10 Abandoned Projects in Nigeria you should know about

THE PUNCH

The large quantum of uncompleted projects in Nigeria was estimated to cost N12 trillion as of August 2021.

The Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors who gave the estimate also hinted that there are about 56,000 abandoned projects in Nigeria.

While some of the projects were abandoned by the Federal Government, the states neglected others.

Here are 10 of the projects:

Ajaokuta Steel project

The Ajaokuta Steel Complex in Kogi State was envisaged to serve as the bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation.

The steel complex had reportedly reached 98 per cent completion as far back as 1994 but no steel was produced after it was abandoned. The federal government has spent over $8bn on the project which was supposed to cost $650m.

The eight Senate had passed a bill seeking $1 billion from the Excess Crude Account to fund the completion of the plant but it was rejected by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

This abandoned project was conceived in 1979 by the administration of General Olusegun Obasanjo to develop industrialization and have a functional steel industry in the country.

The contract for the establishment of the Ajaokuta Steel project was signed with TyajzPromExport of the then Union of Soviet Socialist Republic with a delivery date of 1986. However, the project is still uncompleted to date.

Nigerian Airways

Nigeria Airways started as West African Airways Corporation Nigeria in 1958 with Nigeria as majority owner. During its reign, Nigerian airways had 20 planes and over 8000 staff serving her customers around West Africa and Europe.

The introduction of International Monetary Fund policies, along with corruption, mismanagement and overstaffing, led to a steady decline of Nigeria Airways from the 1980s. The carrier had accumulated significant debts that outstripped its revenues from the mid-1980s, to the extent that aircraft were detained or impounded for unpaid debts.

However, by 1999 the airline was completely dead. In 2019, the administration of President Mohammed Buhari announced plans to revive the Nigeria airways. It was even rebranded to Nigerian Air. A Danish consulting firm was awarded the contract to redesign the Nigerian Air logo at a cost of $1 million. The project itself never saw the light of day.

Federal Secretariat Ikoyi

Now abandoned, the Federal Secretariat Complex at Ikoyi, Lagos State, used to be a burgeoning facility, providing office space for government businesses, bureaucrats and others that manned the ministries, departments and agencies that were located there.

The massive 15-storey edifice that constituted a landmark property on a prime location in Lagos State before the country’s federal capital was moved to Abuja, in 1991, has over the years been stripped of its beauty and splendor.

The masterpiece is now home to louts and miscreants in the area.

Suleja International Hotel

The project was conceived when the idea to relocate Nigeria’s capital city from Lagos to Abuja was contemplated and federal parastatals were located in Suleja emirate then.

The Suleja International Hotel at the foot of the famous Zuma Rock along the Abuja-Kaduna road has been left to rot for over 37 years.

It was based on these considerations that the Suleja International Hotel project was embarked upon not only as a five-star hotel, but also a tourist centre because of its strategic location, close to the spectacular Zuma Rock. But the project has not come to fruition as work on the structures has been abandoned for decades.

Zuma Rock has been blamed for the abandonment of the Suleja International Hotel, embarked upon by the Niger State government 39 years ago. For many years, the famous rock has been surrounded by different myths including being a gateway to the afterlife, a divine guardian and supernatural being and an avenger of wrongdoings against those who live around it.

Bayelsa Tower Hotel

The 18-storey five-star Tower Hotel project was code-named ‘Tower of controversies’ as it has remained a subject of controversy in Bayelsa State.

The project was initiated by the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha to be a serve as a destination for tourists and people from all walks of life in Nigeria. However, after six governors and billions of naira spent, the project is nowhere near completion.

However, several years after the dream was conceptualized and billions of naira injected into it, the multi- billion naira state-owned project has become the proverbial stillborn.

Millennium Tower

The Millennium Tower and Cultural Centre project is one of a number of projects in the Central District of Nigeria’s capital city of Abuja. At 170 metres (560 ft), it is the tallest artificial structure in Abuja. The tower was designed by Manfredi Nicoletti and is part of the Nigeria National Complex which also includes the Nigerian Cultural Centre, an eight-storey, low-rise, pyramid-shaped Cultural Centre. Construction for the tower started in 2006 and was topped out in 2014 whilst the cultural centre is still under construction.

The project is actually planned to be completed in 2011, in time for the capital’s 20th birthday, and promises to be much more exciting than some socks, a gift voucher, and a cake.

Minna 5 star Hotel

The abandoned project dates back to 2009 when the Niger State Government conceived the idea to build a five-star hotel. A total of N500 million has been spent on the project and it still needs N19.6b to get it completed

ROC International hotel

Initiated by the Plateau State Government, the history of the project dates back to 1981. The vision of the project was to build a luxurious five-star hotel destination sought by investors and tourists.Roc hotel , located at Shere hills in Jos North Local government of Plateau state seat on 29 hectares of Land. The 318 room project on completion, would have presidential suites, luxury suites, executive suites, specialty restaurants, casino, standard Olympic size swimming pool, golf course, cinema, helipad, horse stable, and many other luxurious facilities. It’s been close to 4 decades and the project is nowhere near completion.

Plateau Olympic Stadium

The project was conceived to be a standard stadium that would compete with any other stadium in the country and even on the continent. The stadium was supposed to be one of a kind when its foundation was laid in 1988. However, 32 years down the line, the stadium is still yet to host its first tournament.

A total of N7 billion has been spent on the structure from 1988 to 2014 and it still needs N4 billion to get it completed.

Rivers Moonrail project

The Idea for the moonrail project was conceived by Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, the former governor of the state. The project was designed to ease transportation problems within the state. The moonrail project was designed to cover 12km at a total cost of N50 billion but the project got abandoned at 2.6km