As President Bola Tinubu prepares to release his ministerial list, a coalition of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) has urged him to include the original inhabitants of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in the list.
The organisations said the call became necessary following the marginalisation of the original inhabitants, who gave up ancestral lands without adequate compensation.
In a statement, yesterday, the coalition lamented that the country ignored the original owners of FCT by not recognising them for their enormous contribution to the Nigerian project.
The statement was signed by Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Ibrahim Zikirullahi; President, Original Inhabitants With Disabilities Multipurpose Cooperative Society FCT, Festus Yakubu; President, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, Dr. Jumai Ahmadu and Executive Director, Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA), Faith Nwadishi.
Others are Director, Mairo Women Foundation, Ushafa, Maryamu Isah Barnabas; Executive Director, Centre for Environmental Sustainability and Development Awareness (CESDA), Olusola Babalola, among others.
They stated: “As the nation awaits the release of Tinubu’s ministerial list, the question is whether the President will take a first big and bold step towards redressing the decades-long injustices meted to the FCT Original Inhabitants by appointing one of them to his cabinet, or whether he will continue the perpetuation of injustice against them, just like his predecessors.
“While cabinet appointment of FCT Original Inhabitants will not address all issues of marginalisation and political exclusion affecting them, it will serve as an important first step in demonstrating their contributions to Nigeria’s development.”
