The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has reiterated the FCT Administration’s commitment to the review and upgrade the Abuja Master Plan.
Wike stated this when a team of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) visited him in Abuja on Tuesday, September 24, 2024.
He said the project, under the Review and Upgrading of Integrated Urban Development Master Plan for Abuja, would be implemented in partnership with JICA.
“For us, be assured that it is a project that we are committed to, and we will do all we can to see that the project comes to fruition,” he said.
The minister promised the JICA team that all the expectations from the FCTA for the implementation of the project would be made in due course.
He also assured JICA of stronger collaboration for the development of the FCT, including satellite towns and environs.
Also speaking, Mr Shehu Ahmad, Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), said the review of the 45-year-old Abuja Master Plan was crucial to address current challenges in the capital city.
“We are talking about supporting facilities in terms of infrastructure, water supply, power supply, and storm water and wastewater drainage system.
“We are also looking at the need for a smart city for Abuja, so that the city will be one of the top cities of the world.
“Urban mobility has remained a challenge, and we are feeling that they should look into those areas to enhance it,” he said.
Ahmad said the population explosion in Abuja had equally created the need to look into creation of employment opportunities.
He said the JICA team, with support from a technical team from critical departments of the FCTA and FCDA have begun collection of basic data for the formulation of the project’s inception report.
According to him, an international conference will be convened to seek inputs from critical stakeholders once the inception report is approved.
Earlier, Mr Matsunaga Kazuyoshi, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Nigeria, said the open defecation, nutrition and urban development projects were few among the numerous projects being implemented by JICA in FCT.
Kazuyoshi particularly said that Capacity Development for Nutrition Improvement in FCT and the elimination of open defecation projects recorded a huge success.
He solicited for more collaboration with the FCTA to deepen the result-oriented project to impact on more communities of the FCT.
Speaking on the review and upgrade of the Abuja Master Plan, Mr Nobukuyi Kobe, Infrastructure Management Department, JICA, said the goal was to ensure sustainability in line with relevant government policies.
Kobe said that Output 1 of the project was the formulation of regional infrastructure development strategy for the Federal Capital City and satellite towns, and integrated urban development plan from 2025 to 2050.
He added that Output 2, was an enhanced capacity of planning and implementation officers of the reviewed plan.
He, however, said that FCTA would be expected to support in expediting correspondence with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The FCTA, he said, is also expected to approve the reviewed and updated plan, along with the Urban and Regional Planning Act, as well as seamless collaboration of FCTA and FCDA.
By Philip Yatai
