Land grab: Why Uni-Abuja needs presidential protection

By Martins Oloja

Another wind of time has blown me to the University of Abuja, I once tagged as the only federation university in the country. Yes, in my commentary on the curious policies that preceded the first major Visitor’s intervention, which led to the current interim administration at the university early this year, I had noted that the University of Abuja, renamed Yakubu Gowon University, shouldn’t be regarded as just a federal university. I claimed then that the federal university should be similarly regarded as a federation university that should not be trifled with, in the capital of the federation, Abuja.

I would like to note quickly too that, that is why the University (of Abuja) should not be renamed after any citizen, no matter the significance or prominence of that citizen. Again, that should be a debate for another day to avoid distraction from the point at issue today: alleged “Land Grab” at the university of the federation that seems to have been abandoned by the stakeholders of the federation that own it. And here is why: Abuja is the Capital of the Federation comprising 36 states and the capital itself. The president and chief executive of the federation is, according to the organic law of the land, is the Governor of the Capital, Abuja. The same constitution allows the president to delegate his gubernatorial powers over Abuja to the FCT Minister, if he so wishes. So the minister of FCT isn’t elected as he only holds that position at the pleasure of the president who doubles as the governor.

Therefore the President is the Visitor to the University of Abuja but that function isn’t delegated to the FCT Minister except by express permission to hold the fort during ceremonies. That is the letter of the law. But the spirit of the same law makes the FCT Minister the representative of the president in terms of quality control and development of critical infrastructure of the university of the federation. But since the university was created some 37 years ago, no FCT Minister has intentionally collaborated with Education Minister to build befitting infrastructure that the federation university deserves.

What is worse, since 1988, even the university hasn’t welcomed many Visitors to the university during convocations. What is more curious, since there is no elected governor, the highest elected officer in the capital of the federation is the Senator representing the Territory of only one senatorial district. Since 1999 when democracy was restored, no senator representing the FCT has led any of the two committees of the bi-cameral National Assembly to assess the infrastructure needs of the Federation University. Even education ministers from 1999 till the present haven’t been visiting the University of Abuja. That has been curious and that is why even the current FCT Minister didn’t know that he needed to visit the University of Abuja as the most important institution in the Territory that no public officer including the president has ever recognised in their strategic and national development plans.

That is why, the president wasn’t aware that while the FCT Minister was enthusiastic and effervescent about 17-day unusual commissioning of roads construction in Abuja, primary school teachers in the FCT had been on strike for three months in the capital. That is also why in the 49 years of the federal capital territory, the most neglected project has been the National library. Whereas, one of the most important institutions of democracy in the United states is the Library of Congress. The library of Congress ensures that no public officer prepares public address or records/data/statistics anyhow. It is touted as the best library on earth. The Abuja National Library is sandwiched between the iconic National Mosque and National Christian Centre, but no one in the same federation capital remembers to budget to complete Nigeria’s National Library in Abuja. That is just a necessary distraction about our national priorities, without education.

It would have been more remarkable if the Hurricane Minister Wike had led the president who has done well for the FCT funding of projects to commission the other day, a world-class digital Abuja National library where we can access documents, data, etc on our national development plans and cultures. Now to the brass tacks: who is grabbing plots of land in Abuja and why the president should lead, yes lead Minister Wike to look beyond the land of the University of Abuja. Here is the thing, the University of Abuja deserves a great deal of respect like other universities. I mean here that Minister Wike should not have called the University of Abuja leaders “land grabbers”. What is more concerning, the Nigerian print media also disrespected the Federation University with the way they unjustifiably amplified the description of the university as a “land grabber” without contextual reporting.

The fact file:
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has come under intense scrutiny over the reported reduction of the University of Abuja’s land allocation from a sprawling 11,000 hectares to just 4,000 hectares. The move has sparked accusations of “institutional land grabbing” and drawn passionate responses from education stakeholders, policy analysts, social commentators and student bodies.

The spotlight fell on the issue when Abubakar Sidiq, a prominent policy analyst and former media aide, took to social media to criticise the FCT authorities. According to him, “Wike has reduced the land of the University of Abuja by 7,000 hectares, leaving the university with 4,000 hectares from the initial 11,000 hectares. Is this not land grabbing?” he questioned. “That they are not using the land today does not mean they will not use it tomorrow. It’s a university that is constantly under development and expansion for God’s sake.”

Sidiq’s comments have triggered a broader debate on the role of land in higher education development, especially at a time when most Nigerian universities are grappling with infrastructural deficits. According to the National Universities Commission (NUC), 62% of public universities in Nigeria are operating at over 100% of their carrying capacity, and expansion plans are often hampered by limited space and funding.

However, not all voices agree with Sidiq. Responding to the land controversy, Dr. Toks, a public intellectual and university don, challenged the need for such vast land ownership. In a viral post on X (formerly Twitter), he remarked: “Harvard University across its 5 campuses sits on approximately 2,000 hectares of land, including its research forests. Same with Oxford. UNILAG is sitting on 325 hectares. UI and UNIBEN are less than 2,000 hectares. FUTO is approximately 4,000 hectares.”

Indeed, when compared to global standards, Nigerian universities appear to have disproportionately large land allocations. A comparative review by the Times Higher Education database reveals that the average landholding of the world’s top 50 universities is under 2,500 hectares, with many efficiently leveraging urban land through vertical development, integrated digital facilities, and public-private partnerships.

However, there is a danger of assumption that underutilisation is justification for revocation. Is land not a long-term investment for future expansion, especially for research, agriculture, and innovation parks, as Prof. Fatimah Ahmed, a specialist in educational planning at the University of Ibadan has asked? Her words: “Reducing such land today only mortgages the possibilities of tomorrow.”

The University of Abuja, established in 1988, was envisioned as a comprehensive institution that would combine conventional and distance learning models. With over 40,000 students currently enrolled and a projected enrollment of 60,000 by 2030, many have feared that future expansion might be stifled. Already, the university’s management has warned that some of its planned faculties and agricultural research zones will be disrupted by the land reduction.

Land allocation issues are not new to Nigerian universities. A 2021 report by the Nigerian Institute for Town Planning (NITP) revealed that nearly 30% of university lands across the country face encroachment by private developers and government agencies. In 2022, Ahmadu Bello University lost over 300 hectares of its land in Samaru, no thanks to similar real locations.

Education activist and founder of Eduwatch Africa, Musa Jatau, condemned the decision as shortsighted. “We’re not against development, but it must be balanced. Reallocating university land without a master development audit or legislative review process is dangerous,” he said. “Today it’s UniAbuja, tomorrow it may be others.”

There are also concerns about the legal implications of the FCT Minister’s arbitrary act. According to the University Autonomy Act of 2003, federal universities are autonomous entities with custodianship over land granted by the federal government. “Any reallocation must pass through the Governing Council and the Federal Executive Council,” as Sandra Ibe, a lawyer based in Abuja has observed.

Students, too, have begun to organise protests under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS). At a press briefing last week, NANS Zonal Coordinator, Comrade Hassan Oladejo, described the land cut as “an attack on academic growth.” He urged the federal government to “reverse this travesty or face nationwide student demonstrations.”

So, let us consider the consequences of the decision of the FCT Minister, Wike to revoke the rights, interests and privileges of University of Abuja over the parcel of land measuring approximately 11,824.04 HA, identified as Plot No.1 within Giri District, Abuja for overriding public interest and the granting of 4, 519.80 HA excised from the said parcel of land to the University.

In simple terms, while it is easy to agree with the Minister that he has the power to revoke statutory right of occupancy under Section 28 of the Land Use Act, 1978, isn’t it also true that the power to do that is not absolute and has been construed by various courts to refer to properties owned and acquired by private individuals and organisations known in the legal parlance as private property rights. Besides, the power to revoke private property rights contained in Section 28 of the Land Use Act, 1978 is for the overriding public or societal benefits.

So how is the University of Abuja established in 1988 by an Act of the National Assembly as a federal government owned tertiary institution affected by the power of the FCT Minister to revoke plots of land for overriding public interest?

Why can’t the FCT Minister on behalf of the Visitor to the University visit the University to assess the needs of the university before revoking the plots under review? Is the FCT Minister aware that the University of Abuja lecturers too need to have befitting staff quarters more than the squalid ones they occupy at Giri? Are the university’s academic and non-academic staff inferior to judicial officers the FCT Minister is currently building exquisite retirement quarters for? Why can’t the FCT Minister visit the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital and other Faculties and see things for himself before insulting them as land grabbers?