Jonathan, 219 Other Nigerians Get Street Names in Abuja

Not fewer than 220 influential Nigerians of high reputation, including the immediate past President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, and his deputy, Arc. Namadi Sambo, and former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, had their names on the streets of the nation’s capital in this year street naming in Abuja.

The naming, which involves 10 Districts  - Asokoro Extension, Guzape, Maitama Extension, Gudu,  Idu, Karmo, Wuye, Bunkoro, Wuse11 and Wupa - was approved by the Federal Capital Territory Executive Committee.

The beneficiaries include the President, Vice President, Judges, members of National Assembly, former Governors and other important Nigerians that contributed in various fields of endeavour in the development of this country.

These were disclosed by the Coordinator, Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Arc. Reuben Okoya, while briefing newsmen.

He said:  “The inner Southern Expressway, about 30 kilometres from the Presidential Villa, down to the National Stadium and (traverses) so many districts is named after the immediate President, Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.

“All former Presidents from Yar’Adua downward have been named except Jonathan. We have also named street after Former Vice Presidents, Arc. Nemadi Sambo, Alh. Atiku Abubakar, Alinko Dangote, Femi Otedola, respectively.”

According to Okoya, two districts of Maitaima Extension and Wuse 11 are named according to their respective existing criteria.

The criterion for naming Maitama District, according to him, is landforms/physical features while that of Wuse District is the name of cities in Africa other than Nigeria and Garki has names of cities in Nigeria.

Saying the beneficiaries are not aware of the development, he added that no individual was entitled to two street names.

He explained:  “The last time streets were named in Abuja was 2009. When Bala Muhammed came on board in 2010, you must agree with me that the level of development of infrastructure accelerated. We are long overdue to name streets and realized that there was a serious backlog of streets not named. In major cities in the world, even in small cities, you need to name streets.

“Naming of streets is purely base on merit and it’s done at no cost. We have a data to verify the already existing names and if a street is wrongly named after an individual who already had one, we correct it.”