BBC Claims Abuja Was Built On Stolen Land

When one of Nigeria's long line of
military rulers, General Olusegun
Obasanjo, seized the land on which
Abuja was to be built in the late
1970s, he could hardly have
imagined that the city would remain
unfinished 35 years on.
Abuja has a makeshift, haphazard
feel to it: A place of bureaucrats and
building sites, its streets eerily empty
after the buzz of Lagos or the
enterprising bustle of Kano.
It is one of the most expensive cities
in Africa, and one of the most
charmless.
The skyline is dominated by the
space-rocket spires of the National
Christian Centre and the golden
dome of the National Mosque,
facing each other pugnaciously
across a busy highway at the city's
centre.
Its other striking landmark is the
vast construction site of the
Millennium Tower, which, if it is ever
completed, will be Nigeria's tallest
building.
The skyscraper was intended to mark
Abuja's 20th birthday in 2011. Now
delayed until who-knows-when,
hugely over-budget and the subject
of numerous official investigations.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
magazine-24404633
http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/
magazine-24404633
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