Abuja shut for World Economic Forum

The Custodian May 8, 2014

Abuja, Nigeria’s Fed­eral Capital Terri­tory (FCT) was vir­tually shut down yesterday as the usual hustling and bustling associated with city disappeared giving way to deserted roads and closed shops.
The only busy places in the city include Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport, Transcorp Hilton Ho­tels (venue of the forum and accommodation), Sheraton Hotels and Towers (registra­tion venue and accommoda­tion), Rockview Hotels and some major hotels also ac­commodating the visitors.
Although there was free movement of people in these places, other places outside the hotels can be described as ghost towns. Even taxicabs are hard to get since the impres­sion of the ordinary resident of Abuja is that the govern­ment does not want any kind of business to operate in Abuja throughout the duration of the forum.

Checkpoints are mounted at every 30 metres by a com­bined team of police, State Se­curity Services (SSS), Nigeri­an Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps, the military and other security agencies.
The only thing that would guarantee one’s movements is the WEF tag, which one must present or hang on the neck to indicate he is properly regis­tered.
However, business activi­ties restricted to the satellite towns of Lugbe, Gwarinpa, Kubwa, Kuje, Gwagwalada, Zuba, Dutse Alhaji, among others.
Daily Sun spoke to some taxi drivers on why many of them did not operate Wednes­day. According to Owolabi Adejare, a cab operator, the understanding of the work-free days is that government does not want the taxi drivers to operate.
Uche simply threw the question back to Daily Sun: “Where are the passengers? Is it not the passengers that will encourage us to work?”
But Mohammed said sol­diers barricaded most of the roads thus making it difficult for them to operate.
About 1000 participants from over 70 African countries and about 13 heads of state are expected at the forum.
The Director, Head of Af­rica (WEF), Elsie Kanza, said, “over half of participants of the WEF are Africans and others from over 40 countries across the continents. Nigeria as the largest economy and most populous has a great role to play in African economy and social evolution,” she said.
Earlier, the spate of bomb blasts in Nigeria and Abuja, the seat of government, al­most marred the conference but the Federal Government had insisted that it must hold in Nigeria, promising that watertight security would be provided.
The theme of the confer­ence is “Creating Jobs and Inclusive Growth”, which the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said was specifically structured to address issues relating to skills and education with emphasis on girls and women empowerment.
“We have session on gender because we believe this is also very important for sustainable growth. The country cannot really sustain its growth and move forward unless we also pay attention to these issues of girls, women and education and inclusive growth. The country has had success in growing the econ­omy over the past decade, which has been growing at an average of 7 per cent per year but we know that the quality of the growth matters and it’s this quality of growth we are going to discuss in WEF.