Nigeria: Revisiting Bala Mohammed and the Demolition Saga

24 December 2012
opinion

The Wednesday, December 19, 2012 editorial of The People's Daily newspaper titled 'Bala Mohammed's Demolition Tightrope' sought to portray the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Senator Bala Mohammed as an insensitive, ruthless person who is on the rampage demolishing buildings with reckless abandon and in utter disregard of court orders.

Taking its bearing ostensibly from the minister's recent budget defence where he declared that the ministry would demolish some additional places with a view to restoring the Abuja master plan, the newspaper posited that there was "a touch of arrogance and sadism to it". It concluded on a strangely pontifical note: "It is a big shame that while the ministry is not building new houses, at the same time it is, by its distasteful actions, discouraging genuine property developers from filling the void". Again, nothing can be farther from the truth.

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