The Maitama District of Abuja is best known as the playground of the rich and famous. A district well developed with a lot of magnificent architectural master pieces which never cease to amaze passersby.
Among several jaw-dropping edifices in Abuja, the very popular exotic-looking building on Gana street, adjacent to the Transcorp Hilton Hotel stands out like a castle on the hill.
According to a number of taxi drivers in Abuja, it is very difficult to drive a passenger past the building without hearing, “wow what sort of mighty house is this?” …”Who owns this expensive building?”…”What is this building meant for?” And the questions go on and on.
Without a doubt, there could be more expensive buildings in the city, but the strategic location of this one, how monumental it looks, and the lack of clear details about its use makes it even more interesting.
The assumptions surrounding what the building could be are quite numerous. For such a structure to look like that, a museum, library or a public memorial building would readily come to mind but these are mere guesses.
A number of people who spoke to LEADERSHIP Friday aired their different and very interesting opinions about what they think of the building.
“I think it belongs to the Pope,” said Abalaka Julius, with an innocent smile.
“This building? It belongs to Okocha, na,” Chima Eze says with every level of confidence he could muster.
“Someone told me that it belongs to IBB, the former president,” said Oyilonla Damola.
“It belongs to AA Oil,” said Ali, a taxi driver.
There is no unanimous stand among several people spoken to about who and what the building is all about.
In the quest to know more, LEADERSHIP Friday went to Development Control Abuja to inquire about the building. From there, LEADERSHIP Friday was further directed to Maitama District office, where a staff revealed that the building most likely belongs to a certain Aliyu Abubakar, chairman of AA Oil Limited.
Looking at the nature of the building, its environment adorned with statues and a terrace lawn, one could tell that the material for erecting such a building were solely imported and its design also inspired by that in a foreign country just as Alhaji Aliyu Abubakar would admit in an online interview sometime ago retrieved from nairaland.com.
According to the chairman of AA Oil Limited, he said he acquired the plot of land where the structure is erected in 2005 from an indigene of Zamfara State at a cost of N1 billion.
The interview further revealed that Aliyu, who trained as a building technologist before venturing into oil business, said that he financed the building from his personal savings, as he did not obtain any mortgage from any bank.
“This building belongs to me. I bought the land occupying this building around 2005 from one man from Zamfara State. I bought it for N1billion because of the location. Thereafter, a thought came to me. By the way, I am a builder. I specialise in building houses of model quality. Any house I build is usually very special.”
“The whole idea about that is just for everyone to know that it is very possible to replicate the type of things we see overseas in Nigeria. So, I resolved that since I had the opportunity of acquiring this land, I would put up a structure that would be equal to none in the entire city and maybe the country.” He said.
Without doubt, the building has generated a lot of interest and has remained popular among enthusiasts in the city of Abuja.
If the purchase of land could be worth as much as a billion naira, one could only imagine how much it would cost to put up such a magnificent edifice on it. Certainly millions of dollars.
With the level of security surrounding the building, and a gate manned by stern-looking security personnel, it was impossible for LEADERSHIP Friday to gain access into the building. But a number of people spoken to revealed that Aliyu Abubakar does come around, although it is unclear if the building is entirely a private residence or whether some offices occupy some spaces within.
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