Abuja Centenary City Gets Airborne

By Okey Ikechukwu

This is what was said about the Abuja Centenary City Project on this page, about one year ago: ” … a good project mired in totally avoidable controversies. Months drew on. Then years flew by, while some low-grade quibbling went on in recondite corners. While that lasted, an investor who was ready to bring an inflow of 18 billion dollars into the country, as the biggest ever single Foreign Direct Investment (FDI),left the country in frustration”.

For the record, this was one of the Legacy Projects initiated by the Federal Government and approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in 2014. Its conceptualisation and emergence dovetailed into the programmes and activities for Nigeria’s Centenary celebration in 2014, and the plan revolved around the vision of a Smart Green City that would rank among the most modern cities in the world.

The concept was patterned after such model cities asDubai in the United Arab Emirates, Songdo in South Korea, and Shenzen in the People’s Republic of China. Part of the expectation was that the Abuja Centenary would signpost the Nigeria of the future, by leveraging world-class urban development as a tool for securing Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and catalysing various aspects of social and economic indices in the country.

Then there was a ten-year lull. Then came NyesomWike as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. His action on the matter was reminiscent of the mythical story of a king who was said to have summoned a perpetually quarrelling couple (CCPLC and the allied forces around the FCDA and FCTA), locked them up in a big house and told them: “The only condition under which I will let the two of you out of this place, and out of my sight, is that you will leave here resolved never to quarrel or fight again”.

Presto! The thunder and lightning stopped and Wike made it clear that no one should try to upstage any endeavour that serves the long-term interests of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under the FCT. Now everyone is working well and peacefully with everyone else. 

That things are looking and sounding very different today is the result of the determined leadership/management team of Centenary City PLC (CCPLC), the committed stakeholders and the most recent government interventions of the last two yearshave made all the difference. 

The news on the table at the moment, that the Abuja Centenary City Project has got some fillip and new momentum, with the award of a contract to Julius Berger, is also because of the foregoing. The construction company is to provide primary infrastructure for the Smart City. And that is because there are no outstanding issues about the status of CCPLC as an Economic Free Zone, under NEPZA. 

It also would not have gotten off the ground, to the point of signing a contract with Julius Berger for the provision of primary infrastructure if there were still any cases of unpaid compensations to the original inhabitants of the area it has taken over; or if there were any lingering disputes with either FCDA orFCTA, or both of them combined.

The first phase of Primary Infrastructure, which will be executed in lots, will cost N750 billion. The First lot of Phase 1 includes the Plot Access Road of 4.3 km and the Secondary Infrastructure of The Grove Residences. The Safari Park Residences and the Ridge Villas are also included here. But these details are not really our concern here. Also, purely ancillary to the issues of concern here is the fact that MessrsDar Al-Handasah Consultants (DAR), coordinators of the master plan of the city, is retained to execute the Detailed Engineering Design of the entire project.

The major issue, or part of it at least, is that Centenary City was conceptualised as the foremost Abuja Urban Renewable Project and is now in the process of being developed as such. The very idea of engaging reputable companies, partners and consultancy firms is to ensure that the development of the city accords with the originating vision that informed, and is reflected in, the original master plan. 

This fact alone clothes the Project as probably one of the greatest opportunities to create new cosmopolitan value for Abuja. This will raise its profile among exceptional capital cities of the world and encourage international investments in real estate development and tourism in Abuja. 

A close look at the master plan and project design shows that the city is structured in such a way that it is to harmonise with nature, both in layout and landscaping.  The districts and communities are designed to fit in among the natural landscape. This promises a remarkable downtown skyline and peaceful suburban living that is almost a dream to behold. 

But that is only to be expected when a city is conceptualised in such a way that it would warehouse a multifunctional development perspective that offers a well-rounded contemporary cosmopolitan lifestyle to its residents. When, in addition, the design concept also encapsulates the infrastructure and outlay for it to be a tourism hub for the wider community, you are talking about a human ecosystem that is at once avant-garde and homely. 

We are looking at a project and City that will most likely redefine sub-Saharan Africa’s skyline and enhance Nigeria’s global standing in urban development.

Which takes us back, yet again, to how on July 12, 2015, the Abuja centenary City Project was greeted with some enthusiasm on this page. Under the title, “Inside Centenary City”, we enthused: “It is easy to believe that the Centenary City Project will be a major national success story. Following the incorporation of the Special Purpose Company (SPC) that will promote and drive the investment in the city, a total of 19 companies subscribed to the company’s Articles and Memorandum of Understanding, having met the initial capital call. … The Board of Directors of the company was inaugurated by President Goodluck Jonathan”.

Once we realise that a Free Zone is established by a Presidential Directive, which defines an area under special administration designed to attract foreign direct investment (FDI), create jobs, and enhance competitiveness, it becomes clear that this area should not be tampered with by any wayfarer. Wike hosted the FCDA/FCTA) and Abuja Centenary City Plc, then he enquired into the issues that were considered to be bottlenecks on both sides.

He got an earful. The narratives and narrations were legion. In the end, there emerged solutions that everyone could live with. Wike took time to explain the overarching concept of a Free Zone as an inviolable Presidential Directive. To that extent, and for that reason, neither the minister nor any institution of state can meaningfully contest the primacy of the President’s powers in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as custodian.

The misunderstanding regarding the legal identity, and administrative autonomy, of a Freezone within an overarching umbrella of national sovereignty that still allows it to voluntarily outsource some municipal and other services it feels inclined to do, were also clarified. 

The parties were reminded that the Centenary City project aligned with the Federal Government’s economic strategy of enhancing private sector investment in tourism and other non-oil income earners critical for boosting the country’s economy.Then came very clear guidelines concerning the law and management of Free Zones, as well as the best roles for the FCTA/FCDA for sustainable synergy. 

Forthwith, but after cross-checking everything, the parties found accommodation for each other’s perspectives and signed a Communique to express their new cooperation. We are celebrating the resultsof a long, painstaking endeavour to ensure that anidea of a new Smart City, as part of Abuja’s urban renewal programme, comes after a detailed review of the Abuja capital city concept, as a small administrative capital. It became clear from the review that the upscale provisions for recreation, tourism, shopping, and urban middle-classaccommodation would fill a gap that should not have been there in the first place.

The formation of Centenary City PLC (CCPLC) as a public limited liability company, with 39 local and foreign investors, comes with 100% private sector investors, without any government funding whatsoever. The owners were the ones who hired a management team and secured a Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) from the FCTA for the Centenary City land. In lieu of the N3.611 billion premium on the land, granted by the FCTA, which was represented by the Abuja Investment Company Limited (AICL), 5% of the equity of CCPLC was given to the Government. This was in addition to a Board seat, making the Government part-owner and part of CCPLC’s decision-making team on the Project, through the FCTA.

It was gleefully announced here on this page 2015 that: “The developer of the new city, Centenary City Plc., has fortunately been working with templates that guarantee both a seamless flow of activities leading to the final emergence of the city, as well as a compensation and resettlement programme for the landowners that will avoid the usual controversies often associated with compensation and relocations. The initial mischief, peddling of false information and the attempt to build a career out of spurious protests have all given way to a quiet and sustained engagement that all the parties concerned are looking at with confidence”.

With the current commendable developments, it is imperative that this Project progresses untrammelledhenceforth. The controversies that initially trailed it are over. The management adopted a two-pronged drive that combined cash payment for the crops and resettlement of the displaced landowners in houses built for them by Centenary City Plc. at its own costin its compensation plans.

The plan covered the crops and economic trees on their land. The ongoing resettlement providesadequate land for the buildings and other facilities being developed by the Centenary City Plc which sees the relocation of some communities to better developed living conditions. 

Let us conclude by urging that the current gains should not be lost. The FCDA authorities did a biometric capture of all the affected communities, matching facial recognition and fingerprint scan of persons who are seven years of age and above, in order to have a scientifically verifiable basis for determining eligibility for compensation. All the beneficiaries identified for compensation have been settled, including those who had no title Deed, no C of O, etc., or only letters of allocation. Yes, they were all paid for land they did not really own, but they are among those to be resettled in new and better houses very soon.

Now that the Centenary City Project is airborne, it isbest not to send any evil winds after it.