By Abubakar Sani

The hue and cry which greeted the recent announcement by the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to build a boulevard in Abuja’s city center is, in my opinion, the result of a misunderstanding of the whole concept of the boulevard.

Those who want the idea killed have gone to town with all sorts of smear campaign-some saying the boulevard is a White Elephant project that would only eat up the nation’s megre resources that could have been used to better the lot of the ordinary Nigerian.

Others even went as far saying that the bouleveard idea was never in the Abuja master-plan but only a creation of the present minister of the territory, Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar who was only interested in taking away juicy plots of land from their original owners under the guise of the Abuja boulevard.

But the reality of the situation is that the boulevard idea has always and is in the Abuja Master Plan. The Abuja Master Plan is a set of maps which are available for inspection by any interested member of the public.

All that the present FCT Administration is doing is to bring to reality what the original planners who designed Abuja had put on ground. The idea is to create a major commercial nerve centre such as the Champs Elysee of Paris, Oxford Street of London and New York’s Fifth Avenue, which the founding fathers believe would put Abuja in the global map as one of the world’s greatest cities.

It is pertinent at this juncture to give a vivid description of the lay out of the boulevard and to disabuse the minds of those who do not have a clear understanding of the concept.

A boulevard is characterised by its very wide, multi-lane roads in which the central lanes are reserved for vehicular traffic while the wide side lanes are left for pedestrians and bicycles.

The boulevard itself is shown in the Abuja master-plan as the area bordered by two major roads B8 and B10 leading to the airport. The Eagle Square is shown as the starting point and at the other end is the National Hospital.

The project is going to be funded mainly through Public Private Partnerships (PPPs). Additionally, the FCTA will review upwards the development levy payable by allotees of land within the area, from the current N2,000 per square meter to between N55,000 and N75,000 per square meter. This, according to the minister, would enable the administration to raise the money that would be used to build the infrastructure.

Dr. Umar has also allayed the fears of allotees of plots in the boulevard area. The minister said that banks have indicated their interest in funding the project hence no plot allocations will be revoked. He said allotees within the area would be introduced to financial institutions and be encouraged to partner with them, to enable them pay the new levies and to develop the plot according to plan.

Fears that major land marks such as the NNPC Towers and the CBN building would have to be demolished to give way for the boulevard have also been laid to rest by the minister who said the buildings will not be touched.

There are so many benefits to be derived from the boulevard. Apart from the fact that it is going be an area of 24-hour human activity, the boulevard is designated as an area of multi-purpose use. For example, unlike other areas whose purposes are specifically defined either for residential, commercial or industrial use; one can erect say a 35-storey building on a plot within the boulevard and use parts of it as residential flats, other parts as offices and shopping malls, and still other parts as hotels. Buildings in the boulevard area have "zero setbacks" for roads, that is, the building sits right at the edge of the road, unlike buildings in other areas that must be some meters away from the road.

Nigeria is in dire need of foreign direct investment. The Abuja Boulevard provides a very excellent for avenue interested foreign investors. Ours as the ultimate beneficiaries of such laudable projects is to do all we can to support the administration in its drive towards making Abuja the pride of all Nigerians.