As Nigeria joined other countries to mark the 2022 edition of Indigenous Peoples Day, it brings to fore the cry of the FCT original settlers who crave justice as, according to them, they have been marginalised over the years. To what extent is this argument plausible? ELEOJO IDACHABA writes.
It was former President Olusegun Obasanjo who, in 1999, enthused in his usual serious look during one of his famous Presidential Media Chats that he is first and foremost an ‘indigene’ of Ogun state before he became a citizen and president of Nigeria.
He was reacting to questions thrown at him against the backdrop of what was regarded as his lopsided appointments into the cabinet which, according to many, defied the federal character principle in favour of Ogun state.
In as much as it was not the first time that the word ‘indigene’ would be heard, it, however, set the tone for public discourse as every Nigerian is an indigene of a particular area irrespective of one’s current place of abode. That is why when on August 9 2022, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to mark the 2022 edition of Indigenous Peoples Day, it was not a surprise. This is more so because in Nigeria today, the original inhabitants/indigenous people of the FCT otherwise known as Gbagyi have been crying out against what they termed marginalisation by the government against them. Their views are, however, subject to analysis as opinions differ on the subject matter considering what the government said it had done and also how the FCT natives had responded to the government’s claims over the years.
This year’s celebration focused on the role of indigenous women in the transmission of local knowledge, but the original inhabitants of the territory at different forums to mark the day used the opportunity to focus their narratives on what they called “historic injustices, marginalisation and exclusion” by the government which they noted have been a part of their experiences since the territory was carved out in 1976.
Unfulfilled promises
According to them, their rights as human beings have been consistently trampled upon by successive governments and settlers with several broken promises. One of those broken promises, they recalled, was made by the late Gen. Murtala Muhammed in 1976. It said that following the acquisition of their lands, they would be resettled outside the territory at government’s expense, but in their arguments so far, that has not happened. Plausible as this argument may sound from their own perspective, it cannot sell in the court of public opinion as investigation shows that a lot has been done to compensate those displaced from the territory.
Discordant tunes
According to Mrs. Hadiza Amos, a Gbagyi woman, the narrative that Gbagyi generally are marginalised is not entirely true when put in the right context.
“It is a surprise to me when Gbagyi residents in the FCT only speak for themselves as if there are no Gbagyi in Kaduna, Niger, Kogi, Nasarawa and, in fact, Kwara. I am a Gbagyi woman from Niger state. As I talk, we occupy the largest part of Shiroro and Kuta area and Suleja in Niger state.
“The narrative about Gbagyi marginalisation is the brainchild of some selfish Gbagyi leaders in FCT whose sense of entitlement to lands and other proceeds in the territory is the reason for the noise you often hear about marginalisation otherwise houses were built for some of them, but their leaders called out the youth and advised them to reject those houses so that more money can be given to them, but where is the money today? Did they remember their fellow brothers in other states? I raised this issue in one of the meetings we had in Chida Hotel sometime in 2019, but youths instigated by some of the conveners nearly attacked me. Let them tell Nigerians how much their leaders have received from the government since compensation started behind the scenes almost 10 years ago. Our brothers in FCT are the problem of Gbagyi generally because of their selfishness,” she said.
This reporter’s investigations, however, revealed the disappointment of indigenes to the effect that none of the promises made by the government has been fulfilled, just as they accused the government of abandoning them in what they called a state of landlessness, statelessness, and exclusion from decision making in the country.
On his part, the national coordinator of Greater Gbagyi Development Initiative of Nigeria (GG-DIN), Prince Gbaiza, emphasised that the right thing should be done because if the people were left with nothing, the heritage of the Gbagyi man would go extinct.
He said, “Gbagyi people have turned themselves enemies to one another. That is why Kwali and Bwari can have non-indigenes as their traditional rulers, yet nothing seems to happen; that is why our politicians can be killed and heavens have not fallen; that is why our houses are demolished, land seized without compensation and heavens cannot weep. Will these happen in the Niger Delta, South-east, South-west or any of the northern states?
Gbaiza stressed that Gbagyi people are known to be hardworking and basically peasant farmers, but noted that the hard work has failed to deliver the people from poverty in spite of their labour.
“Education, which is the gateway to success in life, is a mirage among the Gbagyi people as our children learn under harsh economic conditions. The education infrastructure are poor with limited spaces and where available, the Gbagyi man is unable to afford the cost. Our children, especially those in Abuja, are competing against global standards because of their environment. They are dropping out of school in droves because of lack of sponsorship. Parents have failed due to obvious reasons and governments at all levels have failed us.”
NGO’s interventions
As a result of these clamours, human rights groups have called on the government to listen to the cries of FCT original inhabitants and ensure their issues are addressed. A group, Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), working with other associations and corporate individuals has been building the organisational programme and financial management capacity of FCT indigenes towards addressing the alleged marginalisation. A major aspect of the programme is the internationalisation of their stories.
According to CHRICED, because there is poor awareness about the alleged injustices, very little support is coming to them as a way of seeking redress.
This is not the first time that CHRICED would come out to address what it considers injustice against the indigenous people of the FCT. In 2021 during the celebration of World Indigenous Peoples Day, it equally decried the continued marginalisation even as it also faulted the government’s attitude at disobeying court orders that would have tackled some of the injustices suffered by the people.
Addressing journalists to mark that day, the organisation’s executive director, Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said majority of the original inhabitants live in penury. According to him, “President Muhammadu Buhari would go down in history as a leader who has done great injustice to the FCT indigenes if he leaves without addressing any of those cries from the indigenes.”
Constitutionality
In reacting to all of these, Abdul Gata, a Gbagyi indigene that resides and practises law in Abuja, put the blame on some defects he observed in the Constitution.
“Some aspects of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, have also been implicated as one of the major sources of the perpetuation of these age-long injustices suffered by FCT indigenes.
In particular, Section 297(2) of the Constitution states that ownership of all lands comprised in the Federal Capital Territory shall vest in the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, but the same constitution is silent about the people who had hitherto lived on the land before the coming of the capital,” he said.
He noted that many of the indigenes interpreted that silence to mean that there was no pre-existing indigenous population in the area before the acquisition of the lands in the territory by the government.
“Also, the way they perceive Section 299 as it in the Constitution is not pleasant at all because the provision in that aspect of the constitution only applies to the Federal Capital Territory as if the territory is one of the states of the federation with all the legislative, executive and judicial powers. In FCT, all such powers are vested in the National Assembly while the president, working through the minister in charge of the territory, carries out daily administrative duties in the territory. In a nutshell, the time is right for the mayoralty status originally envisaged for the territory.”
In Nigeria, studies have shown that apart from the original natives of the territory whose indigene status has been largely altered because of the relocation of the nation’s capital from Lagos to Abuja, there is no tribe in the country with any indigene status controversy. But, according to Chief Obasanjo, every Nigerian belongs to a tribe and comes from a corner of the country before attaining the full citizenship of Nigeria.
