By Sarah NEGEDU
Authorities of the Federal Capital Territory Administration have been asked to integrate culture into its developmental plans for the territory so as to get the buy-in of the indigenous people.
This, according to a nongovernmental organisation, Helpline Foundation for the Needy, will also enable Original Inhabitants, Ols, to participate in the developmental processes as culture is a soft power asset of any developing country.
Speaking at a press briefing in Abuja to commemorate the World Day For Cultural Diversity For Dialogue and Development, the Project Manager of the Foundation, Onoja Arome, asked government to make the culture of the OIs a priority when making public policy affecting the FCT, as they have nowhere else to call their home.
The group also encouraged the Original Inhabitants to continue to be exertive in utilizing every means to create awareness of their cultural identity by continuously producing and using the cultural attire as a mark of their identity.
In his words, “Do not be shy or feel any atom of embarrassment when issues relating to your culture is spoken about, because it is your heritage and it is natural.
“It is pertinent to note that there are about nine tribes in Abuja they are the Gbagyi, Amwamwa, Koro, Gade, Bassa, Egbura, Ganagana, Gbari and Gwandara respectively these tribes have been in existence before the expropriation which drove them to the suburbs leading to scattered indigenous people, low income generation leading to abject poverty
among others.
“As a result, the Helpline Foundation has, among other mandates, to train and empower 300 vulnerable women and marginalized youth of the Original Inhabitants of the FCT of which in the first and second phase of the scheme have trained over 189 participants in our traditional skill transfer programs and are fully ready to preserve their culture through reproducing their respective cultural attires marking the identity of various tribes in FCT and making livelihood from them.
“Helpline Foundation first of all commends the efforts of the UNESCO for finding relevance in cultural diversity a veritable means for sustainable development with the goals to achieve the following: Support sustainable systems of governance for culture; Achieve a balanced flow of cultural goods and services and increase mobility of artists and cultural professionals; Integrate culture in sustainable development frameworks; and Promote human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Arome, while enjoining citizens of the world to coexist peacefully, maintained that cultural diversity is a driving force of development, not only with respect to economic growth, but also as a means of leading a more fulfilling intellectual, emotional, moral and spiritual life.
Recall that Helpline Foundation for the Needy Abuja, with support from John and Catharine Macarthur Foundation through the support from the Resource Center For Human Right And Civic Education, CHRICED, has been implementing the project of promoting the rights of the original inhabitants of the FCT under the sub-granted project title “Revamping The Cultural
Heritage Through Women And Youth Empowerment And Cultural Preservation” since the
inception face in November 2021.
Responding, the Communications Manager of Abuja Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organization, Blessing Moses, commended the Helpline Foundation for putting their culture and their concerns of the original inhabitants in the public domain.
She, however, complained that the Original Inhabitants were not dully compensated by the government, warning that their peaceful nature should not be taken for granted.
Similarly, the Chairman of Gwandara Cultural Organization, FCT Chapter, Comrade Yahuza Karshi, lamented that the cultural site of the original inhabitants were not taken into consideration during development there by destroying some of their valuable cultural sites.
He, however, called on the government to have an archive for their cultural heritage just like other countries such as Brazil and South Africa who also changed their federal capital but incorporated the original inhabitants into the cities.