By Tunde Adeleke, Lagos
The Federal Government has been cautioned to prevent a potential crisis similar to the Niger Delta uprising by addressing long-standing grievances of the Abuja Original Inhabitants (AOIs), displaced during the development of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The warning was issued by the Executive Director of the Journalists for Democratic Rights (JODER) and Coordinator of the Network of Journalists for Indigenous Issues (NEJII), Mr. Adewale Adeoye, at a media training held on Tuesday in Lagos.
Speaking at the opening of the Training for Media Practitioners on Reporting Indigenous Issues, organised by NEJII in partnership with the MacArthur Foundation and the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRISED), Adeoye said millions of AOIs had lost their ancestral lands over the years.
He noted that many of the indigenous people had been forced to relocate repeatedly and, in some cases, now live as “refugees in their homeland” due to government acquisition of their communities for national development projects.
Adeoye described the AOIs as important stakeholders in the country’s nation-building process but said they remained systematically excluded from economic and political structures. He stressed that listening to their concerns was essential to ensuring peace and stability in the FCT.
“We should not wait for a repeat of the Niger Delta uprising to happen in Abuja before responding to their demands,” he said, urging government at all levels to proactively address the grievances of the indigenous population.
He also encouraged journalists to prioritise indigenous voices in their reporting and to project the aspirations and demands of displaced communities within constitutional and globally accepted frameworks.
Adewale Busari of Silverbird Television, who also spoke at the event, said the forceful takeover of AOI land by the military government in 1976 had profound and long-lasting consequences. He added that Nigeria’s democratic system now provides a window to correct historical injustices.
In his presentation, Mr. Francis Banji Abayomi, a member of The Guardian’s editorial board, observed that competition for land and natural resources had continued to fuel conflicts in indigenous communities across the country, resulting in widespread displacement, deaths, and social instability.
Participants at the training recommended formal recognition of the rights of Abuja’s original inhabitants, the creation of an Abuja State to enhance their political inclusion, and preferential employment opportunities for AOIs in the FCT administration.
The one-day training session was attended by more than 40 media practitioners from various organisations.