Abuja is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. It replaced Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139. 7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world. The city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport.
About Abuja, Nigeria in brief
Abuja is the capital and eighth most populous city of Nigeria. It replaced Lagos as the capital on 12 December 1991. At the 2006 census, the city of Abuja had a population of 776,298 making it one of the ten most populous cities in Nigeria. According to the United Nations, Abuja grew by 139. 7% between 2000 and 2010, making it the fastest growing city in the world. Abuja is Nigeria’s administrative and political centre. It is also a key capital on the African continent due to Nigeria’s geo-political influence in regional affairs. The city is served by the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport. It hosts various meetings annually, such as the 2003 Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting and the 2014 World Economic Forum meetings. The indigenous inhabitants of the area are the Gbagyi, with the G bagyi language formerly the major of the region language, and others in the area being Bassa, Gwandara, Gade, Dibo, Nupe and Koro. The Presidential Complex, National Assembly, Supreme Court and much of the city extend to the south of the rock. Zuma Rock, a 792-metre monolith, lies just north of theCity on the expressway to Kaduna. The National Mosque and the Nigerian National Christian Centre are also located in the city. It was in the earlier 20th century the name of the nearby town now called Suleja. The move of Nigeria’s Capital to Abuja was controversial, and the biggest opposition to it was led by Obafemi Awolowo, as a politician and a representative of the Yoruba people.
The location was eventually designated in the early 1970s as it signified neutrality and national unity. As Lagos was already undergoing rapid economic development, the Nigerian regime felt the need to expand the economy towards the inner part of the country. The logic used was similar to the way Brazil planned its capital, Brasília. The initial work for Abuja’s planning and implementation were carried out by the Military Government of General’s Murtala Mohammed and Olusegun Obasanjo and carried over into the Administration of Shehu Shagari. Construction started in the late 1970s but, due to economic and political instability, the initial stages of the City were not complete until the late 1980s. As of 2016, the metropolitan area of Abuju is estimated at six million persons, placing it behind only Lagos. It has the second most people in Nigeria, after Lagos, and is the most populous metro area in the country, behind only the Lagos City Centre. The capital city is one of only a few purpose-built capital cities in Africa, as well as being one the wealthiest. The first contractors were the Alhaji ShehuShagari-led Alubakar Koko Koko Alubar. The International Planning Associates was commissioned in June 1977, by the Federal Capital Development Authority to produce the Abuja Master Plan.
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This page is based on the article Abuja, Nigeria published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 29, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
