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►MINISTER of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Senator Bala Mohammed, disclosed yesterday that at least N200 billion would be required to adequately compensate natives of Abuja whose lands, crops and heritage were acquired for the development of the city.
►Mohammed, who spoke while hosting participants of the National Defence College, Course 23, 2014 as part of their study tour, explained that the villages to be compensated and resettled occupied an area of 250 square kilometers of the Federal Capital City, Abuja.
Represented by FCT Permanent Secretary, Engr, John Obinna Chukwu, the minister said the FCT administration had been innovative in tackling infrastructure challenges in the territory.
He added that the ever-dwindling public funds available for infrastructure development made the FCT administration introduce the Abuja Land Swap policy to improve infrastructure as well as reduce the housing deficit in the territory.
According to Senator Mohammed, when the Federal Capital Territory was created in 1976, the government required only about N2 billion to resettle the natives.
He reiterated that what shot up the cost of resettlement was increase in population of the natives due to birth and demographics.
The minister, who noted that the population of the natives then was manageable than what obtains at the moment, said the FCT administration, with the introduction of the Land Swap, was simultaneously opening up 10 new districts armed with solution of resettlement and compensation that hitherto had become knotty.
He revealed that the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan had grossly impacted on the development of the entire 8,000 square kilometers of the Federal Capital Territory by changing its landscape for good.
Speaking earlier, the leader of delegation and Director, Curriculum Programme Development of the National Defence College, Commodore Aliyu Baba Lawal called for continued robust collaboration between the FCT Administration and the National Defence College, adding that the Administration had for a long time been partnered with the college.
