Let justice prevail in Bwari

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) minister, Muhammad Musa Bello, should in the spirit of peaceful co-existence allow justice to prevail in the chieftaincy conundrum in Bwari.
The minister should note that a Koro man from Niger State cannot be chief over Gbagyi people in Bwari area council.
It is a tragedy in the making to impose a stranger on the people of Bwari- (Bwaya). How can the indigenous people get justice from a person who is a stranger and does not understand the customs of the people?
In this century and age, a people should not be subjugated. Traditional rulers are chosen from amongst their people to promote and preserve their culture as well as foster unity.
The minister had a golden opportunity to correct whatever wrong the Gbagyi people were done in the past but he turned a blind eye to the cries of the people and failed to listen to the voice of reason by ensuring that the Gbagyis of Bwari get a chief that is truly theirs.
Who stands to benefit from making Gbagyis subservient to another ethnic group that is not even native to Bwari?
Is it just to slight the Gbagyis of Bwari or there are other ulterior motives?
Common sense would have shown that you cannot have two captains in one ship. It is autocracy at its best and if the minister is a democrat, he should act quickly and ensure that the people get the chief they want for peace and development to take place in the area.
People’s feelings about the issue cannot be wished away in this matter unless there was an underhanded motive in appointing a stranger as chief of Bwari ab initio.
It is not too long to right the wrong. The indigenous people of Bwari already have their chief who, unfortunately, has been assigned a third class status, making him subservient to the newly installed Sarkin Bwari.
The minister should understand that the era of such feudal arrangements were over and he should do the right thing and write his name in gold.
This chief in question, who is installed to lord it over Gbagyi is from Koro ethnic group from Ijah in Niger state.
The fact that his father was sarki over Gbagyi people for over 40 was not only injustice to the indigenous people, it was also an insult to them. It appears a grand scheme to obliterate the culture of Gbagyis on the one hand and then shorn them of any socio-political influence in Bwari in particular and FCT in general.
But the government is forcing the other person in question on the indigenous people of Bwari, and rejected as their king.
This is grass display of parochial tendencies and it is a feature of underdevelopment in the 21st century.
Is it possible for a Gbagyi man to go to a Yoruba or Hausa community to be made a chief and place other chiefs under him?
It is on this premise that I call on the FCT minister to rescind his decision and give the Gbagyi people a chief that is truly theirs. What you need is just to summon political will, if you are not part of the grand scheme to suppress the Gbagyis of the FCT. Besides, this progressive government should be about pandering to the people’s genuine wishes and not vice versa.

Mrs Joyce Yahaya,
Bwari, FCT

Leave a Reply