14/08/2023
*OPEN LETTER TO MR BABAJIDE KOLADE-OTITOJU ON IGNORANT ASSERTIONS AGAINST FCT NATIVES.*
BY BARR. D.D. ZHIDU
14TH AUGUST 2023
Dear Mr. Babajide Kolade-Otitoju i watched and listened to your discussion on ministerial appointment of FCT native during tvc news journalist hangout on Thursday, morning 10th August, 2023. During your discussion you stated that:
1. There are no indigenes of Abuja in FCT
2. The people who were natives of FCT were compensated and they bought lands and build houses again within the FCT.
3. That the said FCT natives does not deserve to be appointed as minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
4. That FCT natives as human are never satisfied.
It is on the above premise I write you this piece.
Firstly, i want to take you way back to 1976 when FCT was moved from lagos to Abuja, Gen. Murtala Muhammed made a broadcast on 3rd February, 1976 and declare that there was going to be a new capital called FCT Abuja and that the original inhabitants of that area will be compensated and resettled outside of the territory at government expense. So that the place will become a symbol of Nigeria's unity, oneness and it will belong to everybody.
It was based on this foundational statement and principle that FCT has grown and eventually the 1979 constitution provided for it and subsequently the 1999 constitution.
Now the problem is that there is misrepresentation of facts and history. The reality is that the compensation due to FCT natives has still not been paid. I challenge you Mr Babajide to provide me with your evidence of payment of compensation.
What is correct about history is that barely 15% to 20% of FCT was compensated which was not even adequate. But over 80% of FCT still remain not compensated. FCT was carved out from former states of Niger Kwara and plateau which are now Nasarawa and Kogi states. 80% land mass came from Niger state and barely 1% came from the then Kwara state now Kogi state. Then unfortunately, as history has shown, instead of subsequent governments to keep faith with the founders (Murtala, Gawon and Co) by actually resettling the natives, what has now happened is that subsequent governments have failed to compensate and resettle the indigenes. So only barely 19% of indigenes were resettled particularly the inhabitants of wuse which was the largest community then that was moved to now sabon wuse in Tafa local government of Niger state along Abuja-Kaduna express.
They are about the only people that were resettled out side of the FCT. But in the case of maitama, Asokoro, Kukwaba and so on, they were resettled at Kubwa resettlement village within the FCT. So the government violated it's own resettlement plan which is a very big breach of trust. What is more fundamental and monumental about the whole thing is that in 1978 while Obasanjo was head of states, they commissioned a demographic exercise by the then department of geography, university of Ibadan to come and survey FCT Abuja and the outcome of that report stated clearly that there were over 400,000 indigenous inhabitants in the FCT. This was a departure from what Aguda panel reported that FCT land was sparsely populated and a virgin land. The two reports were contradictory.
For you to say there are no indigenes in FCT is not true. The then military government decreed section 13 of decree No. 6, 1976 and fraudulently vested all lands in the FCT into the hands of the federal government absolutely without first paying compensation. That section was smuggled into 1979 constitution as Section 256(1) of the 1979 constitution and it was further smuggled into the 1999 constitution as Section 297 (2) of the 1999 constitution in a modified version. In a sane society and under the Law, principle of natural justice, equity and good conscience, the government is expected to pay compensation to it's citizens on property for overriding public interest before title can pass. Payment of compensation is a condition precedent for the transfer of title. That condition has still not been met till date but our lands have been forcefully taken over by the government and have allocated same to private company developers.
It may also interest you to know that in 1978 the university of ibadan demographic survey costed 2.8 billion as the amount required to compensate and resettle FCT indigenes. That year, the Nigeria national budget was 400 million which therefore meant that it would require 7 years budget to compensate and resettle fct indigenes. It is over 40 years now the government is yet to resettle and compensate FCT natives. The law is that when you delay compensation, you pay at bank interest rate when ever you are ready.
Now If Section 299 of the 1999 constitution can say that FCT should be treated as one of the states of the Federation and the President have complied by appointing one of us as a minister, who are you to say we are not entitled to that benefit? The constitution went ahead to say that the President shall appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State.
You should take further notice that the supreme court in the case of Bakare vs. Ogundipe (2021) 5 NWLR (pt 1768) 1 SC confirmed FCT to be a state.
The purport of Section 14(3) of the 1999 constitution is to ensure equality or fairness in the representation of each state in the conduct of the affairs of the Government of the Federation so that no one State or ethnic group will be deprived of participation in running the affairs of the Federal Government.
You should also note that Part II of the Federal Character Commission Act, Cap F7 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004 defines an Abuja indigene thus - (3) An indigene of the Federal Capital Territory - (a) is a Nigerian citizen, other than by naturalization, who cannot lay claim to any State of the Federation, or (b) is a person born in the Federal Capital Territory and whose descendants lived in the area presently constituting the Federal Capital Territory before 26 February 1976 and has continued to reside in the Federal Capital Territory after that date. You don't need a native doctor to let you know that we were here before the above dates and we remain the indigenes of Abuja.
Having schooled you to this extent i believe you now have a deep understanding about FCT and it's natives.
Pursuant to the above, the FCT natives demand a public apology from you on international televisions and national daily news papers.
I remain yours Sincerely
~Barr. D. D. Zhidu
-Lamilo Chambers
(Musa Baba-Panya & Associates)
08069791082
ddzhidu@gmail.com
*In Memory of Late Musa Baba-Panya Esq*
Cc:
-Tvc news
-Tvc journalist hangout
- FCT Indigenous Lawyers Forum
-FCT Youth Network
-FCT Coalition groups
-CAN Group
-Abuja Indigenous Liberation Movement
-AOIYEO
-Original Inhabitants Development Association of Abuja
-Abuja Indigenous Student Association
-Macarthur Foundation/CHRICED
