Nigeria: What 'Land Swap' Means for Abuja Natives and residents

Using a new policy named "land swap", the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) hopes to open up new districts in the 8,000sqkm Federal Capital Territory. But the land owners, who now refer to themselves as "original inhabitants", are beginning to ask questions: What happens to them, considering previous messy resettlement and integration policies? Has the obnoxious Land Use Act of 1978 rendered them homeless, since the opinion in official circles has been that Abuja is "a no-man's land with a sprinkling of natives"? Since most of them are farmers, how will they survive without farmlands?

Before "land swap", there have been demands by the displaced natives for compensation on already developed parts of the Federal Capital Territory. They cannot understand the justifiability of settling 800 towns with N2.8 billion, or N150 billion as claimed in some circles, in view of the current market value of the same plots of land. They are, therefore, demanding to be part of the process of any future land deal in the territory.

We agree with the original land owners' demand, in the face of current realities, that they must be part of whatever policy that will lead to their losing their land. This is because land has suddenly turned gold especially in Abuja. The current policy of compensating them only for economic trees and crops destroyed in the process of acquiring land is odious. The plants did not grow in the air.

Under the new policy of land swap, government intends to exchange definite sizes of land with infrastructure to be provided by big real estate developers. Happily, the FCTA appears to appreciate the anxieties of these Nigerians who are denied a share of their own patrimony. FCT minister Bala Mohammed has stated that any "massive infrastructure development in the FCT must, of necessity, take into consideration resettlement and compensation issues". On paper, the authorities claim that the native settlements will be given the opportunity, as active stakeholders, in deciding the nature and model of resettlement, compensation or integration they prefer.

In the light of previous experiences, however, we share the apprehension of the Abuja land owners. Much as we have no reason, as yet, to doubt the sincerity of the authorities on this new policy, we insist that they must avoid past injustices in land administration in the territory. It should also take cognizance of the developmental needs of the FCT, commercial interests of the investors as well as the human rights concerns of the international community. The FCTA should listen to the pathetic story of the indigenes of Abuja - a long tale of neglect and squalor in the face of unbridled opulence. The livelihood and socio-economic activities of the people are agrarian in nature; they should be addressed satisfactorily.

source: Allafrica