Abandoned structure beside the Federal Secretariat in Abuja
Ensconced within the imposing structures of the twin-complex
Federal Secretariat, Abuja, lies an uncompleted building which over the
years has housed a shanty that doubles for some as residential and
business points.
The shanty, which exists outside the federal capital city
masterplan, without interference by government, is located in an
abandoned building within the secretariat complex, with prominent
government establishments, including the federal ministries of finance,
education and health, as well as Louis Edet House (Nigeria Police Force
Headquarters) among its neighbours.
A PREMIUM TIMES reporter, who visited the spot over several weeks
to monitor activities there gathered that the building is originally
part of Phase Three of the federal secretariat. But it was not allocated
to any ministry or agency because it was not completed.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
The federal secretariat office complex was built by the military
regime of Ibrahim Babangida who ruled Nigeria between August 27, 1985
and August 27, 1993. Mr. Babangida transferred the seat of the federal
government from Lagos to Abuja on December12, 1991.
The particular uncompleted building has since existed in
abandonment under several military and civilian administrations, from
that of Mr. Babangida who built the secretariat, to those of Sani
Abacha, Abdulsalami Abubakar, Olusegun Obasanjo, late Umar Yar’Adua,
Goodluck Jonathan and now Muhammadu Buhari.
Workers, who declined to be identified for fear of victimisation by
government, said the illegal activities in the abandoned building and
the general lawlessness of its occupants are well known at the
secretariat.
“The abandoned decking building is also an office complex. Babangida gave the job to contractors but they did not finish it,” a ministry staff said to the reporter.
“Lots of people sleep in the federal secretariat. Millions of
naira is allocated for the maintenance of the complex but the big bosses
are squandering it,” said the worker when asked how such shanties could have escaped the attention of those maintaining the edifice.
IT’S OUR HOME, SOURCE OF INCOME – DWELLERS
Florence is a contract caterer in the abandoned building. She refused to disclose her surname.
“I have been here for over two years, I assist my madam to cook,” she told the reporter, pointing to a smelly, water-filled area she referred to as their kitchen.
“After the government said we are out of recession we dey sell well, market is improving.”
She said the abandoned building has four entrances but one was
blocked by the dwellers due to constant robbery and theft within the
premises.
A meat seller at the part of the building behind the complex
housing the ministries of education, health and the police service
commission, told PREMIUM TIMES that he is patronized by workers from
across the ministries.
A carwash operator, Chimi from Akwa Ibom State, said he provides
service for ministry workers and visitors to the secretariat. He in turn
buys his food and other needs in “the market” within the building.
“Hope you are not here to send us away? This is where I make my living,” he said suspiciously.
SHIFTING RESPONSIBILITY
Government agencies and officials claim ignorance of the shanty and the mini-dumpsite it houses.
When asked about the maintenance of the federal secretariat, the
deputy director of press at the Office of the Head of Service, Mohammed
Manga, said it is under the charge of the Office of the Secretary to the
Government of the Federation.
But Mohammed Nakoji, the spokesperson of the Office of the SGF,
said in a phone interview that the office has asked the Federal Capital
Territory Administration, FCTA, to take over the responsibility.
When contacted, the chief press secretary to the FCT Minister,
Cosmas Uzodinma, directed the reporter to Federal Capital Development
Authority, FCDA, on any issue related to maintenance of the secretariat.
At the FCDA, the spokesperson, Lamin Ishaku, asked a subordinate to
direct this reporter to the director of maintenance and facilities of
the FCTA, whose aide later said he was not available for a meeting.
“Our director only attends to visitors on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Come back on those days if you want to see him, but we can
give you the spokesperson’s number,” the secretary to the director said.
The director’s spokesperson, Vivian Adewoye, again transferred the
responsibility to the FCDA saying the agency has a vote for “building
and renovation” of the federal secretariat in its 2017 Budget.
“When they finish building and renovating, they hand it over to us (FCTA) for maintenance,” she said.
While the relevant agencies pass the buck on whose responsibility
it is to maintain the secretariat, the shanty there has already turned
to a dumpsite, something the agency responsible to waste disposal in the
Nigerian capital, Abuja Environmental Protection Board, AEPB, says it
is unaware of.
The spokesperson of the agency, Muktar Ibrahim, confirmed that it
handles cleaning of offices in the federal secretariat but through
private contractors.
“The board is not aware of an abandoned building in the secretariat,” Mr. Ibrahim told PREMIUM TIMES. “Because
apart from the waste, an abandoned building also has security
implications. We would have done evacuation if we knew because we have
an environmental monitoring unit.”
He absolved his agency of any responsibility in the federal
secretariat shanty being turned to a dumpsite. He said the contractors
could not have been disposing refuse within the precinct of the
secretariat because there are designated dump sites in Goza, Karu and
other satellite towns.
“AEPB engages 27 private contractors to carry out cleaning in
the federal secretariats. We don’t have dump sites in the heart of town
and if we know that there is one, we would have done evacuation.
“Any of the contractors that dump refuse where it is not supposed to dump it is illegal dumping,” he said.
Perhaps because the agency is not aware of the eyesore, life is set
to go on for the dwellers of the slum at the very heart of the symbol
of the Nigerian bureaucracy.
**
Via PREMIUM TIMES
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