Minister Warns Against Deviating From Abuja Masterplan

The minister of state FCT, Dr Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu has warned against plans that would lead to deviating from Abuja Masterplan.
She stated this when members of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners (NITP), across the territory gathered in Abuja to mark the investiture ceremony of the 14th chairman of the FCT chapter, Mrs Lami Ayuba.
The minister, who was represented by the acting director, Resettlement and Compensation Department, Mr Nasir Sulaiman emphasised the need to sustain the Abuja masterplan and noted that town planners have an important role to play.
Also, the newly inaugurated chairman, Ayuba said: “The FCT is among the well-planned cities in Nigeria. From inception, the Abuja master plan provided a blueprint for the development of the FCT. It is very easy to identify the application of planning standards in Abuja some of which include: the separation of different land use zones; separation of building heights and densities; application of building lines and setbacks; location of neighborhood facilities among others.”

She also stated that her “vision is to advance the town planning profession and advocate for policies and actions that will address the planning problems in the FCT; to make Abuja a livable and inclusive city.”

She identified some of the planning problems in FCT to include: Land grabbing especially within the regional areas; Double allocations; Fake layouts; overlapping layouts; Unapproved developments which later result in eviction or demolition; cloning of land documents; multiple allocations for a single park resulting into various court cases; land use conversations putting pressure on existing facilities and infrastructure and absence of bus stops and laybys along intracity road networks, thus creating unnecessary traffic and delays.”

Also, the national president NITP, Nathaniel Atebije, called on planners to be courageous as shown by Mrs. Ayuba.