The Federal Capital Territory (FCY) minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, has given an ultimatum to illegal settlements in Chika Aleita to vacate the premises of Abuja Science and Technological Village.
Wike stated this while on an inspection tour of the technical village on Monday, flanked by his counterpart in the Ministry of Science and Technology, Uche Godfrey Nnaji. He directed Development Control to see the removal of the settlers, saying that, with the record, compensation had been paid to the earlier settlers in the place.
Issuing the order, Wike said the fast encroachment was aided by the inability of the past administration to take action and stop individual buildings illegally in the village despite the payment of compensation. He, however, assured that his administration would demonstrate political will by stopping the illegal settlers.
Expressing his surprise, the FCT minister told the journalist that he taught activities going on in the village, directing the ministry to provide details on erecting an office in the village instead of staying in a rented building.
Wike said, “I’m not impressed with what I’m seeing. We don’t lack the political will, as we do have it. If you don’t take action, people will not believe that anything is possible. As I go back now, I will call the Development Control Department and give them an ultimatum for these people to leave. They have been compensated since 2015, but if that were the case, I don’t know why we couldn’t fence the area up until now.
“When this fencing takes place, you will see that they won’t have a choice but to leave. I have invited the Minister of Science and Technology so that he could take active operation of the place and see how investors can come in.
“I was thinking that a lot of activities are going on here, not knowing that it is empty land. The roads have been provided, and that ought to interest investors, but it depends on what you people have been doing since. We must quickly see what we can do.
“I urge those who settled here illegally to know that we will not hesitate to move them out. No amount of campaigning will stop us from doing the right thing. You are in charge of this place, and you don’t even have an office here, at least to show presence and tell people that we are here, so if an investor is coming now, he is coming to meet empty land, and you are renting an office out of the village.
“Please let us know what it will take to erect a befitting office, so you can leave that place that you said that you are renting, and if you calculate the amount of money you spent, renting is a waste, as you could use that money to start doing something good.”
Earlier, the minister of Science and Technology, Uche Godfrey Nnaji, told Wike that leaving illegal settlers that have encroached on the buffer of the village is a big risk and a loss to the country’s investment drive in the village, which is a replica of London Technology Village. He said the government of Great Britain was able to generate six billion pounds in six years.
Nnaji noted that the country stands a chance of making more if the right environment is put in place.
“To look at what is left of our technology village, we have a vision of this technology village; it is a vision of what is like London Technology City, with an asset base of 6 billion pounds in less than six years of operation, which is what we intend to do in this place, and a replica of Silicon Valley in the USA.
“So the infrastructure and technology that this place is going to house in a couple of years would be huge. This is the kind of thing the honourable Minister of FCT, Nyesom Wike, would like to identify with.
“We are not impressed with what is happening here. There is a company in America that came about a month ago and wants to put in 200 megawatts of power here. There are so many other companies that want to start right away, but as this encroachment continues, we have to stop it someplace and see how we can take over, either by compensating the owners or demolishing them. This is because it is bigger than what we have here.
“We can’t have this kind of thing here. Our mission here is in the interest of the country, and it is in keeping with the renewed hope agenda of President Bola Tinubu.”.
Speaking on behalf of the management team of the ATV, the acting managing director, Yusuf Shafeek Isa, said their hopes are being renewed by the minister’s visit.
The Abuja technology village was the creation of the Federal Government during the return of democracy to the country. It is a free trade zone expected to incubate science and technology, but the subsequent administration under the late President Umar Musa Y’aradua and Senator Adamu Aliero worked hard to see to the takeoff of the village, but the administration was short-lived due to the death of Presidential Yar’ Adua.
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