massive urban growth in developing countries loom as some of the most critical determinants of the economic, social and ecological well-being in the 21st century,” he stated. Based on this report, Emeka Aduna, a property consultant in Abuja, who resides in one of the city’s new estates, argued that government must address Abuja’s growth as a major challenge instead of trying to employ slash and burn tactics.

“Professionals need to take a second look at the Abuja master plan to undertake a review, particularly in areas such as roads, drainage, water supply and the sewage system,” he posited. 

Kubwa Online

It was all panic  and  tears  during the week when officials of Development Control Department of Federal capital Territory, (FCTA) rolled out their bulldozers and pulled down  over 15 buildings  in Kubwa.

The department said that it carried out the demolition  after  serving notices last  month to the occupants of the structures built on flood plains at Kubwa.  

According to Tpl Yussuff Abdullahi Sudangi, District Officer, Kubwa, he said, “we are here to remove illegal structures on the flood plains, we have marked several locations, we have countless number of structures, along the flood plains without requisite approved plans and the marking was done since January.’’

When asked if those affected would be compensated, Sodangi said  the compensation aspect would be decided by his  superiors.

As at the time of filing this report, fifteen houses have been demolished and several others still waiting to be pulled down.

Narrating his ordeals, one of the victims of the demolition exercise, Emmanuel Okoro, whose restaurant was pulled down, said he  was not served with any notice, stating that he was only told that the extension of his building was too close to the river, which he agreed to remove but was not allowed before his building was brought down. 

Similarly, a   2-storey  building  said to belong  to the Association of  Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in Maitama has been pulled down on the premise that the building was illegally erected.

The two-storey building which was built between two fences was said to be part of Ella Crescent and where the building was erected was closed.

Addressing news men, District Officer of Maitama, Isa Aliyu said, “this particular building is on a crescent which is a part of Ella Crescent, we served several notices before this demolition.”

Aliyu added that when the notice was served, the police officer attached to the building refused to collect the notice but asked them to drop it at ALGON office which they did.

Kubwa Online

The police in Abuja have arraigned eight persons, including a woman before an Abuja Magistrate Court for allegedly selling and smoking Indian hemp at Kubwa.

The accused persons all of Phase 4, Kubwa, were charged for public nuisance which contradicts Section183 of the Penal Code.

Police Prosecutor, Igono Ocholi, told the court that the accused were arrested by a police patrol team led by one Deputy Superintendent Olubode of Kubwa Police Station, on June 27, while selling and smoking Indian hemp.

He said the act posed a threat and danger to the lives of other members of the public, especially residents of the area.

When the charge was read to the accused, four of them present at the court pleaded not guilty and the prosecutor asked for a date for hearing.

Magistrate Samuel Edhiari granted them bail in the sum of N30,000 each with one reasonable surety who must be resident within the court’s jurisdiction.

The case was adjourned till July 18 for hearing.

Kubwa Community

Some groups of corps members recently embarked on a sensitization campaign within Kubwa environs on the implications of drugs counterfeiting, unwholesome foods and other regulated products, as part of their Community Development Service.

The corps members, comprising of 2012/2013 Batch B and C, under the National Agency on Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) group, also unveiled a billboard strategically mounted at the Kubwa orientation camp with various messages on the dangers and abuse of drugs.

Unveiling the signpost, the NAFDAC Director General, Dr. Paul Orhi, said the project is a platform provided by the corps members in advancing the crusade against counterfeit drugs being championed by his agency.

The Director General, who was represented by the Acting Director, Special Duties, Alhaji Abubakar Jimoh, commended the corps members for embarking on the campaign, describing it as another way of cementing the partnership his organisation has enjoyed with the scheme over the years.

The President of the group, Peter Nwaogu, said the campaign has become expedient in view of the number of casualties recorded daily as a result of numerous fake drugs in circulation in the market across the country.

He enjoined members of the public to always look out for the drugs’ NAFDAC registration number, factory location, batch number, manufacturing and expiry dates, among other information before buying them.

In her reaction, the coordinator of the group, Mrs. Nnenna Onuigbo, said the essence of the exercise is to further educate people on how to differentiate the original drugs from the counterfeit ones.

While expressing optimism that the exercise would yield its desired results, she said the group intends carrying the crusade to Dutse and to feed NAFDAC back with the reactions from the people at the end of the exercise.

In a move to discover creative talent out of the continent and also promote the efforts of  publishing industries in Africa, Etisalat Nigeria has initiated the ‘Etisalat Prize for Literature’, the first ever pan-African prize celebrating first time writers of published fiction novels.

The Etisalat Prize for Literature aims to serve as a viable platform for the discovery of new creative talent from the continent and invariably promote the growing publishing industry in Africa. Entries will be accepted for two categories, namely: Full length English fiction novels and Flash Fiction Short Stories, to be launched towards the end of the year and driven entirely via social media.

Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Steven Evans said that the Prize was created out of the need to give recognition to indigenous works of literature while also rewarding new entrants and encouraging further participation.

“We are pleased to have initiated this important project that celebrates literary excellence and creativity in Nigeria and across Africa. We believe literature has the potential to effect change and serve as a catalyst for promoting a cultural revolution. However, it is a field that has been relegated to the background, making African fiction and short story writers to look to international awards for recognition,” he said. 

“The Etisalat Prize for Literature is our way of sharing in the passions and aspirations of young and upcoming writers as well as breathing new life to the literary society,” Evans added.

The initiative, Etisalat Group maintains is part of its aims to recognize and celebrate writers and other members of the literary community across Africa by bringing together celebrated high profile writers, book critics and academics from across the Continent and beyond in order to give credence and honor to ‘home-grown’ talent while also rewarding new entrants and encouraging further participation in this area.

Etisalat maintains that at the core of it’s vision is promoting passion, nurturing talent and providing a platform for communicating ideas.

Etisalat Nigeria is one of the major mobile telecommunications service providers in Nigeria. Established in 2008, Etisalat holds 15% of the Nigerian market share with over 15 million subscribers.