el-Rufai: Igbos Own 73% of Abuja Land
From Chuks Okocha in Abuja, 05.21.2007


The Minister in charge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir el-Rufai over the weekend declared that Igbos have acquired about 73 percent of landed property in Abuja.
The Minister, who was addressing a gathering of Southeast elected officials also revealed how the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Senator Ahmadu Ali abused him for demolishing his house in Asokoro District in Abuja.
Speaking on a lighter mood, el-Rufai called on the Igbos to take Abuja as the sixth state of the southeast in view of their dominance of the real estate sector of the FCT.
He pointed out that such dominance explains why the Igbos appear to have been the worst victims of the demolition exercise in the territory.
For instance, he said “68 percent of the land allocations in the FCT belongs to the 19 northern states, but in actual land ownership, 73 percent belongs to the Igbos with the most aggressive in land ownership belonging to the indigenes of Anambra state, while Ebonyi lags behind.”

He also spoke of how the master plan of the Wuse market was distorted from 1800 lockup stores to a near aberration of 13,500 stores, which made movement in the market to become almost impossible.
He attributed the land ownership by the Igbos in Abuja to a measure of confidence that they have in the FCT project.
The Minister also attributed the rapid transformation of the city of Abuja to the Orkar coup of 1991 which forced the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida to quickly quit Lagos.
He explained that this singular action of the Babangida regime made the dream of Abuja as a seat of government to become real.
However, el-Rufai said that the most drastic decision that affected the total transformation of Abuja as a seat of government was the directive in 1996 by the regime of General Sani Abacha to transfer all federal ministries to the FCT.
Throwing more light on the recent demolition of the PDP chairman's house in Asokoro district of Abuja, el-Rufai stressed, “I did what I did with the best of intentions.”
The Development Control Department of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) had last week rolled its buldozer over the personal house of the PDP Chairman located at  Number 6, Abubakar Koko Street for consisting environmental hazards to the neigbhourhood. The house was said to have been built on top of a water line thereby contravening the development control regulations of the FCT as outlined in the Abuja Masterplan.
Even at the PDP retreat in Abuja, the PDP National Chairman refused to acknowledge the greetings of the FCT Minister, it was revealed.
According to el-Rufai who was a guest speaker at the retreat organised by the National Secretary of the PDP, Chief Ojo Maduekwe for the Southeast elected officials “the PDP Chairman abused me for demolishing his house in Asokoro. But I did not take it personal because, I was doing my work. Somebody has to sanitize the city.
“The house was located on top of a water tank that supplies water to Asokoro. The house has to give way because it was a disaster waiting to happen.
“He abused me in front of the National Secretary of our party, Chief Ojo Maduekwe. Why I am saying this is that many people have accused me of demolishing many houses belonging to the southeasterners. It was not a vendetta against Igbos, but it was done to restore Abuja to the original idea of the master plan,” the minister explained.
This, he said made every civil servant working in the federal ministries to hurriedly relocate to Abuja with its attendant consequences.
He identified one of such consequences as “the rise of Abuja wives”, a situation which led to break-up in several homes, because of co-habitation of different married men and women in same flats due to shortage of houses.
However, he apologised to all those whose houses were demolished saying, “we did everything, I swear with the best of intention. I apologise.”
On life in post May 29, he said, “I am looking forward to go. I have not taken a break in the past four years. I will take a break and rest.”
Earlier, the National Secretary of PDP, Chief Ojo Maduekwe said that the party would no longer pay lip service to issues of reforms, explaining “PDP will be ahead of government in ensuring reforms.”
He also called for more interactions among Nigerians, with the aim of sustaining the unity of the nation.

docokwy:

he said “68 percent of the land allocations in the FCT belongs to the 19 northern states, but in actual land ownership, 73 percent belongs to the Igbos

docokwy, does the above mean, 68% got allocated to the North, 5% to the Igbo and the 68% was bought over by the Igbo?

EL Rufai did not need to resort that Tribal Gymnastics

A leader should not worry about what people say.

He must do his job and should have no need for praise and criticism to direct him.

''He pointed out that such dominance explains why the Igbos appear to have been the worst victims of the demolition exercise in the territory.
For instance, he said “68 percent of the land allocations in the FCT belongs to the 19 northern states, but in actual land ownership, 73 percent belongs to the Igbos with the most aggressive in land ownership belonging to the indigenes of Anambra state, while Ebonyi lags behind.”


That sounds ambigious. It seems then that the hausa states sold their 68 % allocation to the Igbo.

El-Rufai, speaking on the FCT’s restructuring and his affection for the Igbo people said when he came in as a minister he discovered that 68 per cent of land allocation was made to the Northerners, while in terms of ownership they were owned by the Igbo.

More clarification form the Nation newspaper

I think saying that alone is tribalistic and ethnicized. I guess he's expressing himself but as an appointed minister, i don't know how cool that is.

naijaway:

I think saying that alone is tribalistic and ethnicized. I guess he's expressing himself but as an appointed minister, i don't know how cool that is.

Frankly i am simply disappointed a statement like that could come from El-Rufai. Cos I simply dont understand why it should be news that 73% of Nigerians aquired lands in Nigeria.

They did not inherit it, they aquired it.

but ure all wrong, and lying,
100% of nigeria belongs to me
100% of abuja belongs to me
any more question??

i inherit nigeria from, ask me,

On El Rufia state that moving to abuja help to stop coup,  I have a question for him,  If Abuja was the capital when Orkar coup took place,  I can tell him the north would not be part of Nigeria today,    If it happen again,  they would kick the north out successfully, because people are more loyal to ethnics group than the federation called Nigeria,  Moving the capital was the greatest mistake the north made.   

If another Orkar coup take place with Yar Adua up there.  I know the people of the south, they would go on the street to celebrate the end to the North again.  And on Igbo  own 70%  of abuja that is not true,  Most of the land are alloted to the northerner,  it is just to make the igbo feel good. some people see Yar adua presidency and moving the capital to abuja  a blessing for another orkar coup.

Will there be another orkar coup the chances are higher under Yar Adua,  Look it is just a matter of time that the Movement (MEND ) would transform itself to the movement for southern Nigeria,   When their vision change to this,  It may be the end to Nigeria. It would be impossible for the north to stop that,   see map to see why,   It is just a matter of time, that this may happen,  That why we all need to pray,  and get rid of greed,  Look most of the youth in the south are jobless, they would support sure a movement and the army would support them.  Look it would be stop if it happen, because the natural boundaries in Nigeria support sure a break away,  It would be easy for the south to secede,  they just have to remain on their side of the boundary and be seperated by water and shoot down anything coming,  With radar technology,  they would be able to see anything 100 km away either on air or land, a animal movement and shoot it before it get to them, 

On whose side the west, i mean america , britain etc would support on the side that have the oil,  If they do not the price of oil would go up and their people would suffer, they would want that,  this is simple logic,

I know that Yar Adua is about to sit on a time bomb,  trigger by IBB and Abacha,    we need prayer , if the PDP and Yar Adua make wrong decision,   


Can MEND achieve the feat abover on the map,  Yes they can,  It would take 24 hours,

What is the possiblity of failure,  I put is at about 10% ,  success is about 90%,   If well plan,  as long as their boundary is  River Niger and Benue . They can not be stop,   

So that is why i say Yar Adua is sitting on a time bomb trigger by IBB and Abacha,  it is a matter of time for MEND to transform to MESN or what ever they would call themself. I am think aloud,   So would other part of the south agree,  the chance is 90% they would join in the movement,  since they already have their own movement like MOpso and Opc  and egunsi or what boys,  So we need prayers my people, 

What is the estimated number of people that may be killed.. I would assume less than the biafra war,  about 300,000 people,  because it would not be landlock like igbos were,


Population of South to north using makama figure would be  south 81 million to North 59 million, How can 59 million win  war again 81 million with oil,  impossible,

How long would the war last?? I would assume about a year,  because the north would not have the money or material to carry a war beyoud 1 years,

International relationship with the west?? the west would have no option than to dump Yar Adua because he would be out of favour without OIL ,

All this note is to El Rufia, 

el ruffai, really needs to be fired for these kind of words he uttered. So how many percentage of indians, chinese, and other non nigerians does he know about since he keeps all these statistics. Igbos are not blacker or whither same goes for other states but this muthaf****r is trying to sensitize everybody. Well, it will make real estate start getting unrealistic. These are the kinds of government officals we have.

well it 's quite possible that the Northerners sold their allocated pieces of land to Igbos,who of course love real estate.
The same thing can be said of Port Harcourt.
Why should anyone fuss over it?

That should not be of concern to anyone.
People are free to buy and sell their property to the highest bidder,is this what El Rufai should give himself heart attack over,when the average man cannot find food to eat?

And on Igbo  own 70%  of abuja that is not true,  Most of the land are alloted to the northerner,  it is just to make the igbo feel good. some people see Yar adua presidency and moving the capital to abuja  a blessing for another orkar coup.

Nigeria1,

So you mean that the Igbo are so stupid that they do not know they own so much in Abuja, such that if Rufai was mocking them, the Igbo do not recognise it as such (mockery)? You are indeed pathetic and now I know that any progress made by the Igbo hurts typical indolent folks like you to the bone marrow. It is not news that Igbo own so much in Abuja. El Rufai just restated what is obvious. The same also goes for Lagos. Continue in your childish denial while people are out there amassing fortunes for themselves. Even I own 2 plots of land in Lagos. What land do you own outside of the southwest?

since when did lies about land acquisition become a tool for Igbo appeasement?.
meant to do what exactly?
stop Igbos from killing other Nigerians or what?
This nigerian 1 character is a clown,I am amused

Obviously this docokwy guy doesn't get it, he thinks this public statement is something to rejoice about.

El-Rufai: If I talk, there ’ ll be revolt

SIMON IMOBO TSWAM, Abuja


The minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mallam Nasir el Rufai at the weekend said he was tired and needed rest, even as he explained why he refused to open up when he appeared before the Senate on demolition of markets, satellite settlements and corner shops in the FCT.

Following widespread complaints that trailed the demolition in Abuja , the Upper Chamber of the National Assembly last year invited the FCT minister to appear before it to explain the demolitions.

But speaking in Abuja, Friday, el Rufai disclosed that if he had opened up on the details of land deals on the senate floor, particularly on the ownership of corner shops, he could have triggered a revolution in the country.

In what an Igbo member-elect for the House of Representatives anonymously termed "a night of disclosures", El Rufai also revealed that while officially 68 per cent of all plots in Abuja were allocated to people in the 19 Northern states, in terms of actual ownership, the Igbos owned 73 per cent.

The FCt minister also revealed why Obasanjo, then military head of state, appointed a Yoruba man, Chief Ajose Adeogun as the First FCT minister.

Mallam Rufai, who was guest speaker at a solidarity dinner hosted by Peoples Democratic party (PDP) national scribe, Chief Ojo Maduekwe, for newly elected members of the National Assembly of south eastern origin, also lauded "the Igbo entrepreneurial spirit" in the success of Abuja as a modern capital city.

His words: "When I assumed duties as FCT minister, the president gave me the mandate of restoring the Abuja master plan and putting an end to the parasitic business of land racketeering. At that time, the easiest business in Abuja was to get land or shops officially and then sub-let these to others, especially Igbo traders, at very high rates.

"And everybody you know was involved. When the senate invited me, I held my peace. At that time, I did not want it published, but it can be published now. If I opened up on some of the people behind the rackets, the revelations could have triggered a revolution in Nigeria .

"Everybody you know had a corner shop, and I means just about everybody. The only person who did not have a corner shop was president Obasanjo, but even in his case, his wife had one."

On the land rackets that engendered a disparity of 68 per cent official allocation and 73 per cent actual ownership, El Rufai he had to stop it as one of the first steps towards restoring bringing down the cost of real estate and ameliorating the sufferings of genuine developers.

Said he: "on coming on board, I discovered that 68 per cent of all plots were allocated to people in the 19 Northern states. But in terms of actual ownership, 73 per cent of the land was owned by south easterners, with Ebonyi lagging behind and Anambra being the most aggressive.

"Since most staff in the Abuja public services were from the North, most of these shops or lands were allocated to them. What I did was to revoke and re-allocate through due process. I cleared the backlog of land applications and sold shops to legal occupants, overwhelmingly Igbo traders for N50 years".

Throwing light on what informed Gen. Obasanjo’s choice of a Yoruba man as the first FCT minister, El Rufai explained that Obasanjo did it to allay the fears of the Yoruba’s that the relocation of the federal capital from Lagos was in bad faith.

He countered the perception that the FCT demolitions were targeted at Igbos, saying if the exercise affected Igbos more it was simply because Igbos dominated the trading business.

His words: "We are not against Igbos; everything we did was with the best intentions. If we hurt people, on behalf of my 18000 staff, I do apologise. But given the same chance and circumstances, I’ll do it again and then apologise."

"What we did, we did it in national interest. Today, Abuja ranks among Calabar, Ilorin and Makurdi as the four cleanest cities in Nigeria . But this had a price. We sacked or retired 4000 of our staff for involvement in unholy land deals, we removed 800 corner shops to build to build neighbourhood shopping centres amongst other measures.

He added: "in doing this, we have proved that certain impossibilities are possible. People thought it was impossible to demolish the house of a general or senator or minister or the national chairman of a party, but we demolished them all.

"The PDP chairman, (Ali), is still upset with me; he even abused me this afternoon – Ojo (Maduekwe) was there. But we have proved that here, we do what we say; we have shown that in Abuja , there is law, and we keep it. Today, we have removed parasitism in Abuja , cleared all backlogs of land applications and kept faith with our mandate".

Dispelling rumours that he was lobbying for re-appointment, Rufai declared: "I am looking forward to going home. In the last three years, I have not rested because I did not want to fail. I want to go and rest."

Donzman:

Obviously this docokwy guy doesn't get it, he thinks this public statement is something to rejoice about.

Would you I rather cry that Igbos are able to achieve all that in spite of Nigeria? Recall that the said lands were duly acquired as attested to by the horse (El Rufai) himself. The last time I checked, Nigeria is not yet at war with itself, to warrant a repeat of the abandoned property saga. So if anyone (non-Igbos) wants to allow their envy to get the better of them because of the revealation, the courts are there to sort them out. Indeed, it is not a revelation but a confirmation of what was already commonplace knowledge.

His words: "We are not against Igbos; everything we did was with the best intentions. If we hurt people, on behalf of my 18000 staff, I do apologise. But given the same chance and circumstances, I’ll do it again and then apologise."

is this man for real? who the f***k does he think he is? only in my beloved country can a public officer be so unapologetically arrogant.

But the law is on his side, isn't it?

also allows him to be so insensitive and disrespectful in his speech? did u see the bold text at all?

do u remember also when he called members of the legislature fools? the man certainly lacks decorum. humility is one of the qualities of a leader/public servant.

rudeness is a typical naija style of doing things.
How polite is OBJ ?
it is just our uncultured manner,almost like a cloak

still it should not be condoned. we are trying to build a new nigeria abi?

Mallam El Rufai stated some clear facts and some people are talking tribalism, arrogance and what have you.
Go and spend some time in Abuja and you will see all he said is true.
Igbos are aggressive business people and their ownership of land in Abuja is wise investment.That is probably the highest yielding property market in Nigeria.
El rufai made this statement because he was accused of being anti Igbo,I know for one at least 80-90% of the petrol stations in Abuja are owned by Igbos and a lot of them were built without in Illegal places and were demolished.
This spread of investments by many Nigerians not only Igbos is one of the reasons I always tell those who talk about the break up of Nigeria,it can not happen,at least not while oil still flows.
Forget about Mend.The Nigerian rich class which comprises all tribes will crush any such nonsense group when shove turns to push.

docokwy:

It is not news that Igbo own so much in Abuja. El Rufai just restated what is obvious. The same also goes for Lagos. Continue in your childish denial while people are out there amassing fortunes for themselves. Even I own 2 plots of land in Lagos. What land do you own outside of the southwest?

Kai! Wonders shall never cease.  You decided to spend your money to buy 2 plots in the same South-west or Yoruba land (i.e. Lagos), whose indigenes you keep villifying, deriding and condemning . Who did you pay the money to? Chei!

Are you sure you made the right move? You cannot stand the south-western people, but you can buy land in their area as an investment. Something doesn't sound quite right.

laudate:

Kai! Wonders shall never cease.  You decided to spend your money to buy 2 plots in the same South-west or Yoruba land (i.e. Lagos), whose indigenes you keep villifying, deriding and condemning . Who did you pay the money to? Chei!

Are you sure you made the right move? You cannot stand the south-western people, but you can buy land in their area as an investment. Something doesn't sound quite right.

FYI, I bought them off an Igbo who said he bought them off a Bini man. I do no deals with Yoruba to avoid being stabbed at the back; and that area where my properties are is populated by non-Yorubas.

docokwy:

I do no deals with Yoruba to avoid being stabbed at the back; and that area where my properties are is populated by non-Yorubas.

Conc. tribalist or what ? Cautiousness is generally good anyway.

docokwy:

FYI, I bought them off an Igbo who said he bought them off a Bini man. I do no deals with Yoruba to avoid being stabbed at the back; and that area where my properties are is populated by non-Yorubas.

Na only Yoruba people dey do back stabbing. Back stabbing doesn't happen anywherelse ?

My response is a deserving one to a stupid post by laudate. He saw it coming

docokwy:

FYI, I bought them off an Igbo who said he bought them off a Bini man. I do no deals with Yoruba to avoid being stabbed at the back; and that area where my properties are is populated by non-Yorubas.

docokwy:

My response is a deserving one to a stupid post by laudate. He saw it coming

Erm, you have not answered the question. Wether you bought the land from a Bini man or an Ijaw man is not the issue. It is the location of the land that matters. It is still inside part of Yoruba land, not so? In case you have forgotten, my earlier question was:

laudate:

Are you sure you made the right move?  You cannot stand the south-western people, but you can buy land in their area as an investment. Something doesn't sound quite right.

We are waiting for the answer o!

docokwy:

FYI, I bought them off an Igbo who said he bought them off a Bini man. I do no deals with Yoruba to avoid being stabbed at the back; and that area where my properties are is populated by non-Yorubas.

You might want to leave Nairaland as well because it is owned by a yoruba man.

And I agree with Laudate, why are you buying land in Yorubaland if this is how you feel about them ? Hypocrite.

Tonim,

There's no need to get angry. Some people just can't help how they feel. 

And docokwy despite his rabid hate of the South-west, still finds it expedient to own property there, rent it out & rake in profit as part of the equation. Cool!

I guess he hates the people, but he loves their land!

lol Laudate, you are so right 

Laudate and Tonim,

Blah blah blah liable to the garbage bin

sleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppppzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzyyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnns

I dont mind reselling to you guys. But I guess few Yorubas are bouyant enough to pay (mocking you)