The Minister of the Nigerian Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, has reassured residents of the City that Abuja is one of the safest cities in the country.
The Minister gave the hint while responding to questions from Journalists on the state of insecurity within the City after a tour of projects in the nation’s capital.
Wike argued that the security situation in the FCT has improved since he assumed office, assuring that the FCT Administration was not leaving any stone unturned to maintain the Territory’s security.
According to him, “The state of security is not the same as when we came in. I tell people, lighting up Abuja is not only to beautify the city, but it is also to improve security.
“You will give us and the security agencies credit that we are doing quite a lot to make Abuja safe, and Abuja has been safe, but we don’t agree that Abuja is not safe. Something may happen doesn’t mean the place is not safe.
“The problem we have is that when one incident happens, we forget that nothing happened three months ago that nothing happened.
If there is one safe city in Nigeria, I think Abuja is,” he declared.
Stressing his point, the Minister likened Abuja’s situation to Michigan’s, noting that the incident which led to the death of Charlie Kirk did not mean that America is not safe.
Commenting on indiscriminate waste dumping in the Territory, Wike acknowledged that it was another challenge his Administration was determined to tackle, revealing that the refuse was already being removed.
He revealed that the Administration is actively removing indiscriminately dumped refuse, particularly along Airport Road and in the Nyanya/Karshi area.
He revealed plans to award new contracts for refuse disposal within the next two weeks, promising to select only competent contractors with the capacity to ensure that the city remains clean.
“We believe that in the next two weeks, the contract will be formally awarded for refuse disposal. That, I can tell you, will help us quite a lot”.
“Just be patient with us. We are also not happy about it, but we are doing everything to resolve it,” he appealed.
The Minister inspected projects for the provision of engineering infrastructure to Wuye District, and the development of FCT highway 105, a dual carriageway connecting the Airport Road to Kuje Town.
He also expressed satisfaction with the quality of the two projects and optimism over their availability for commissioning by President Bola Tinubu for his third anniversary.