Members of the Garden Owners Association of Abuja have raised the alarm over what they described as the systematic invasion and conversion of designated green areas into residential estates and commercial plots in clear violation of the Abuja Master Plan.
Speaking to a journalist on condition of anonymity, a concerned member of the association decried the growing administrative disregard for the city’s original land use design, warning that the environmental, social, and developmental consequences could be dire.
“My worry is that the master plan was designed to give us spaces for green areas, places for housing, recreational areas and other land uses.
“The master plan provided that 33 percent of the total land would go to green areas, so the city could breathe air, trees, and a healthy climate. But today, we are witnessing a dangerous drift,” he said.
He alleged that over 500 plots from green zones in Maitama and Asokoro have already been converted, not to mention new areas undergoing similar reclassification.
“Professionally, we are going to cut off that 33 percent probably down to about 15 percent,” he said.
The source warned that this land conversion contradicts the very ethos of a planned city, jeopardizes climate resilience, and threatens future generations.
“We are waking up to administrative recklessness taking over green areas and converting them to brown. With a population already above six million, what do you expect will happen? Heat, tree loss, infrastructure strain. And for what? Is it not human beings that will live in those places? And they’ll need a good environment to breathe,” he lamented.
He also criticized what he described as the exploitation of leaseholders and garden investors. Many of them, he noted, had entered into 30-year lease agreements with the government under the Accelerate Greening Programme, only to be sidelined and their rights revoked without compensation.
“People collected these green areas to partner with the government and develop them. Now you want to take them back without any overriding public interest and hand them to others for housing,” he said. “Where do you want these investors to take their losses?”
The concern isn’t new. A June 16, 2006 memo titled “Development and Management of Park Sites and Green Areas in FCT” submitted to the then Minister of the FCT, revealed that 22 green sites were allocated under the Accelerate Greening Programme to corporate bodies and individuals for development. The document acknowledged the risk of illegal occupation and revenue loss, recommending a registration process and fee payment system to control site use.
“You may wish to note further that if nothing is done these illegal occupants will continue to do so without proper control and the department will be losing revenue and creating more problems,” the memo stated.
Similarly, a July 2011 memo to the FCT Minister titled “Urgent Need to Update Records on Park Allocation and Revenue Accruable From These Parks”, raised concerns about massive revenue shortfalls. While over 300 parks were on lease, actual monthly revenue was less than N3 million far below the projected N100 million. The memo attributed the gap to illegal conversions, forged allocations, and lax enforcement.
“The Minister may wish to note that only less than three million is raised monthly from these green areas which are far from the anticipated projection.
“Illegal operators, forged papers of allocation and conversion of these sites to other land uses cannot be allowed to continue,” the 2011 memo parly read.
The garden owner also accused some civil servants of colluding in illegal land conversions for personal gain, using fraudulent Certificates of Occupancy (CofOs) as cover.
“To convert these things, it’s about N200 million. What goes into the government’s account is less than N5 million, the rest enters private pockets. We say we want to fight corruption, but this is super scale corruption,” he alleged.
Citing a case near Rita Lori Hotel, he said, “They want to turn a known watershed into plots. Tomorrow, when flooding occurs, they’ll blame nature.”
He also questioned the recent high property costs, noting: “How is 1,000 square meters going for N1.5 billion in Guzape Extension? Who is buying them? People who don’t know what is happening.”
He called for urgent government intervention, particularly from President Bola Tinubu and the FCT Minister, whom he believes may be unaware of the extent of the encroachment.
“In this political era, elections are coming. They will return to deceive us. The President needs to know this is affecting people. The civil servants are doing it for their selfish interests,” he said.
He concluded with a passionate appeal: “We are deceiving the world that we’ve developed, yet we are destroying our environment. Europe is going green, but we’re going brown. The public must take charge before we lose everything.”
Both the 2006 and 2011 memos obtained will validate the long-standing concerns of park developers and garden owners, highlighting the urgent need for a sustainable review and enforcement of Abuja’s original environmental vision.