When he assumed office as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory in August 2023, the city and its environs were as good as dead.
It was anything but a modern or model city: filthy, chaotic, disorganised, and non-functioning. The roads, even in the metropolis, were nothing to write home about. Even where they existed, they had gone into severe disrepair. It was unbefitting of Africa’s most populous nation, no thanks to the successive leadership failure of past administrations in the country and FCT.
Like a hurricane, Nyesom Wike came, breathing life into the hitherto comatose city. In under 12 quick months, he has proven that when there is a will, there surely is a way.
Roads wear new tars from reconstruction and rehabilitation; access roads are opening up, and new layouts are being carved out for development, present, and future habitation. Streetlights now illuminate major roads, making motoring a pleasurable experience, while the once congested roads and dilapidated bridges “have given way to beautifully constructed highways and sturdy bridges, reducing travel time and improving safety.”
Satellite towns and area councils, including Gwagwalada, Bwari, Abaji, and Kuje, among others, know what it means to have a government. In eight wasted years under the past administration, they had never seen a Minister come to open up a road or commission a project. Not until the Renaissance minister, Wike, came.
Now, the story is different. Everyone, including his most ardent critics, is singing his praise, overwhelmed by the radical changes he has brought to bear on a city that should be the nation’s showpiece.
Indeed, as was noted in a critical review of the Minister’s giant strides, “Wike’s transformation agenda is multifaceted, tackling various aspects of Abuja’s development. From upgrading roads to plans of enhancing public transportation, utilities, and social services, every initiative is designed to improve the quality of life for the residents.”
“But Wike’s transformation agenda isn’t just about bricks and mortars. He’s prioritising healthcare, education, and social services.”
We believe that results in other sectors will soon begin to manifest, given the speed at which the Minister is moving.
The FCT is certainly a work-in-progress, and none can say that the city has got to a state of perfection. However, if the morning shows the day, there is hope that under President Tinubu’s representative in the FCT, Minister Wike, we may yet achieve a world-class capital of our dreams sooner than we think.
THISNIGERIA salutes the giant strides of the Minister of the FCT and enjoins residents, non-residents, and indeed all Nigerians to continue to support him in transforming Abuja and the FCT.
We strongly believe that unnecessary distractions and baseless criticisms by apparently ill-motivated, selfish, and envious individuals and groups will only serve to retard the wheel of progress.
Where there are seeming disagreements and infractions in the discharge of his ministerial functions, we call for utmost restraint and decorum by the aggrieved. Verbal assault, including name-calling driven ostensibly in most cases by political motives, is unhelpful and a disincentive for a nation in search of dedicated and high performers in public office like Minister Wike.
His administrative approach may have come across to his critics as “unorthodox” and, in some cases, “unconventional and brash,” but it is a point of common convergence that this Minister is focused, driven, purposeful, and achiever. He is unarguably one of the best discoveries of the Tinubu administration, politics and other toxic sentiments aside.
Minister Wike approaches his job with the zeal of a man on a mission to demystify governance and prove to the nation that development is not rocket science and that vision and dedication are what is needed to transform the public space. Once again, we salute him, and urge him not to rest on his oars.
