FCT Indigenes Names Wike Infrastructure Minister Of The Year

Indigenes of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) under the auspices of the Karu Gbagyi Development Association (KAGBADA) have presented the ‘Nigeria Infrastructure Minister of the Year’ Award to the Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike.

Chairman of KAGBADA, Mr Sumner Shagari Sambo, during the presentation of the award at the Jummai Aduda Youth Centre in Karu, said the honour was in recognition of the minister’s transformative projects in Abuja satellite towns.

Sambo praised the FCT minister for initiating unprecedented infrastructure development in outer-city districts, stating, “FCT indigenes had never witnessed huge infrastructure developments all at once in outer city districts and satellite towns like those currently being undertaken under the administration of the current minister and President Bola Tinubu.

“We decided to honour FCT minister, Nyesom Wike for the great infrastructure projects extended to our community, such as the completed rehabilitation of the Nyanya-Karu-Jikwoyi-Karshi Highway, which is currently easing traffic in the Karu Chiefdom, the completed Kugbo Bus Terminal, Kugbo International Market, and other notable projects,” he said.

The organisation also used the event to disburse N4 million in scholarship funds to indigent students studying in secondary and tertiary institutions in the area, and N3 million to women petty traders, an initiative aimed at empowering them to engage in trade and become self-reliant.

Sambo said the association decided to disburse the scholarships and empower petty traders as a way of giving back to society, noting that the gesture was part of the association’s end-of-year 2024 activities.

According to him, the association designed three programmes comprising scholarships, women’s empowerment, and support for artisans, stressing that people cannot continue to depend on the government alone.

The KAGBADA chairman also appealed to the FCT Administration to relocate the abattoir, which poses a health hazard to residents of Karu and its environs.

“The abattoir in Karu is located in the middle of the community and has continued to pose a serious health hazard to residents due to its unhygienic state,” he said.

He also urged the FCT Administration to upgrade the Karu General Hospital, built in 2006 by former FCT minister, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, which he said has not been functional.

Sambo explained that most patients go to Asokoro and Maitama General Hospitals to seek medical treatment.

In his remarks, the FCT minister, Nyesom Wike, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Chris Amadi, commended the association for identifying with his work in Karu and the entire FCT and for honouring him with an award.

He also appreciated the people of Karu and their leaders for supporting his infrastructural development efforts in the area and promised to provide more infrastructure to improve their lives.

Also speaking, the former senate minority leader of the 9th Assembly, Senator Philip Aduda, stressed the need for unity among the indigenous people of Karu and other residents, stating that society can develop when there is unity among people irrespective of tribe, religion, or ethnic affiliations.