Yushau A. Shuaib
After watching a viral video by activist lawyer, Barrister A. A. Askira, on the alleged conversion of a public health facility into a private estate in Wuye District, Abuja, I felt compelled to write this open memo to the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike—arguably one of the most powerful figures in the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
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Plot 546 in Cadastral Zone B03, Wuye District—3.171 hectares directly opposite the Wuye Ultra‑Modern Market, behind a public secondary school and beside the Wuye Police Station—has now been reallocated to a Lagos-based Full Moon Estate Developers Ltd for a private residential project.
During my visit, the signboard showed a building approval dated 5 March 2026, file number FCDA/DC/BP/RSD/PHSII/31854, with Engr. Ose Peter Afeanaje is listed as the site engineer. As of Sunday, 3 May 2026, the ground-floor structures were nearing completion, raising questions about the pace of construction barely a month after approval.
Wike is, without ambiguity, a study in contrasts. On one hand, he is a forceful executor of infrastructure—roads are built, bridges rise, and long‑abandoned projects receive new life. On the other hand, his political methods and administrative choices often provoke unease, even outrage. He is a figure capable of undoing with the same intensity he uses to build, considering his role in the internal collapse of the PDP during the 2023 presidential election—where neither Atiku Abubakar nor Peter Obi benefited while the outcome favoured Tinubu’s APC—and in the continued weakening of the opposition for a repeat in 2027, which many attribute to his influence. These are the twin faces frequently associated with Nyesom Wike: builder and demolisher, reformer and spoiler, simultaneously. It is precisely this duality—of brilliance and belligerence—that makes the Wuye Hospital controversy so urgent and troubling. Here, the demolisher appears to overshadow the builder.
As Minister, Wike has indeed accelerated development across Abuja, building on funds and frameworks initiated by predecessors. His imprint on road networks and urban renewal is visible. Yet, governance is not only about what is built; it is equally about what is preserved. And in this case, what appears to be under threat is not just land, but public trust.
My concern is deeply personal. I have lived in Wuye District for over three decades—long before it became the bustling urban enclave it is today. Back then, much of the area was forested, with only a few estates, such as Finance Estate, dotting the landscape. The Abuja master plan was clear and deliberate: it provided for essential public infrastructure—schools, places of worship, police stations, green areas, and, critically, hospitals.
That master plan was not theoretical. It was defended. I recall how lands designated for places of worship, especially mosques, were nearly lost to encroachment until the intervention of former National Security Adviser Sambo Dasuki and former FCT Minister Bala Mohammed, who ensured that religious equity and urban balance were restored. Those precedent matters—it shows that when leadership acts, the integrity of the city can be protected.
It is therefore alarming that a prime plot of land originally designated for a public hospital in Wuye has been reallocated to a private company based in Lagos—which was only registered a few years ago—for the construction of residential properties. If this claim holds, it represents not just a policy misstep but a betrayal of planning principles.
Across Abuja, districts such as Asokoro, Garki, Wuse, Maitama, and even Kubwa have functional hospitals located on lands reserved for such purposes. Wuye, despite its rapid population growth and strategic importance, has remained without its designated hospital even though Plot 546, a 3.171-hectare site had been reserved for generations as Wuye District’s public hospital. To now reallocate it to a private Lagos developer is not just an administrative oversight. It is a betrayal of public trust — signed, sealed, and fenced. it is, in the words I reluctantly choose, wickedly wicked.
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Urban planning is not an arbitrary exercise. Hospitals are not luxury items to be traded for profit. They are lifelines—especially in emergencies where proximity can mean the difference between life and death. In a country where healthcare access is already strained, deliberately shrinking public health infrastructure is indefensible.
Residents of Abuja have, over time, watched in uneasy silence as green areas, waterways, and recreational spaces gradually give way to private developments. This silence has often been mistaken for acceptance. It is not. It is restraint—born out of a desire for peace, and perhaps a belief that accountability will eventually catch up with excesses.
But there must be a line. Converting a hospital site into private mansions crosses that line. It signals a dangerous precedent where no public asset is safe from elite capture. Today it is a hospital; tomorrow it could be a school, a police post, a fire station or even a public graveyard.
Even more concerning is the pattern of questionable project execution. Streetlights installed over a year ago in parts of Wuye remain non-functional—never blinking, never serving their purpose. Contractors appear to have been paid, yet the community remains in darkness. If such basic infrastructure cannot be delivered effectively, how do we justify reallocating critical health infrastructure?
Honourable Minister, this is an appeal—not a confrontation. You have demonstrated capacity. You have shown that when you choose to act, results follow. This is an opportunity to act again—this time, not by constructing something new, but by protecting what rightfully belongs to the public.
Our appeal is: Rescind the allocation of the Wuye hospital land to the Lagos‑based Full Moon Estate Developers Ltd, halt all construction pending a full review, direct the FCDA to begin planning the Wuye District General Hospital on its originally designated site, and hold accountable any officials who may have facilitated the diversion of a public asset for private gain.
History will not judge this moment by the number of roads constructed or bridges commissioned. It will judge it by whether the rights of ordinary citizens were protected against the excesses of power.
Wuye does not need another estate for the wealthy. It needs a hospital for the people.
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Anything less would not just be unfortunate. It would be unjust.
Yushau A. Shuaib Author of “An Encounter with the Spymaster,” writes from yashuaib@yashuaib.com