Which Nigerian governor will be brave enough to relocate the state capital and build a modern city from scratch?

By Ayo Akinfe

(1) By far our greatest act of foresight since independence, the one thing you have to give Nigeria credit for is moving the capital city to Abuja from Lagos. Can you just imagine what would have happened to Lagos if it was still our capital today? It would probably have collapsed under its own weight

(2) Upon assuming office in July 1976, one of the first things Brigadier Murtala Mohammed did was to set up a committee to look at locations for a new capital. Staffed by veterans like Akinola Aguda and Tai Solarin, they looked at places like Lokoja but eventually opted for the greenfield site of Abuja. Villagers were relocated to Suleija in Niger State and construction began

(3) Today, Abuja is a modern capital city which can compare with any of its contemporaries worldwide. It just needs a railway network to bring it up to scratch. Had Abuja won its bid to host the 2014 Commonwealth games, it would have got a rail network as building one was part of the conditions of the bid. This should serve as a template for us as we move Nigeria forward. Half of our populations live in city, so urban development is now a major issue

(4) The last time a state had its capital changed was in 1976 when the capital of Lagos State was moved to Ikeja from Lagos Island. As we all know, this led to the regeneration of Alausa, creating prosperity and jobs in the area

(5) In contemporary Nigeria, the only state capital that has really enjoyed widescale regeneration is Uyo. To his credit, Godswill Akpabio has turned Uyo into a city to be proud of. However, he could only do that because it was an undeveloped village prior to him assuming office. When Akwa Ibom State was created in 1989, Uyo was a rural agrarian settlement but today is a gleaming city of flyovers and dual carriageways

(6) If we want to bring accelerated development to many of our states, the governors need to brave and locate some of their capitals because many of them simply lack the land for expansion. Many of these capitals are also densely populated, so urban renewal would require the largescale displacement of thousands of people, which as we all know is a sensitive matter

(7) Abeokuta for instance is too congested and the Ogun State capital needs to be moved to a near-greenfield town like Ilaro, whole Ondo State’s capital should be moved from Akure to Ore because it is the link with the rest of Nigeria. Similarly, Kaduna is one huge ghetto and the capital needs to be moved to somewhere like Kotangora or Birnin-Gwari

(8) If you look at the state capitals that have had good facelifts of late, they are places that were hitherto undeveloped. It has been easy to build new roads in the Ebonyi State capital Abakaliki but it is totally impossible to develop Ibadan that way. In fact, the central parts of Ibadan like Beere, Oje and Mapo are irredeemable. We are talking about neighbourhoods where you can shake hands with your neighbour through the window with both of you still standing in your living rooms

(9) As our population grows, Nigeria desperately needs a new urban renewal plan that will involve new capital cities being built, populations being relocated and then these historic ghettos being demolished to make way for modern metropolises like Abuja and Uyo

(10) I look forward to seeing which governor will herald the thunderstorm of change. Such a brave man will leave a lasting and unprecedented legacy!