The Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF) has condemned the relocation of major departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos.
The FAAN and the CBN had started relocating some of their major to Lagos, citing high cost as part of the reasons for the relocations.
The CBN had in an internal memo announced the transfer of some of its departments to Lagos State.
Part of the memo read: “This is to notify all staff members at the CBN Head Office that we have initiated a decongestion action plan designed to optimize the operational environment of the Bank.
“This initiative aims to ensure compliance with building safety standards and enhance the efficient utilization of our office space.
“This action is necessitated by several factors, including the need to align the Bank’s structure with its functions and objectives, redistribute skills to ensure a more even geographical spread of talent, and comply with building regulations, as indicated by repeated warnings from the Facility Manager, and the findings and recommendations of the Committee on Decongestion of the CBN Head Office.
“The action plan focuses on optimizing the utilization of other Bank’s premises. With this plan, 1,533 staff will be moved to other CBN facilities within Abuja, Lagos and understaffed branches.
“Our current occupancy level of 4,233 significantly exceeds the optimal capacity of 2,700 designed for the Head Office building. This overcrowding poses several critical challenges.”
In the same vein, the Nigerian Governement announced the relocation of the FAAN’s headquarters from Abuja to Lagos.
The relocation was formally announced by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in a memo dated 15th of January, 2024 and signed by the Managing Director of FAAN, Mrs Olubunmi Kuku.
The memo read: “The Honourable Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development has directed that the Headquarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria should be relocated from Abuja to Lagos.
“Consequent upon the above, you are requested to provide the implication of the relocation to the management.”
The AYCF however believes that these relocations to Lagos pose a major threat to Abuja’s status as the capital city and could have negative implications for Nigerian as a whole.
During a recent press conference, the President General of the AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, raised concern over the potential consequences that could arise from the relocations of the agencies.
He stated that the move risked undermining national unity, disrupting operations, causing economic setbacks as well as perpetuating regional imbalances.
He argued that Abuja was intentionally selected as the capital to promote national unity and decentralize power, stressing that any agenda that seek to tamper with the arrangement would be resisted by the north.
He expressed his disappointment over what he termed the complicit silence of the Northern elite “regarding these provocations.”
He made it known that the Northern elite should not be silent when the political and economic viability of the area is at stake.
He urged well-meaning Nigerians to condemn this emerging arbitrariness while calling on the relevant authorities to stop the relocations in light of the potential harm it might cause to Abuja’s status as the capital city.
He said: “The organization urges decision-makers to prioritize national unity and ensure that any actions taken do not perpetuate regional imbalances or compromise the political and economic viability of Northern Nigeria.
“AYCF remains committed to its mission of promoting unity and development in Northern Nigeria and the nation as a whole and vows to continue advocating for the preservation of Abuja’s status as the capital city and to resist any attempts to undermine national unity.”
