By Kolawole Ojebisi
The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, has warned individuals he described as “trouble Makers'” against turning the newly renovated Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) International Golf and Country Club into personal property.
Wike warned that failure to adhere to his warning will attract dire consequences adding that he will not fold his arms and let government investment fall into disrepair.
The Minister spoke on Saturday at the Club House In Aso Drive, Abuja.
He said; “Let me advise trouble makers – it is not under this government that you will make that trouble. We will not allow you. No amount of blackmail will change me. This is government property and that is why we are trying to spend money in order to attract people to come here and at the end of the day, government will make money too. So, let nobody think of that.
“If you love this country, come back and join hands to develop it because me too, I am a difficult person. Please, come back and join your colleagues here at the club and make sure to develop this place. Nobody can make it his private property. Nobody will do that. It is not an individual thing that someone will want to corner. This place cannot be cornered by one person”.
Addressing the Interim management committee, Wike added, “All of you should know that we are monitoring everybody. If we see any move by anyone to sabotage whatever we are doing, we will act decisively. You cannot be an enemy to the progress of what we are doing. You cannot have your legs in two places. If we see you romancing with those who took us to court, leaking information to them, we will act against you because you are also an enemy who do not want the progress of this club”, he declared.
The minister’s remarks were prompted by a Save our Soul SoS message by the Chairperson, Board of Trustees BoT of the club and Appeal Court president, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem.
Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem had appealed for urgent remedial actions on the facilities at the club to prevent misuse of the facilities which could lead to a complete collapse of the ecosystem.
She said; “We are right now in the Intensive Care Unit ICU. Please, pull us out. The clubhouse needs a thorough, if not total, reinvention. We are still standing, but we don’t want to get to the stage where we can no longer stand before something is done. We have many challenges; we need to restructure our places and to reoccupy them more meaningfully, we need machineries which are definitely beyond the financial capacity of the club to provide and these machineries are very vital instruments for the maintenance of the club.”
