Helpline Foundation For The Needy, an Abuja-based NGO, on Thursday began an advocacy campaign to promote the political, socio-economic and cultural rights of the original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
President and Founder of the foundation, Dr Jumai Ahmadu, while briefing newsmen during the advocacy meeting in Abuja, explained that the initiative marked a turning point in the struggle for the promotion of the rights of the original inhabitants of the territory.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NGO assembled traditional rulers, women, youths, politicians and other stakeholders across the six area councils in a town hall meeting to educate them about the initiative being funded by MacArthur Foundation.
Ahmadu said the project became necessary as the original inhabitants had been undergoing several forms of alleged marginalisation in the FCT.
She noted that the project would not succeed without the moral support of the royal fathers in the six area councils.
She added that as major stakeholders in the project, it was clear that the outcome of the project must have an undertone of their (royal fathers) inputs.
“In line with the overall objective of the CHRICED project, we have entitled our sub-granted project `Revamping the cultural heritage of the original inhabitants through the empowerment of vulnerable women and marginalised youths`.
“This, we believe, will help alleviate poverty and improve livelihood in preserving the cultural repositories of the original inhabitants of Abuja,” she said.
She thanked the Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED) and Macarthur Foundation for supporting the initiative.
Ahmadu implored all the original inhabitants of Abuja to collaborate in order to make the their voices heard again in their own land. (NAN)
