Residents of Abuja may need to begin to adjust to some changes because the new Minister the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, despite being a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has fully aligned himself with the ‘Renewed Hope’ agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
Also, as suggested by some Nigerians, Wike may be doing what he is doing with eyes on the future.
Some persons say Wike’s appointment is just another opportunity to prove himself worthy of the presidential seat, which he had shown interest in during the last election.
Indeed, Wike being who he is, will surely make great use of that opportunity.
Now, the Minister is set to take more decisive actions on commercial motorcyclists, popularly called Okada and open grazing in Abuja.
The Ban
Wike had taken a tour of some ongoing projects in the FCT to get progress report.
After the tour, he told a gathering that he would ban the Okada operation, as soon as an efficient means of transportation for the people was provided.
Wike said violators of the Okada ban would be dealt with in the foreseeable future instead of the administration crushing motorcycles impounded in restricted areas.
He said: “We did not take a firm decision because we have not been able to provide the buses that will be the alternative for the people.
“It is within the government’s responsibility to provide the alternative and then ask the motorcycle operators to leave the city centre.
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“This is so that you don’t ask them to leave, and people will be suffering. No”.
The Interaction
The former Governor of Rivers State stated that he would also consult with relevant stakeholders to effectively enforce the ban on open cattle grazing.
“Before we take any decision, we will do proper consultations so that nobody will say you never alerted them or you never interacted with them before you took that decision.
“We are going to call the cattle people to sit with them. The government cannot allow things to go on like this.
“We didn’t say that there will be no cattle in Abuja but within the city. Like I said, we will take it one after the other.
“You know Nigerians are used to ‘nothing will happen’. Just like when we talk about land revocation and payment of ground rent, and people say it will not happen, but it has happened.
“Even you (journalists), disseminating the information, you must disseminate the information in such a way that you are not trying to cause crises between the government and members of the public.”
