In every nation’s origin story, there are communities that surrender everything so the country can move forward. In Nigeria, that community is Suleja.
Yet few know it. Fewer acknowledge it. And fewer still understand the depth of what was given up.
Once called Abuja, Suleja was the ancestral town whose lands, name, and sociopolitical identity were absorbed into a new national experiment: the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). In 1976, under General Murtala Mohammed, Nigeria sought a capital that would serve as a symbol of unity, neutrality, and national cohesion. That vision found its geographic heart in the Abuja Native Authority, modern-day Suleja Emirate. (UrbanPolicyPlatform)
But what did Suleja receive in return?
Over four decades later, it remains a town living in the shadow of its own sacrifice, a community amputated from history and isolated from the prosperity that bloomed beside it. While Abuja gleams with presidential villas, embassies, skyscrapers, and international summits, Suleja, less than 30 kilometers away, is still grappling with incomplete markets, decaying roads, and glaring developmental neglect.
This is not a bureaucratic oversight. It is a generational injustice.
Suleja gave up over 80% of its ancestral land to birth Nigeria’s dream capital. It forfeited political identity, economic autonomy, and centuries of cultural geography. The name “Abuja” was lifted and reassigned to the new FCT, while the original bearer of the name was renamed “Suleja”, erased from the national imagination without referendum, restitution, or public reckoning. (CityPopulation.de)
What makes this sacrifice particularly noble, and tragic, is that Suleja’s people did not rise in defiance. They did not sabotage the national plan. They complied in good faith, believing the federal promise that they would not be left behind.
But decades have passed. Promises have decayed. And Suleja remains structurally and symbolically abandoned.
Yes, there have been some recent developments: The Suleja Integrated Development Plan (SIDP) 2040, a collaboration between the Niger State Government and UN-Habitat, outlines a roadmap for inclusive urban renewal. Federal lawmakers have facilitated some road rehabilitations, and the Niger State Government has earmarked land for 200 housing units in the town. (Guardian Nigeria)
These steps are appreciated, but they are not enough.
Especially when juxtaposed with glaring failures like the Suleja International Market project, a multi-billion-naira endeavor awarded over six years ago. Despite an initial payment of ₦400 million, the site remains an abandoned promise. Traders were evicted and their stalls demolished between 2018 and 2019. Today, the project is a ghost site of bulldozed hope. (Sahara Reporters, Jan 26 & Mar 12, 2025)
This town deserves more than tokenism. It deserves restitution. Structural investment. National acknowledgment. Constitutional integration.
Mr. President, the responsibility now rests with you.
Your legacy in urban transformation is undeniable. Lagos, once chaotic and neglected, now stands as living proof of vision, discipline, and deliberate governance. You hold the political capital and moral authority to champion what others have ignored.
Let Suleja be more than a forgotten contributor. Let it become a national emblem of reconciliation.
Imagine this: a National Unity Memorial Park erected in Suleja to honor the communities that gave way for Abuja; a Federal University of Nigerian History and Nation-Building, offering diverse academic programs, but with a mandatory general studies course that teaches the true history of Suleja’s sacrifice and role in the creation of Abuja, ensuring that future generations of Nigerians, regardless of discipline, understand the roots of their capital. Add to that a Living Museum chronicling the displacement, negotiation, and legacy of the capital relocation.
Add to that the restoration of ancestral land titles, long stripped without adequate compensation; the resuscitation of the Suleja International Market, completed as a federal economic hub; and finally, constitutional and administrative reforms granting Suleja full integration as a special federal development zone.
This is not populist sentiment. This is what visionary leadership looks like.
If Nigeria could take so much from one community to forge its future, then it must summon the courage to give something back.
Precedents abound. Germany rebuilt Dresden to honor war losses. South Africa transformed Robben Island into a memory site of moral reckoning. Post-civil rights America invested in historically neglected Black communities.
It is now Nigeria’s turn to honor its displaced past.
Let the National Assembly sponsor a Suleja Recognition and Restitution Bill—a legislative instrument to formally enshrine Suleja’s historical contribution and mandate restorative development. Let Niger State initiate a Suleja Regeneration Masterplan, designed to reposition the town not as a periphery of Abuja, but as a nucleus of economic, cultural, and political relevance.
But, above all, let the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria issue a Presidential Proclamation, affirming Suleja’s role in the making of Nigeria’s capital and outlining a concrete development agenda.
This is what visionary leadership demands.
Suleja is not asking for pity. It is asking for perspective. For justice. For a rightful place in the very narrative it helped to shape.
Mr. President, to honor Suleja is to reaffirm Nigeria’s conscience. It is to prove that this republic remembers. That it repays.
Let your name be etched into Suleja’s rebirth—not as a fleeting dignitary, but as a restorer of broken promises. Not as a spectator of delay, but as a president who made redress his signature.
The people are watching. So is posterity.
Let Suleja rise—not as an afterthought, but as a front-runner. Not as a casualty of ambition, but as a cornerstone of the Nigerian dream.
History has opened the door. You must now walk through it.
* E-mail: mairommuhammad@gmail.com
