Jabi Lake And The Burden Of Governance: Why Wike’s Eyes Remain On The Ball

By Dr Kins Ekebuike

The emotional reactions surrounding The Honourable Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike’s statement on the Jabi Lake land issue should not overshadow the deeper historical and urban realities associated with that environment. Governance, especially in a federal capital city like Abuja, cannot be driven merely by emotions, public sympathy, or spiritual appeals alone. It must ultimately be guided by public safety, urban order, developmental vision, environmental responsibility, and the collective interest of society.

It is important, however, to respectfully acknowledge the humility, compassion, and sincerity demonstrated by Pastor Sarah Omakwu of  Family Worship Centre, Abuja in her emotional appeal. As a respected Christian leader, mother, counselor, and intercessor, her plea reflected genuine concern and pastoral empathy. Also note-worthy was that she openly acknowledged and appreciated the developmental works being carried out in Abuja under Wike’s administration. That honesty deserves commendation. Nevertheless, it also became apparent from her own comments that her intervention was substantially influenced by information relayed to her by others rather than direct personal assessment of the actual state and historical condition of the environment in question. To this effect it is apparent she might have acted based on misinformation.

Arising from the above, Wike’s response should not be interpreted as disrespect toward her person or irreverence to God. Rather, his reaction was directed at emphasizing that the urban renewal and developmental efforts which even the revered pastor acknowledged as commendable must continue irrespective of emotional pressure or sentimental appeals. Wike’s remark can easily be understood if we note that pleading for the place to be left in a manner it is negates what God symbolises and upholds. God is a God of truth, righteousness, and order (which Wike’s action on the land now represents). God  upholds what benefits society as a whole and not merely the interests of a few individuals, and He cannot be swayed outside the bounds of justice and righteousness which Wike is pursuing in this matter. As the Scriptures declare, “Righteousness exalteth a nation” — Proverbs 14:34, and “For God is not a God of disorder, (which the park epitomised before Wike’s intervention), but of peace” — 1 Corinthians 14:33.

Before public commentators escalate such matters emotionally, there is a responsibility to undertake proper historical and environmental assessment of the area in question. The controversy around the Jabi Lake axis cannot be intelligently discussed without understanding what the place represented historically and what it gradually became over the years.

I have lived in Abuja long enough to give an accurate account of Jabi Lake environment, and this write up is part of it.

Originally, the Jabi lakeside area were largely abandoned and overgrown with thick bushes and unmanaged vegetation. Because the environment remained unsupervised and  undeveloped for years, it became a fertile ground for criminal and immoral activities. Bush bars proliferated across the axis, creating informal drinking and hangout spots in thatched huts hidden within the vegetation. These locations  evolved into centres where underage girls and vulnerable young women were ferried from surrounding states into Abuja and introduced into prostitution networks and other exploitative activities.

The environment also became notorious for indiscriminate drinking joints, clandestine gatherings, bush meat spots, and unmonitored nighttime social activities. Individuals often sneaked around the bush paths for drinking, illicit gatherings, and other questionable activities beyond the sight of regulation or law enforcement. Predictably, crime and social disorder flourished around such conditions.

It was during the first eight years of the 4^th Republic that efforts were made to clear much of the bushy environment in an attempt to reduce criminal concealment and sanitize the area to some extent. However, after the clearing exercise, the space largely remained an open and undefined public field without any clearly coordinated urban structure publicly known to residents.

As a result a result of leaving the open space unsupervised, many residents of Abuja UNILATERALLY gradually converted the area into an informal weekend convergence point. People gathered for walks, horse riding, games, picnics, recreational activities, social hangouts, trading and all manner of informal outdoor engagements by self acquisition, partition, grabbing and allocation of various portions of the field to themselves. Yet, beneath the appearance of leisure and relaxation, the environment steadily deteriorated into a chaotic and unregulated public space lacking sanitation, environmental management, and civic discipline.

Over time, the entire axis  degenerated into filthy and unsanitary grounds. Cow and Horse dung littered portions of the open field, human faeces  appeared around hidden corners and bush paths, while heaps of refuse and accumulated waste from daily human activities remained uncleared for extended periods. Plastic waste, food remnants, bottles, disposable materials, and other forms of environmental pollution  accumulated year after year with little structured maintenance or coordinated waste management.

During rainfall, large portions of this waste were naturally washed into the lake itself, steadily transforming sections of the environment into an environmental and public health concern. What should have represented a properly planned urban waterfront gradually assumed the character of an unmanaged open settlement — a disorderly recreational ground operating without structure, regulation, sanitation standards, or long-term developmental vision.

Beyond the environmental decay, the area also became one of the most problematic traffic breach zones within that corridor of Abuja during weekends. Though this may appear insignificant to undiscerning minds, the situation constituted a major urban management concern. Vehicles belonging to weekend visitors and social convergents were frequently parked indiscriminately along the road corridor stretching from the Kado Estate axis toward the Jabi route, often obstructing free vehicular movement and disrupting normal traffic flow.

The resulting congestion became so severe at certain periods that motorists were compelled to divert through alternative routes to avoid the gridlock. Such uncontrolled parking culture and unregulated mass convergence around  unorganized open field created serious implications for emergency response access, urban traffic coordination, public safety, and security monitoring. In a modern capital city, strategic road corridors cannot be allowed to degenerate into chaotic social parking zones without consequences for mobility management and security architecture.

Consequently, the area evolved into a free-for-all environment where both standard and substandard activities coexisted. Street begging, makeshift trading, loosely organized commercial activities, drug peddling, environmental abuse, indiscriminate gatherings, and disorderly social conduct  became common sights, especially during weekends. The question, therefore, becomes unavoidable: is that truly the standard befitting a strategic waterfront environment in the capital city of Africa’s most populous nation?

Urban planners across the world understand that when prime public spaces are left without clear structure, purpose, regulation, and coordinated investment, they gradually degenerate into centres of disorder and criminal opportunism. Many notorious parks and recreational zones across developing countries followed similar patterns before governments intervened decisively. Examples can be drawn from troubled periods associated with sections of Uhuru Park, parts of Lagos Bar Beach before redevelopment, and unregulated recreational waterfronts in parts of Latin America and Africa where criminality thrived under weak urban management systems.

This is why urban renewal is not merely cosmetic; it is expedient. A serious government that understands modern city administration cannot tolerate strategic public land remaining an unregulated social field vulnerable to criminality, exploitation, environmental decay, and urban disorder. Smart cities are not built around unmanaged open spaces operating without clear purpose or developmental direction. They are built through deliberate planning, structured investment, regulation, security coordination, sanitation control, and modern infrastructure.

Viewed from this perspective, Wike’s position can be interpreted not as hostility toward religion or disrespect toward God, but as the firmness of a government official refusing to subordinate governance to emotional pressure. His central message, though expressed bluntly, was that public administration cannot be suspended merely because spiritual sentiments are invoked in matters concerning lawful urban governance.

Invoking God in a dispute (albeit wrongly in this circumstance) concerning government regulation of public land also risks shifting the issue away from governance into emotional symbolism. Wike’s comment on the appeal was not an attack on Christianity or faith. The response was whether Abuja should continue tolerating an unregulated and historically problematic environment in a prime urban location.

Analytically, Wike’s statement did not insult God. Rather, it challenged the assumption that invoking God automatically overrides administrative responsibility. A public officer who truly “knows his onions” is duty-bound to act where urban decay, criminal vulnerability, environmental hazards, traffic disorder, and insecurity threaten the long-term vision of the city.

While this writer sincerely and immensely respects Pastor Sarah Omakwu for remaining a caring, compassionate, prayerful, motherly, humble, peace-loving, and spiritually responsible Christian leader, and while he equally deeply reverence, and adores God Almighty in Heaven — whom he believes Nyesom Wike also acknowledges, reverences and respects — it must still be emphasized that governance cannot surrender its responsibilities to sentiments where overriding public interest is involved.

Leadership demands courage not only to initiate development, but also to confront decay, disorder, environmental abuse, criminal vulnerabilities, and urban indiscipline wherever they exist. The greater injustice to Abuja would have been for government to ignore the deteriorating realities surrounding such a strategic urban space merely because emotional appeals had been made.

The true test of responsible governance is not whether difficult decisions attract criticism, but whether such decisions ultimately protect public order, improve the city, strengthen security, enhance sanitation, encourage structured development, and preserve the long-term future of the capital.

To, therefore, reduce the entire conversation to a narrow interpretation of one emotionally charged statement, while ignoring the broader vision and overall benefits of the renewal exercise, would be unfair and misleading. Leaving aside the substantial developmental objectives and focusing solely on rhetoric risks obscuring the real issues confronting the city. Wike, by all indications, is determined to leave the Federal Capital Territory better than he met it, with his eyes firmly on the ball of urban transformation, environmental sanity, infrastructural modernization, and responsible city management. His core message was essentially that religious symbolism or emotional pressure cannot be allowed to derail governance where public interest, security, urban order, and the future of the capital city are at stake, especially where he is convinced that God cannot be swayed to stop upholding orderly conduct in the affairs of men.

This is the larger context within which Wike’s comment and position should be understood.

KINS EKEBUIKE (Esq); Ph.D 

Dr Kins Ekebuike is an Abuja based Political Scientist, Lawyer and Public Affairs Analyst and Founder, Veraamoris Foundation (a foundation committed to promoting/extolling good governance, leadership, accountability, outstanding performance and justice.