Anselm Okolo and Ogbodo Ozioma Favour, in this analysis, look at the ever- changing face of Abuja Mechanics’ Village, occasioned by several attempts by the Nigerian governments to find an enduring solution to the problems of settling traders, artisans and auto spare parts mechanics around the Apo axis of the FTC
Apo Mechanic village
In a matter of weeks from now, the hustle and bustle that is associated with what is presently known as the Apo Mechanic village, Abuja will be no more, if the Nyesom Wike led- administration in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, makes good its plan to relocate the mechanics from the present location is carried out.
The buzz at the present location, which houses about 5,000 mechanics comprising all shades of artisans – auto spare parts sellers, car body builders, welders, auto mechanics and electricians, car painters, food vendors etc – has slowed down a bit following the announcement of the impending relocation exercise.
On a normal day, the village is a huge beehive of activities. However, on the day this reporter visited the Apo Mechanic Village, AMV, for this story, the residents were huddled up in various associations and groups discussing the planned relocation.
Abuja Municipal Area Council
According to Coordinator of Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), Felix Obuah, to plan to relocate the mechanics and traders operating on road corridors and buffer zones to Wassa, some seven kilometers from its present location is already in motion.
“We have decided to relocate all the traders on the road corridor, the buffers, and right of ways to Wassa any moment from now and they are all happy. By the special grace of God, we will do it to the satisfaction of everybody he told journalists at a press conference to announce the decision last week Tuesday.
“The minister has given the approval and as I speak to you, the taskforce in charge of the area has been set up” adding that “the technical team in charge of the relocation will be set up any moment from now
Most mechanics and traders operating at the AMV will be the third relocation exercise in the last 20 years or more.
Apo Legislator’s Quarters
During the administration of Lt General Jerry Useni as Minister of the FCT, they were first moved from what is present day Garki 2 to a location immediately behind the Apo Legislator’s Quarters. As part of the terms of that relocation, they were promised the new location will be their permanent location.
The mechanics and traders believed the promise and dedicated themselves to make their location a livable place. All promised amenities by the government ended as mere promises many years after.
Nasir el – Rufai
Then came the administration of Nasir el – Rufai as minister of the FCT. Famed for strident efforts to reclaim the master plan of the Abuja city from several distortions, his administration described the location behind the Apo Legislators Quarters as an abuse on the master plan. For a second time within 10 years, the mechanics and traders were forced to move to the present location. This is not minding that many of them had erected permanent structures as living quarters and workshops.
In the El – Rufai relocation, the FCT administration created a scheme into which the mechanics and traders were relocated into. Each mechanic was allocated a space of 100 meters square, for the erection of a building to house his workshop on the down floor and his living quarters on top.
Beautiful Scheme
As beautiful as the scheme named “Apo Mechanics Village” appeared on paper, it was too expensive for the mechanics to build. Mbah Ike is a beneficiary of one of the allocations of the scheme. He told Africa Health Report, AHR, outside of the scheme where his workshop is presently located, “what the government designed is too much for any mechanic to build and move into. Where will a mechanic like me see about N5 million then to build the workshop they designed. They did not consult us in designing the place, so most of us could not develop it and sold it instead to raise money to put in our business
That was only part of the problem. Another was the fact that not all the mechanics and traders affected in the relocation benefited from the scheme. Many were promised to be covered in the second phase of the scheme, which eventually materialize forcing them to mount their workshops and shades by the outside of the scheme, on the pathway of the dual carriage way (let’s get the name of the dual carriage way from AYA to Karshi) from AYA to Karshi, the real reason behind the current relocation effort.
Noah Nebedum
But the mechanics and traders instead smell other reasons.
According to Noah Nebedum, a leader of one of the trader’s association operating at the present location, who requested that the name of his association be kept out of print, “we know it’s the big men now living in the housing estates all over Apo that are complaining that mechanics are dirty and destroying the beauty of their estates that they are moving us again”.
Bode Olaniyan is a resident of the EFAB estate in Wassa. He told AHR that the mechanic village as presently located is “a nuisance in all sense of the word” because “on a daily basis they make commuting to the city a nightmare, they block the road at will, worse is however the okada and keke NAPEP riders. They do not obey the right of way of other road users. If they hit your car, you are in trouble, so the news of their relocation is a welcome relief
A battery seller who simply identified himself as Mr Chuks, said the mechanics and traders do not pose any threat to anybody but the okada and keke NAPEP riders, he admitted the riders are uneducated and do not understand nor obey road rules. “They are even a threat to us spare parts sellers, but for our security network, the riders would have robbed us into bankruptcy by now.” He said spare parts sellers at AMV are not happy with the relocation exercise, because we will lose most of their customers.
Davis Yomi is also a mechanic at AMV. According to him, “why are mechanics always asked to move whenever there is a change in governance and this shows that the government has no regard for the mechanics”.
He was aghast that Apo mechanics are “always helping the Government to develop their lands, the next thing, is a relocation. Apo mechanics used to be a desert land but after developing this place now, they now asked us to leave. They should just give us a permanent site that’s all we want
He however blamed their various associations for not representing them well in negotiations with the government. “They don’t operate in line with the minds of the traders and the mechanics
He advocates for government to sell the next Wassa location to them as a guaranteed that it will be a permanent location, instead of a free scheme like the Apo one. “right now it is not clear if we are to pay for the next location at Wassa, after submitting the requested documents but after we have developed that place, we might be asked to pay exorbitant fees later” Yomi laments adding “If we are asked to pay a certified fee now of N200,000.00 each to secure a portion and it’s a permanent site which belongs to the individual permanently, then it’s worth it but if we’re asked to bring only necessary documents and after developing Wassa and then, ask to move later, it’s not worth it”
For this specialist in panel beating, who introduced himself as Mr Pape welcomed the relocation exercise. He said “Apo-mechanical customers can actually come to patronize them wherever they are being relocated to”.
