By Rogers Edor Ochela
Apart from the city centre that is well developed and area council headquarters that have acquired the dubious distinction of being tagged glorified villages, satellite towns in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) occupy an unenviable position of housing a high preponderance of FCT population. With such a sea of humanity dwelling in these satellite towns, the task of developing them becomes compellingly urgent.
It is this quest to spread development to the satellite towns that informed the establishment of Satellite Towns Development Agency (STDA) vested with the statutory responsibilities of opening up/developing the satellite towns by providing infrastructure to the teeming rural dwellers, thereby improving their living standards; providing enabling environment which would further reduce the pressure already brought to bear on the city; developing and upgrading the satellite towns and finally, developing linkages between the Satellite Towns and the Federal Capital City (FCC).
The functions are therefore essentially for the development of the satellite towns, development of the rural areas through provision of link roads, potable water, electricity, development of the relocation and resettlement areas. It also entails ensuring the provision of adequate and affordable housing for FCT citizens. This aspiration is achievable by partnering with the private sector.
Satellite towns include: Bwari; Kubwa; Karshi; Kuje; Kusaki–Yanga; Dobi; Anagada; Gosa;
Abuja North-west and South-west. However, Gosa, Abuja North-west and South-west were dropped due to the fact that they were essentially within the city.
Since Senator Bala Mohammed assumed as FCT Minister in 2010, his administration has made the development of the satellite towns a cardinal policy, occasioning public clamour that urgent attention be paid to the those areas in terms of provision of infrastructure.
Chairmen of the area councils of the FCT recently called for a special allocation to the territory from the federal government in view of its capital status which has made it witness massive human traffic from other parts of the federation.
In apparent response to such patriotic calls, the federal government has opted for the prioritization of the infrastructural development of the six area councils and satellite towns with the re-establishment of the STDA in the last quarter of 2011.
Developing area councils and satellite towns will bridge the hiatus in development between the main city centre and such areas and even reduce pressure on the city centre as the area councils and satellite towns will attract people to live in such places. It will also help lessen the burden on infrastructure in the city.
It is because of the importance FCTA attaches to the development of the satellite towns that has accelerated the humming of the engine of STDA in terms of operational efficiency, thereby fast-tracking the construction of roads in the area councils and satellite towns, provision of engineering infrastructure and affordable housing, and the Clean and Green Greater Abuja project.
With N2 billion take-off grants, STDA has embarked among the ongoing projects in satellite towns the provision of engineering infrastructure to Kubwa (Districts 4 & 5); engineering infrastructure to Karshi (Districts 1 & 2) and Bwari (Districts 1 & 2); construction of township roads in the six area councils of FCT; Bwari-Kauru road and extension of Karshi-Apo road.
Other road projects on-going are construction of Karshi-Ara road; rehabilitation of Gwagwalada-Dobi-Izom road; construction of Onex-Bwari Road; 11km Mpape-Galuwyi/Shere road; provision of 13km road to Kuje-Gaube; and the construction/rehabilitation drainages, flood control in Abaji, Gwagwalada, Kuje, water and electricity supplies in Galuwyi/Shere and other satellite towns.
Equally on record are the provision and construction of 5,000 units of affordable housing in satellite towns; urban renewal and upgrading of Nyanya-Labour Camp road; construction of Kuje-Kwaku-Gwargwarda- Rubochi road, including the death trap called Wasa-Takushara-Burum road and the Pandagi-Rimba-Mamagi road.
The University of Abuja Hostel Road in Gwagwalada and Kwali Bridge are also roads that require attention. The FCDA’s promise of purchasing modern sanitation equipment and embarking on the development of markets in four satellite towns are already being fulfilled with Dutse market in Bwari Area Council almost completed; apart from establishing youth development vocational centres in the towns.
As the population of the territory grows exponentially, the city centre has exceeded the projections of town planners by more than two million, thereby over-stretching facilities. It is obvious that satellite towns, designed to take the excess population out of the city centre, are under severe pressure as demands for space and services continue to grow daily.
Determined to frontally confront the challenge, FCTA through its handmaiden, STDA, has completed the detailed layout for the affordable housing scheme currently being built in two districts of Wasa in Abuja Municipal Area Council and Mamusa West in Kuje Area Council; the scheme involves the construction of 5,000 housing units and is expected to provide jobs for over 50,000 FCT residents.
The housing scheme, being executed through public-private partnership initiative with the FCTA providing land as well as other primary and secondary infrastructure, while the private partner will provide the tertiary infrastructure, would reduce the current strain on the existing housing and speed up economic growth of the area councils.
Apparently taken aback by the poor sanitary condition of area councils and satellite towns, FCTA initiated a community sanitation programme in the six area councils in May 2012. To give teeth to this programme, the agency has deployed pay-loaders, bulldozers and tippers to the six area councils to evacuate huge refuse generated by residents.
On agriculture, the FCTA has provided N250 million community empowerment agriculture loan for 385 farming communities across the six area councils of FCT under the MDGs project.
Similarly, in 2012, the FCTA launched the One Village, One Product (OVOP) initiative of the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) with Rima Village in Abaji Area Council as the first beneficiary of the scheme with the commissioning of a mini Shea-butter processing cluster, just as it has also been providing empowerment to over 100,000 farm families in FCT since 2013 via supplying of improved seeds, fertilizers, agro-chemicals, tractors and other inputs.
Inasmuch as one can safely conclude that FCTA has done remarkably well in transforming the satellite towns, a lot still needs to be done if the vision of reaching the Promised Land is to be attained.
Ochela wrote from Abuja
