- Safiu Kehinde
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike, has urged residents of the capital city to embrace the cost that comes with the development of the city.
Wike stated this during his address at commissioning of the newly constructed Arterial Road N5 (Obafemi Awolowo way) from Life Camp Junction to Ring Road 3 (RR3), Abuja, on Friday.
The FCT Minister admitted to challenges associated with living in the city as he expressed his gratitude to residents who lost their traditional home to the road construction project.
He maintained that no amount of compensation paid to them will be enough to replace the loss.
“Development, being in a city, has its own challenges. When people say we want to come from the city, we want to come from the capital, there are problems associated with it.
“You will lose certain things and that is losing where even your traditional homes are. I thank you for the support because whether we like it or not, the compensation we paid- whatever it is, cannot be enough to compensate you for losing your traditional homes. We want to sincerely thank you for that.” Wike said.
The FCT Minister, further expressed his gratitude to the members of the National Assembly and his friends for their support and regular presence during project commissioning.
Describing himself as the luckiest politician, Wike admitted that being strong is determined by people surrounding such person.
“I don’t see any politician that is so lucky like me. Each time we are doing something in Abuja, all my friends from my state, from your state, Abia state to Enugu state, to Sokoto state, to Cross River state, name them, they all come.
“A man is strong, a man is strong. It is because of the people surrounding him. If I come out alone with nobody, you will look at me and say forget it there is no hope.
“But nobody can see me now and say there is no hope in Rivers State.” He added.