PRESIDENT Bola Ahmed Tinubu and FCT Minister Nyesom Wike are facing criticism for their curious failure in celebrating Abuja’s 50th anniversary, especially since seven other states created on the same day, February 3, 1976, marked their golden jubilee with a great deal of noisy celebrations. According to the constitution, Tinubu is the Governor of Abuja, and so he only delegates his powers to Wike as FCT Minister.
It is incredible and painfully so that the landmark anniversary, 50th birthday of Abuja passed with little fanfare, sparking outrage among Abuja’s residents and indigenous communities, who feel insulted. marginalised and excluded from the city’s development. The indigenous communities who are demanding attention from the federal authorities, demand recognition of their rights, compensation for displaced lands, and inclusive governance.
Strangely, Wike, 58 has attributed the lack of elaborate celebrations to focusing on projects for Tinubu’s third anniversary. According to the Minister, The FCT administration plans to mark the golden jubilee during Tinubu’s anniversary celebrations, highlighting infrastructure projects and achievements.
‘Wike’s Belated Alibi’
According to a fact file, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has said that the FCT administration would celebrate FCT at 50 during the third anniversary of President Bola Tinubu. Wike disclosed this in Abuja on Wednesday this week, during a meeting with members of staff of the FCT Administration as part of activities to celebrate the territory’s golden jubilee.
He said that a committee would soon be inaugurated to plan the FCT golden jubilee and Tinubu’s third anniversary. The minister, who thanked God that FCT clocked 50 years during his time as minister, said that a compendium for the golden jubilee would be unveiled during the celebration in three months time.
While justifying the curious merger of Abuja at 50 with Tinubu at three (3), the Minister said that the transformation in the FCT and other achievements recorded in the last two and a half years wouldn’t have been possible if not for the support of Tinubu. He argued that infrastructural development in the FCT was slow until Tinubu removed the administration from the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which enabled access to funding to execute life-impacting projects across the territory. “Every time we say, for years, no infrastructure. Why would there be infrastructure when there’s something restraining you, but removing FCT from TSA allows the administration to access funding from commercial banks.
“Today, everybody is saying there’s massive infrastructural development. If that was not made possible, we would still be hanging around; we would still be saying nothing is going on. So, we must appreciate somebody who has laid the foundation for us to get to where we are,” he said. He pointed out that beyond infrastructural transformation, workers of the FCT Administration had equally recorded a milestone under Tinubu, particularly in career progression to Permanent Secretaries or Head of FCT Civil Service. His words:
“Ministers have come and gone; presidents have come and gone but no one made this possible except Tinubu. Today, every worker is happy that there’s hope that they can be a permanent secretary. There’s hope they can be a Head of Service. This is not easy to achieve but somebody made it possible…”
Earlier, Mr Richard Dauda, the acting Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), raised not a few eyebrows when he noted that the level of achievements recorded within the last two and half years in infrastructural development was unprecedented in the 50-year history of the FCT and the FCDA. He said that at the inception of the current FCT Administration in August 2023, a number of projects were inherited from previous administrations.
According to Dauda, many of these projects have now been completed and inaugurated while the remaining few have been taken to an appreciable level of completion.“This is as a result of the commitment, dedication and proactive drive of the leadership of the current Administration under Wike,” he said.
He added that Wike had inaugurated about nine projects during the first-year anniversary of Tinubu in 2024 and 17 projects in 2025 during the second-year anniversary. Dauda expressed confidence that with the number of ongoing projects being planned for inauguration to mark Tinubu’s third anniversary, “it is likely to hit 50 projects inaugurated since Wike assumed duty as FCT Minister in August 2023.
But despite the Minister’s alibi and the Executive Secretary’s hyperbole, critics are still arguing that Abuja’s progress narrative masks governance issues, citing poor service delivery, labour unrest, and uneven growth. The city’s original vision as a symbol of unity and order has been overshadowed by systemic challenges, which triggered labour unrest suspended on the day of celebration that never was.
Specifically, President Tinubu, as Abuja’s governor, should indeed apologise to the nation and acknowledge the reproachful oversight. Given Obasanjo’s attendance at Ogun’s 50th celebration, it’s clear the president should’ve prioritised Abuja’s milestone. Obasanjo was the Head of State who pioneered the development of the 50 years old Capital when his boss was assassinated just ten days after the proclamation.
Apart from Obasanjo, General Yakubu Gowon, who began the original plan, General Ibrahim Babangida who actualised the relocation on December 12, 1991, General Abdusalami Abubakar whose regime approved so many projects including the CBN exquisite building should have been in Abuja on Tuesday February 3, 2026 to celebrate unarguably Nigeria’s most remarkable achievement since independence: building a brand new nation’s capital.
The seven states that were also created on the same day marked their own with pomp and panoply. They didn’t have to wait for the anniversary of the leader of the country. And so here is the thing, Wike’s alibi is strange and unacceptable. That is why I would like to suggest from the most powerful office in the land, the Office of the Citizen in Nigeria that the Governor of the FCT (the President) should apologise to the nation for making us to miss the frills and thrills of celebrating Nigeria’s most significant achievement and milestone on the day and time it mattered.
This is worth reiterating. Abuja’s celebration shouldn’t have been overshadowed by other engagements such as politics in Rivers state. The FCT Minister and the Governor of Rivers state were at the presidential Villa for some conflict resolution issue when the Minister should be receiving guests for the special anniversary at the International Conference Centre, Abuja where Malam Nasir el-Rufai organised a month-long 30th Anniversary 20 years ago (2006). I was one of the recipients of the many awards and certificates signed by the then President, Olusegun Onasanjo. It was glorious and majestic.
Here is the inconvenient truth: The lack of celebration for Abuja’s 50th anniversary risks eroding the nation’s memory and history. Wike’s explanation seems inadequate, and it’s concerning that the FCT’s administration is being overshadowed by other priorities. FCT is more than a state. It is the capital of the federation (of 36 states). It is the seat of power and the Minister is the landlord to the President and all heads of Government among other senior officers in the three arms of government.
He signs even Certificates of Occupancy for the president who gives him office and power and other governors in the federation, let alone other citizens. That is part of the majesty of democracy and the law. After all, as he (Wike) had observed, it has pleased God to keep him as FCT Minister when the capital clocked 50. He was only eight years old when General Murtala Muhammed proclaimed Abuja as the capital of the federation on February 3, 1976.
Meanwhile, the President should not continue to allow the Minister to be beating chest openly that his performance has within two and half years trumped all the ministers before him. While justifying the curious merger of Abuja at 50 with Tinubu at three (3), the Minister attributed too much to the Tinubu administration and himself as quoted above. He pointed out too that beyond infrastructural transformation, workers of the FCTA had equally recorded a milestone under Tinubu, particularly in career progression to Permanent Secretaries or Head of FCT Civil Service.
As I was saying, even the acting Executive Secretary, FCDA surprised many when he noted that the level of achievements recorded within the last two and half years in infrastructural development was unprecedented in the 50-year history of the FCT and the FCDA.
The same Dauda said that at the inception of the administration in August 2023, a number of projects were inherited from previous administrations. According to the same Dauda, many of these projects have now been completed and inaugurated while the remaining few have been taken to an appreciable level of completion.
Facts are sacred. The FCT Minister’s claim that development had been slow before the President approved the TSA isn’t accurate. The FCT infrastructure and superstructure had been developed for 47 years before Wike was appointed.
What is the major infrastructure apart from completion of roads (infrastructure) that the ES, Dauda was referring to last Wednesday? There are about 50 Districts in Abuja and more than 30 had been developed with inner-city road infrastructure in Garki, Wuse, Wuse 2, Maitama, Maitama Extension, Asokoro, Asokoro Extensions, Wuye, Jahi, Guzape, etc. Yes more than thirty of the Districts had been developed long before APC won election in 2015.
All the major Hospitals in Abuja Garki, Wuse, Maitama, Asokoro, Life Camp, Karu, Kunwa, Nyanyan, etc had been completed long before Wike assumed office. What of the many schools and other agencies of the federal government and the FCT in Abuja? What of the Federal Secretariat and the Head Office of Head of the Civil Service of the Federation? What of the elegant Foreign Affairs Ministry? Did he build the Central Bank of Nigeria? Who built all the houses the federal government sold to civil servants in Abuja under the Obasanjo administration?
Who founded the University of Abuja in 1988? Who built the Supreme Courts official Quarters? Who built the original NICON-NOGA-Hilton Hotel where they used to spoil people a little? What of the old Sheraton Hotel (now Abuja Continental Hotel)? Who built the Old Le Meridien Hotel, (now NICON Luxury)? Who developed the Apo Legislators’ Quarters? Who built the iconic Life Camp? Who dreamed of the massive Federal Housing Authority in Gwarimpa? Who built the magnificent Aso Presidential Villa? Who built the DSS Head quarters?
What of Louis Edet House, Police Force Headquarters? Who built the Nigerian Intelligence Agency, NIA extraordinary edifice? Who built the FCT and Federal High Courts, the Courts of Appeal, the Supreme Court edifices? And this: who built the National Assembly Complex and the NASS Offices? Did the current administration meet the 10-lane Road from the City Gate to Giri and from the City Centre to Zuba (the so-called Murtala Muhammed Way they didn’t label anywhere? Who built the massive Defence Headquarters in Area 10? Who constructed the Radio House? Who built the numerous armed forces quarters and estates?
Who built the International Conference Centre Wike renovated and named after the President last year? Lest we forget, the Buhari government actually enacted the Abuja Civil Service Act (signed by Ag President Yemi Osinbajo, which Minister Bello didn’t implement. There are many more questions in this regard. But the point is that no doubt, Minister Wike has remarkably completed so many road projects, yes road projects he inherited from the colourless Musa Bello, his successor.
But he should not continue to claim that what he has done in just two and half years has diminished what others had built for 47 years before his arrival. In the main, the belated 50th Anniversary Committee should remember the legacies of all the founding fathers and builders who had laboured to build Abuja for 47 years before May 29 2023. May the labours of Abuja’s heroes past not be in vain whenever they celebrate Abuja!
- Oloja is former editor of The Guardian newspaper and his column, Inside Stuff, runs on the back page of the newspaper on Sunday. The column appears on News Point Nigeria newspaper on Monday.