Abuja Master Plan: Minister assures Armed Forces
NAN-H-124
Master Plan
By Kabir Muhammad
Abuja, March 22, 2017 (NAN) The FCT Minister, Malam Muhammad Bello, says the FCT Administration has made adequate provisions in the Abuja Master Plan to cater for the land requirements of all arms of the Nigerian Armed Forces.
Bello gave the assurance while receiving a delegation of the Nigerian Air Force Properties Limited led by its Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Air Commodore Musa Tanko, on Wednesday in Abuja.
According to him, the administration has had to make adjustments in recent times to protect the interests of the Nigerian Armed Forces in the territory.
The minister said that a committee set up by Federal Government is currently working to make specific provisions for requirements such as training fields, barracks, shooting range as well as housing schemes for the Armed Forces in the FCT.
“Within the Abuja Master Plan, we have made ample provision for lands for all arms of the Armed Forces to cater for their needs and requirements.
“A committee was set up to look at the requirements of the Armed Forces holistically in terms of their needs for barracks, training fields, housing scheme, shooting ranges and all other facilities that normally, the armed forces will require.
“The committee is working on that and by the time we are done, additional areas will be identified and then each of the sections of the armed forces will of course be adequately catered for,” he said.
Bello, however, cautioned that all development activities in the FCT must have to be carried out in consonance with the Abuja Master Plan as well as Land Use provisions.
He therefore advised the Nigerian Armed Forces to always ensure that all their developmental activities are carried out in strict compliance with the rules and regulations as stipulated by the Development Control Department of the FCTA.
The minister, however, appreciated the cordial relationship between the FCT Administration and the Nigerian Air Force, saying they are working very closely on a number of interventions in the area of security.
He assured that the FCT administration would give all the necessary support to help actualise the mandate of the Air Force as an institution.
Speaking earlier, the managing director said that the agency takes care of the landed properties of the Nigerian Air Force including land for post service housing development as well as farm lands.
Tanko sought for allocation of land for the construction of post service housing scheme in the FCT, in addition to farmland to enable the force key into the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) anchor borrowers’ scheme.
The FCT Permanent Secretary, Dr Babatope Ajakaiye, and other top government officials of the FCT administration joined the minister in receiving the officers. (NAN)
KM/OSA/MST
Edited by Shittu Obassa/Muhammad Suleiman Tola
