Nigeria to Get a Brand New City as Part of 100th Anniversary of Amalgamation

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on Wednesday, approved a framework for the construction of a new city to mark the centenary celebration of the 1914 amalgamation of northern and southern Nigeria.

The Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, while briefing State House correspondents after the FEC meeting which lasted for about seven hours, revealed that the city would be built in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as a memorial to the amalgamation and a source of pride to generations of Nigerians.

The amalgamation would be 100 years old in 2014 and President Goodluck Jonathan has already indicated that it would be celebrated in a big way.

Joined by his counterparts, including Dr Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture); Senator Bala Mohammed (FCT) and Senator Umar Idris (Transport), Labaran also revealed that the city, which is not expected to be completed by 2014, would be wholly funded by the private sector.

Maku then pointed out that government’s involvement in it would only be in the area of providing the site, adding that the building of the new city would be an opportunity to provide more infrastructure in the country.