The Federal Government said through Federal Capital Territory minister Mohammed Bello Wednesday that it could no longer contain the exponentially growing population of the territory.
However, the minister also claimed that the regime is doing everything to bend the growth curve by strengthening institutions and improving infrastructure across the country, which would curtail urbanisation.
“Urbanisation is a reality that we cannot reverse, it’s a worldwide phenomenon and urbanisation will continue. As a matter of fact, it has been projected that by 2050, 70 per cent of the world’s population will be living in urban areas, Abuja is no exception,” said Mr Bello while fielding questions from State House Correspondents after the week’s virtual Federal Executive Council meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
“It has served as a magnet because it’s the centre of government, it’s secure, it’s peaceful, it’s in the centre of the country and it provides a tremendous amount of opportunities for young people. So, this will continue.
“But it’s something that we are trying to manage. How do we manage it? We are strengthening our institutions, increasing infrastructure within the available resources, but with urbanisation and movement of people, obviously, crime also increases; the need to handle urban waste increases, and so many other things.
“It’s something that we’ll keep on working on, and some of the demolitions we even do is as a result of that. When people come in, they don’t have housing, they don’t have accommodation, they go into shanties and they create slums.”
