After reading the article below, I wish to know your thoughts. Should Nigeria capital city be moved to another well-planned area with more forms of transportation like rail transportation within the city to ease the gridlock?

Culled from [url=http:///3z3pi[/b]]http:///3z3pi[/url]

It is now 20 years since Abuja became the capital city of Nigeria. In a matter of 20 years, the 8,000 square kilometre empty space has become a thriving government, commercial and cosmopolitan city.

Interestingly, in those 20 years also, unlike muted fears expressed in the earlier days, all Nigerians can truly feel at home in Abuja. However, in those 20 years also, the city has managed to import all that made it necessary to have the capital city move from Lagos to Abuja, especially the increasing population and the increasing gridlocks.

Two main reasons would have been responsible for the movement of Nigeria’s capital to Abuja. First, though not unusual, the position of Lagos at the edge of the South West provided limitation in distance to many parts of the country. Second, Lagos had become so congested and lost the serenity often associated with capital cities across the globe. Of course, there are exceptions also. According to these arguments, Lagos had become chaotic, overcrowded and some parts squalid and a better and more suitable place had to be found for Nigeria’s capital city.

The journey to Abuja as capital city of Nigeria had started under the government of Murtala Muhammed in 1976, following the recommendations of a committee set up to determine a suitable capital city for Nigeria. However, it was in the 1980s that construction took off, and a decade after, Abuja officially became the capital city of Nigeria, when Ibrahim Babaginda, then head of state, moved the seat of power to the city.

The main attribute of Abuja city is that it is a planned one. Abuja took off from architects’ drawing boards and most of the initial plans are in place today. However, Abuja now suffers from many of the ills that affected Lagos. And the ministerial authorities in Abuja cannot do anything about this – the fact that Abuja and Lagos suffers from development imbalance across the country. The excessive migration witnessed in both states cannot just be alluded to security issues, but is a fallout of non existent or few opportunities elsewhere. Abuja, and even Lagos, will thus benefit from balanced development across the country, both in terms of opportunities and infrastructure.

It is also a shame for a planned city like Abuja to repeat the same mistake made in Lagos. As it is currently, there is only one means of transport in Abuja – by road. Though a light rail is planned, the authorities have left rather late, as it can now only be imagined how long other means of transport and transport users can be integrated when it is completed. For a planned city as well, it is very easy to see that very little attention has been paid to pedestrians and bicycle users. As a matter of urgency, these different needs should be integrated before it is too late.

As a follow-up to the last paragraph, and partially as a result of the issues raised, the greatest failing in Abuja today is the gridlocks. While this cannot be compared to Lagos yet, the population dynamics and the pace of infrastructure development in the city signals a totally gridlocked city in 10 years, except critical steps are taken to modernise the means of transport in the city, and provide alternatives for residents and visitors alike. For instance, we believe the journey to the airport is a classic rail journey from the city centre. The time to act is now.

Culled from http:///3z3pi

Whats wrong with the current one? So you want us to spend more billions to build ANOTHER capital city?

kodewrita:

Whats wrong with the current one? So you want us to spend more billions to build ANOTHER capital city?

Please help me ask am.

dasparrow:

Please help me ask am.

kodewrita:

Whats wrong with the current one? So you want us to spend more billions to build ANOTHER capital city?

Are we not currently spending Trillions on worthless things that does not ease the gridlock?

fizanos:

Are we not currently spending Trillions on worthless things that does not ease the gridlock?

And the solution to that is to spend Trillions more to build a new city?


Decapitation is not a cure for headaches.

Have the courage and self-control necessary to solve today's problems with the resources at hand rather than always running after quick-fix solutions. A new capital city in this current atmosphere of corrupt politicians would result in huge financial losses to the country.