CESDA advocates promotion of rights of Original Inhabitants in FCT

Ernest Ogezi

The Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Development Awareness, CESDA, Monday, held an epochal round table regarding the rights of Original Inhabitants (OIs) of the FCT at the Denis Hotel, Wuse 2.

The round table was held to highlight the impacts and achievements recorded from the project: Promoting the Right of Original Inhabitants in the FCT, funded by the MacArthur Foundation. Stakeholders from different organizations that were related to the project as well as actors and interest and rights groups passionate about the issues bothering the original inhabitants of the Capital and the media were present.

CESDA Executive Director, Comarade Sola Babalola, gave the keynote presentation on FCT OIs, Consolidating Gains of Ministerial Appointment and Next Steps. The presentation captured the essence of inclusion of the original inhabitants of Abuja in the fast-evolving development of the capital city. The fact that an original inhabitant of the FCT was named Minister for the first time under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was eulogized. The need for consolidating this achievement was brought to the fore.

Another paper presentation on the Effective Utilization of Constitution Review Process for Engagement of OI political representation was made by Lawyer and Activist, Barrister Daniel Dan Zhidu, an original inhabitant of the FCT himself. He pointed out the glaringly non-existence of amenities, facilities and institutions in the FCT that could give the original inhabitants equal opportunities with their counterparts from other states with even lower populations than the FCT.

The lawyer highlighted the absence of a state University and Polytechnic in the capital wherein indigenes of the FCT may acquire entry at ease. He also mentioned that only 19% of the OIs have been relocated so far while faulting the logic behind relocating people from their ancestral homes.

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From the constitutional perspective, a case was made for amendment of Sections 297 down to 301 of the 1999 constitution of Nigeria. Section 297 vests the ownership of all lands in the FCT on the Federal Government of Nigeria, while section 300 prescribes only one single Senatorial district to the FCT. Section 301 is a chief source of contention with a clause of ‘as if’ attached to subsequent comments.

Subsequent subsections of 301 present a quasi-Nigerian state reference to the FCT with the President, Vice-President and the Federal Executive Council filling the gap of Governor, Deputy Governor and the executive council of a state. The question now is, how can these federal elements function in state-like references while already serving in a much more tasking role at the federal level? What this brings about is a situation whereby the matters concerning the Original Inhabitants that should have been handled as State-like entities are just jettisoned, overrun by federal matters.

The roundtable also brought matters such as right of land ownership, traditional royal stools, governance, equitable representation, marginalization, exclusion and unequal access of FCT OIs in terms of politics, education and economics and the need for social justice.

The CESDA ED, Comrade Sola, galvanized recommendations at the end of the roundtable to include, the integration of original inhabitants into the plans of estate developers instead of relocating natives and disrupting their traditional ways. He further advocated for another round of advocacy, formulating policies to have a human rights face in them, putting the issues of OIs in the front burner of media discourses and holding representatives accountable for their positions at the Federal level while advocating for greater representation.

Abuja original inhabitants and their unique plight, given the fact that the FCT development is nearly parallel to theirs must be incorporated into all national plans and the structures of governance should be further deliberated upon to avoid escalation of tensions especially in the wake of scarcity means and the coming of age of younger generations.

CESDA advocates promotion of rights of Original Inhabitants in FCT