The Suleja Development Association (SUDA) has rejected the alleged move by the Niger government to hand over the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Field Base in Suleja to the military.
SUDA’s public relations officer, Umar Shuaibu, announced the association’s stand in a statement issued in Suleija on Friday.
Mr Shuaibu recalled that the government had proposed to convert the field base, currently being used as Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) University Campus in Suleja, into a market, a development the community outrightly rejected.
He explained that the campus is currently offering diploma and postgraduate programmes to local youths.
Mr Shuaibu said that formal letters sent to the government by the community associations were met with complete disregard and silence.
“We sent letters officially in order to have an amicable resolution, but there wasn’t any response. No one called us to sit down and discuss. Instead, we read that a Memorandum of Understanding was signed with a military organisation.
“If partnering with the military is a plan to intimidate us, we will never succumb. We have all our evidence for litigation,” he said.
Tracing the historical background of the field base, Mr Shuaibu reminded the public that the land originally belonged to local ancestral farmers before it was handed over to the federal government for overriding public interest.
“It was our parents’ farmlands! At that time, FCDA made a commitment to use it for three to four years and hand it back to the state as its contribution for the community development of Suleja, in recognition of its sacrifice and support for the success of the new capital project.
“The people of Suleja have made unmatched sacrifices for the nation, including surrendering 80 per cent of the FCT land and the town’s original name—Abuja—to the Federal Government in 1979 as an honour before renaming their community Suleja after Emir Suleiman Barau,” he claimed.
He added that after the land was handed over to the Niger government, the leaders and community members resolved to utilise the site to address the town’s severe educational deficit.
Highlighting systemic neglect, Mr Shuaibu pointed out that despite Suleja Local Government Council generating and contributing the highest internal revenue in Niger, it remains marginalised in public infrastructure and educational development.
“Suleja is the only major town in the whole of Niger without a full-fledged post-secondary public higher institution—no polytechnic, no college of education, and no state university main campus,” Mr Shuaibu lamented.
He explained that SUDA had initially lobbied the state government to bring the IBB University School of Medicine to the Suleja campus, but state politics resulted in the facility being relocated to the Shiroro Hotel site in Minna instead.
“Despite this setback, the local community continued working through diplomatic channels to expand accredited degree courses at the field base campus,” he said.
Rejecting claims by critics that the ongoing agitations were politically motivated by party divides, Shuaibu stressed that the issue transcends political affiliations and impacts on every family in Suleja.
“We wish to respectfully reiterate that our demand is for the establishment of a higher institution of learning and not a commercial enterprise.
“Our position is driven not by personal interest, but by a genuine concern for the future of the Suleja Emirate, Niger, and Nigeria as a whole,” he said.
Commending the past efforts of SUDA in sponsoring dropouts and empowering local youth, Mr Shuaibu said that the era of passive selflessness at the expense of Suleja’s survival is over.
“SUDA is calling on the state government to reconsider its actions, ensure mutual understanding, and maintain the field base as a permanent higher education center for the youth of Suleja,” Mr Shuaibu said.