Saddled with the enormous tasks of repositioning Abuja and returning the city to its original master plan as mandated by President Bola Tinubu, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has charged top officials of the administration to sit up or seek redeployment elsewhere.
As reported by MUK TV, Wike, who had earlier decried the filthiness of the capital city in his first press conference on Monday after the ministerial inauguration, specifically ordered the director in charge of the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to clean up the city, saying he would be on his case to the point of increasing his blood pressure.
Similarly, while warning the top officials of the FCTA secretariat in charge of transportation to eradicate the haphazard motor parks littered around Abuja, Wike said in pidgin, “Wahala don come.”
He gave the charge yesterday in Abuja while receiving handover notes from the Permanent Secretary in the FCTA, Mr. Olusade Adesola, the Vanguard News reported.
He said, “I will ensure that Abuja gets the best. You will see projects upon projects, and projects that will be completed and not abandoned.
“I am not a party to abandoned projects. I start a project when there is money, and as such, we will look into our finances before we begin any project.
“I believe in the renewed hope of President Bola Tinubu, and Nigerians will see the difference in no distant time”.
He said that in the meantime, there had to be immediate deliverables to assure the people that the government was determined to turn the fortunes of the territory around.
“We are here to deliver the short-term deliverables for people to see that Abuja is coming back to what it was supposed to be. People are complaining about street lights not working; I am complaining too. We must fix it within the shortest possible time”, he said.
The former Rivers State governor charged the director in charge of street lights to do everything possible in the shortest possible time to restore lights to the streets of Abuja.
On sanitation, Wike said he would be mounting immense pressure on the director in charge to the point that he might even develop high blood pressure.
He declared, “You must be ready to work hard. I must make sure I give you BP, so you must work hard. You can’t sleep when the environment is dirty. You can’t be a director for anything.
“It is an opportunity for us to tell Nigerians and Mr. President that we cannot disappoint. If you are in charge of sanitation, buy your drugs and carry them all the time because I will disturb you all the time to make sure Abuja is clean.”
On transportation, Wike said, “Wahala don’t come; there are too many illegal bus stops in the city. I have respect for women, but this one I will not. If you don’t have the capacity, let us replace you now.
“In this job, people will not like you, but in the end, if you do it well, you will be appreciated. Things are tough, yes, but we cannot live in a lawless society because things are tough.”
On her part, the Minister of State in the FCT, Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, said with the support of staff, what Wike had done in Rivers would be replicated in the FCT.
“I am of the firm belief that, together and with your support, we will replicate what the Minister (Wike) has done in Rivers in the nation’s capital, especially at the area councils and satellite towns.
“This is so that the lives of our people in the rural areas will be positively touched. It is also instructive to state that maximum commitment, cooperation, and loyalty are expected from all staff because it will not be business as usual.
“We will run with the vision of President Tinubu, which we will be unveiling as we hit the ground running,” she said.
Earlier, the permanent secretary assured the ministers of the unalloyed support of the entire staff of the FCT Administration in ensuring the actualization of the mandate of President Tinubu.
Also, the Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Hadi, thanked Wike and Mahmoud for accepting to serve and reposition the FCT.
