By Oota Terhemen, Lafia
The dream of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state to developed a smart city project to harness the vast land resources that abound in the state along the Karu-Abuja corridor by earmarking 13,000 hectares of land in Gurku/Kabusu axis bordering Mpape and Maitama, few meters away from the Aso Rock Villa in Abuja, for the construction of a mega city to rival FCT cannot be allowed to go in vain.
Governor Al-Makura who is exiting office on May 29th 2019 after serving two terms as governor of the state with unprecedented legacy achievements was rewarded with a senatorial seat by the good people of Nasarawa south senatorial districts to represent them in the 9th senate to be inaugurated in June this year.
The peculiarity of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, where elections are not held for a governor, some concerned Nigerians ‘League of Professionals’ made up of corporate and media executives and other professionals have advice President Mohammadu Buhari not to allow the outgoing governor of Nasarawa state settle down in the 9th senate but to appoint him minister of FCT so that he can implement his initiative of Abuja smart city project to give the capital city the status it desires.
Our correspondent gathered that allowing Al-Makura to remain in the senate is a waste of knowledge, talent and sound initiative, with the requisite experience and records of performance in maintaining sustained economic growth and unprecedented infrastructural development in the last eight years in Nasarawa state, it is only appropriate that Tanko Al-Makura be allowed to turn Abuja into a mega city like other international capital cities.
“The president has promised to do better in his second term, he is determined to bring on board the best hands, technocrats, experienced administrators and incorruptible men of proven integrity to help him achieve his vision for Nigerians, proper placement of talents is required and Tanko Al-Makura fits in as FCT minister to replicate his sound initiatives.
“Al-Makura is best suited to become the next FCT minister because Nigerians are ripe for a Mega Capital, the truth is that as Abuja stands today, it is not a place of pride as the capital of a giant of Africa
“There is so much congestion in Abuja and satellite towns which does not befit a capital territory, the picture today is that of zero law and order as people litter the city, disobey traffic rules and build houses in clear violation of the original master plan of the FCT.
“Being the first entry point for most diplomats, tourists, potential investors and foreign dignitaries, it should meet up to a certain global standard which Al-Makura has proved he can do by the way he transformed Nasarawa state, it is on record that no governor since the state was created has done what he has done, he will forever remain a reference point in 21st century governance” the group said.
Governor Al-Makura had, while presenting the master plan of the city project to President Buhari some time ago at the presidential villa, said the mega smart city project comprises 740 plots of various uses while master plan has already been developed for 29 districts, code named K1 to K29.
He said the dream was anchored on the potentials and opportunities the state has, given its proximity to the FCT which also informed the formation of Nasarawa State Development Platform to translate this dream into reality over sustained period of time. The approach is to ensure that the state has a versatile and futuristic development plan that would encompass land administration and other development initiative to be executed by Nasarawa Geographic Information Service (NAGIS).
He said, his government came up with the idea in order to ease the stress for limited housing and other infrastructures of the state and the FCT and avoid the replication of another chaotic development as found in Mararaba, Ado and other towns bordering the FCT.
“As it is, Abuja metropolis is chocked to the brim and to get our projections for the future right so that we do not get caught unprepared  again, we have decided to come out with a holistic detailed master plan for the development of Guruku/kabusu area” the Director General of NAGIS, Mr Sonny Agassi, said.
As the closest underdeveloped area to the FCT, that is the next destination for developers and to avoid further haphazard development, everything must be done within the frame of the master plan in line with existing land laws, development laws and detailed district master plan.
He said, the Gurku/Kabusu smart city investment opportunities have diverse areas of expertise that can be explored by investors which include infrastructure, health facilities, commercial investments and markets and Governor Al-Makura knows best how to harness these potential in the service of both Nasarawa state and the FCT.
Others include real estate developers’ waste management to ensure clean and hygienic society and broadband connectivity as is obtained in modern smart cities in the world, light industrial area will be separated completely from residential areas, recreational and amusement parks.
The Gurku/Kabusu smart city project developed by the governor to address housing problems for civil servants working in Abuja and Nasarawa state cannot be allowed to die a natural death because of time constraint, it can be implemented effectively with Al-Makura as FCT minister.
FCT needs to develop as fast as any other global destination while depending on little funding from the central government as Al-Makura was able to achieve in Nasarawa state for the past eight years he has held the reign of leadership where Lafia, the state capital was turned from a glorified village to a modern city in rapid form.
Governor Al-Makura, as a seasoned estate developer, has performed development miracles in Nasarawa state. The FCT which shares boundary with Nasarawa does not have a governor, most of the workers in Abuja live in Nasarawa state and are witnesses to the monumental development of the state under Al-Makura, the residents of FCT do not have the powers under the constitution to elect a governor in FCT, if they do, we are convinced that they would have elected Al-Makura to lead them and developed Abuja smart city project for them.
Appointing him to serve as FCT minister will have the multiple advantage of ensuring that someone with sound pedigree and great antecedents is put in charge, giving the residents a minister who understands the terrain, has the experience and sound initiative to find solutions to the development challenges bedevilling the city centre and other satellite towns in Abuja to ensure international standards, he has done similar things in Nasarawa state.
Based on performance appraisal, the outgoing Nasarawa state governor remains the only person to replicate what Nasir El-Rufai did in FCT when he served between 2003-2007, he demolished illegal structures of both the high and the mighty as well as the low and struggling without batting an eyelid and restored the city to the beautiful city that its forefathers envisioned it to be.
Even those who were victims of his demolition blitzkrieg knew that they became victims because they violated the laws, Governor Al-Makura did same in Nasarawa state and today the aesthetics of the state can be compared to other developed states.
By the time El-Rufai left office as the minister of the FCT, his name became not only a house hold name among the residents of the FCT but also assumed a certain level of popularity among residents who think he did the right thing by restoring the Abuja master plan in a way that the performances of subsequent ministers of the FCT were measured using the El-Rufai standard of performance.