By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike has again proven that he is miles away from detractors as he named two Abuja roads after two literary giants, Chinua Achebe and JP Clark.

Recall that after a major road was named after Nobel laureate Prof Wole Soyinka, it drew a lot of flaks from many quarters.

To this end, the political gadfly appealed to President Bola Tinubu to name two roads in Guzape Districts after Chinua Achebe and J. P. Clark.

Chinua Achebe was a Nigerian novelist, poet, and a central figure of modern African literature, while J. P. Clark. was a Nigerian poet and playwright.

Wike made the request in Abuja on Saturday, during the inauguration of Guzape Lot II Engineering Infrastructure by Tinubu, to celebrate his one year in office.

” I want to appeal to you, just like what you did last time when you approved the naming of Arterial N-20 Road after Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka.

“There are a lot of Nigerians who also have in one way, or the other, made their own contributions, particularly in literary works.

“So many of them have made Nigeria proud. People like Chinua Achebe; people like J. P. Clark.

“Your excellency, I want to appeal to you to name this road after Chinua Achebe and another road within the same district after J. P. Clark,” he said.

The minister described Guzape as one of the biggest districts in FCT and fast developing.

He explained that the contract was awarded in 2003 at N14 billion, during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration and divided into two lots.

He said that Lot I was awarded to Dantata and Sawoe while Lot II was awarded to Gilmor Engineering, adding that the contract was revised to over N18 billion in the third week of May 2023.

Wike said that Dantata and Sawoe had left the site for a very long time, until the Tinubu administration came on board, mobilised them back to site and work currently ongoing.

For the completed Lot II, the minister said he had inspected the execution of the project over 15 times to ensure timely delivery of the project.

He disclosed that the project was delivered despite litigations by some residents to stop the contractor from blasting rocks to give way for road construction in the district.

He also said that the ongoing work at Guzape Diplomatic Zone would soon be completed.

Dr Mariya Mahoud, FCT Minister of State, commended President Tinubu for supporting the provision of infrastructure to Guzape and other districts of the FCT.

The infrastructure, according to Mahmoud, will enhance the quality of life of Abuja residents and benefit generations to come.

“The sustainable growth and development of any city relied heavily on the infrastructure,” she said.

Earlier, Mr Shehu Ahmad, Executive Secretary, Federal Capital Development Authority, said that the entire Guzape District covered an area of about 1,070 hectares.

Ahmad explained that Lot I, being executed by Dantata and Sawoe covered an area of 450 hectares, while Lot II being successfully executed by Gilmor Engineering covered 620 hectares.

He explained that out of the 1,074 hectares total area, about 129 hectares has been encumbered by village settlement, of which about 66 falls within the area executed by Gilmor Engineering.

He said that the scope of work involved the provision of electrical power supply, including a 33/11 mini-injection substation to power the district one each for Lot I and Lot II.

He added that other engineering infrastructure included a mini sewage treatment plant, transformers, and street lighting poles that were erected and powered.

“The district is meant to provide services to about 1,017 plots of various usage and sizes – residential, commercial, as well as parks and recreation.

“The lot II we are inaugurating today covers 561 plots out of the 1,017 plots

“The Lot II has 31.3 kilometers network of roads, out of the 73 kilometres of roads in the entire district, while the one being executed by Dantata and Sawoe is about 30 kilomtres.

“The remaining ones were encumbered by village obstruction areas and attention is currently being given by Wike to hasten the compensation and resettlement of the village obstruction areas,” he said.