CSOs Seek More Appointment of FCT Indigenes in Govt

Emameh Gabriel in Abuja

As the world commemorates the 2023 United Nations International Day of World Indigenous Peoples, a coalition of civil society organisations have called for more inclusiveness of the FCT indigenes in governance of Nigeria.

This was just as they lauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for appointing an FCT Aborigine as minister, first time in the Fourth republic.

The president recently nominated an FCT Aborigine, Hon Zephaniah Jisalo, as a minister.

In a text of a press conference which took place in Abuja, yesterday, which was read on behalf of the coalition by the Executive Director of Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, the group commended Tinubu for giving the FCT aborigines cause to smile with the ministerial appointment.

“We thank President Ahmed Bola Tinubu for listening to the aspirations of OIs, but we encourage him to go a step further and appoint Hon. Jisalo as FCT Minister to preside over the affairs of his people.

“This will reduce the feeling of alienation by the original inhabitants whose right to elect a governor and state house of assembly has been denied over the years.

“Last month, from July 15 to July 21, 2023, CHRICED led a 12-member delegation of Abuja Original Inhabitants to address the United Nations’ 16th session of the Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, Switzerland, on the plight of OIs who face political marginalisation, landlessness, statelessness, economic emasculation and the threat of cultural extinction.

“The delegation therefore sought the United Nations’ commitments to protect the rights of OIs. The nomination of Jissalo coming at the heel of that journey, is commendable, and it represents a bold first step towards addressing the decades-long injustices, marginalisation, and exclusion of the Original Inhabitants whose ancestral homelands were taken over via Military Decree 6 of 1976 to make way for Nigeria’s capital.

“What this means is that the long-suffering indigenous peoples in the FCT will now have a voice in the Federal Executive Council (FEC).”

The group affirmed that it was within the constitutional right of FCT indigenous Peoples to demand for their rights.

According to the text, “One of the most critical issues to reflect on in the context of promoting and protecting the rights of indigenous peoples is the principle of self-determination.

“This principle is well enunciated and recognized as a fundamental right in major human rights instruments, including the United Nations Charter.

“Similarly, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UN Declaration) states that Indigenous Peoples have the right to self-determination (Article. 3) and in exercising this right, they have the right to freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development.

“Self-determination is fundamental and must be taken together with Articles 1 and 2 of the UN Declaration because Indigenous Peoples are subject to international human rights law and as Peoples are equal to all other Peoples.”