A group known as Abuja Original Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organization (AOIYEO) has launched an online platform to promote the rights, citizenship status and culture of Abuja original inhabitants.
Christened Abuja OIPedia, the launched platform it was learnt will provide diverse information about Abuja’s nine indigenous tribes
Similarly, it is also expected to be a source of extensive cultural repository for the Original Inhabitants of Abuja.
While addressing Journalists at a press briefing in the nation’s capital, Project Programmes Director, AOIYEO, Bitrus Lawrence Garki, noted that the original inhabitants of Abuja have a very rich and intriguing culture, with a captivating history of migration, economic and leadership strides.
According to him, the people have also experienced memorable breakthroughs and setbacks in their fight against marginalization and the injustices they have suffered since the relocation of Nigerian capital city to Abuja in 1976.
He stated further that the stories of Abuja original inhabitants “are increasingly garnering both local and international attention, saying it has created a need for a platform where it can all be found, not just for well-meaning parties who intend to intervene, but also for the preservation and posterity.
He added, “OIPedia platform will be open-source, meaning anybody can contribute to it, as long as their content is rich and credible, and we encourage us all to take advantage of the platform for research and educational purposes, and also to promote it as it translates to promoting our culture as well.”
“Over the years, according to Garki, AOIYEO has undertaken a project to promote the rights of Abuja OIs, supported by the MacArthur Foundation through the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education.
“The main objectives of the project, amongst others, are to address the challenges of FCT inhabitant communities, including legal recognition of their citizenship status (statelessness); amplify inhabitant community voices in key political decision-making processes through broad-based voter and civic education campaigns to enhance constitutional and electoral participation, accountability in governance processes, and address barriers to participation in key aspects of national life; enable existing Inhabitant efforts to revamp dying cultural values, treasures, and repositories.
“So far, and to our credit, AOIYEO has engaged the three of the six Area Councils in Abuja on OIs challenges and we are currently developing a charter of demands; we have also gone ahead to obtain signed commitments from political aspirants, elected and serving officials as well, to see to the implementation of the resolutions that would be contained in the Abuja OIs Charter of Demands.”