Gbagi, they were natives of Abuja and their main occupation was farming. Theirs was a serene life which was far from civilisation – women carried loads on their backs, took care of uneducated kids and their men were more fulfilled with huge barns of yams at harvest. A Gbagi was erroneously identified with tubers of yams to the extent that he was referred to as Gwari.
“Then, the whole of Abuja was bush. You could trek from Garki (then called Peyi) to Dutse and you would see only farmlands everywhere. The land was friendly to us and we had great harvest,” 82-year-old Musa Jatto, an indigene, recalled.
But by 1976, a decision was made by the then head of state, General Murtala Mohammed-a land must be sought to serve as the nation’s capital apart from Lagos . So, 8000sq/km was carved out from the old Kwara (now Kogi), Niger and Plateau(now Nasarawa) states respectively. The Gbagis, who were the inhabitants of Abuja, were also affected – they lost their land, their roots but they were face-to-face with civilisation. In accordance with the provisions of the Federal Capital Territory Act of 1976, the inhabitants of the FCT were to be evacuated and resettled in their respective states of origin (That is in the neighboring states from which FCT was carved out).
The first controversy arose when the population which was supposed to be sparse (since the lands being taken were deep forests) had more people than expected. The initial policy considered by the Federal Government then was to move and resettle them into their states of origin and a sum of N2b was needed. By 1978, this policy was reviewed- only people who had resided in the Federal Capital City i.e. 250sq/km, Abuja would remain. That was not all; there would be an exodus and a resettlement to other parts of the territory as soon as city development knocked on their doors. An agreement was also reached that villages which do not fall within Abuja; Gwagwalada, Bwari, Kuje, Abaji, Kwali would be allowed to stay put, no resettlement but without the rights of indigene- ship.
In 1992, the Gado Nasko administration of the FCT adopted a new policy called ‘integration policy,’ which would retain, integrate and assimilate the original inhabitants within the FCC. Though more humane and economical, it created an environmental disaster. An example is the Garki village, which has the highest population of natives. This policy only succeeded in alienating the people it sought to protect with many negative consequences. Though it was agreed that it would be absorbed into the Abuja master-plan, it would have to be modified to meet up with acceptable standards.
Like the children of Israel going to the Promised Land, there was an exodus of some Gbagis to Kubwa, a popular satellite town. Quite an enviable place and well equipped with basic amenities, Kubwa became a mesh of pottage and the natives decided selling their houses to other Nigerians who moved into Abuja. Instead of eating the good of their land, they relocated back into undeveloped areas of the city, while some joined their kinsmen in Garki village.
Again, former FCT Minister, Engr. Mohammed Abba Gana built a resettlement village for the natives of Wuse and Maitama at Dei-Dei, another satellite town. They rejected the houses with an excuse that they were too small for them and their large families. It served as succour for an almost stranded Nigerian Police, and their officers moved into the place temporarily. Now it has become a permanent occupation after a compensation of N3b was paid to the FCTA.
The past FCT Administration of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai at the inception of his administration held a meeting with the settlers of the 250sq/km that constitute the FCC; Kuchingoro, Aleta, Chika, Pyakasa, Garki Village, Apo Village, Apanjeyan Village, Utako, Kpanda, Jabi Samul, Jabi Yakubu, Zhilu, Maje and Mabushi. At the meeting, it was also agreed that these villages would be demolished as development of the FCC catches up with them and the people would be resettled. Again, this policy to integrate them failed because any attempt to demolish in Garki village was met with stiff resistance from the people and this led to the banishment of the Tsapeye of Garki, Alhaji Usman Ngu Kufi, to Abaji area council in 2006. He was accused of being an impediment to the development of the FCC but was pardoned and restored towards the end of the last administration. The FCTA also noted that to absorb the village, it would have to be demolished completely and rebuilt to meet up with the standards of the city. Again the policy was abandoned and it was decided that resettling would be the only option.
The resettlement of the FCT the aborigines became a burden on the present administration of Dr. Aliyu Modibbo Umar, who promised them justice because “these are people who have willingly relinquished their land for the building of the Federal Capital Territory, thereby promoting the unity of the country and they must be well taken care of.”
While examining the activities of the Department of Resettlement and Compensation some few months ago, Modibbo gave an assurance that the 4,086 houses which are currently being built for resettlement would be completed before the end of this fiscal year.
There are three resettlement sites namely, Apo , Galuwyi/Shere and Wasa. Apo resettlement site is about 300 hectares and is meant to take the original residents displaced from Apo, Garki and Akpanjeyan. It has a total of 876 houses and the completion is already about 85 per cent. Galuwyi/Shere measures about 900 hectares and is for resettlement of 12 villages. First phase development is for seven villages; Jabi samul, Jabi Yakubu, Utako, Kpadna, Zhilu, Maje and Mabushi. a total of 2276 houses would be needed and the progress work is about 55 per cent. Wasa resettlement site is about 700 hectares for the resettlement of the villages along the Airport Road. A total of 931 houses are being built for the resettlement of those displaced from Chika and Aleta and the progress of work is put at about 45 per cent.
But the two/four bedroom apartments built for the natives in Apo seemed small. Still undergoing construction, the resettlement village which is a few kilometers from the legislative quarters boasts amenities like pipe-borne water, a school, health care centre and a palace for the chief. Not yet occupied, a close observation showed that the resettlement village lacked farmlands. “We are known to be farmers and the new site for us at Apo has no farm-lands,” observed Chief John Inji, the Seriki Apo. “My people were affected by the construction of some pipelines. We were chased from our houses and some of us have gone to Dutse but we are still waiting when we will go there because the minister of state said it is very soon.” Highlighting the dangers faced by natives in Apo, Inji said, “Our houses were built before these big roads were constructed and recently two men riding motor-cycles were knocked down and killed by some motorists going to the Mechanic Village. Even some of our children going to/fro school are no longer safe. We are very peace-loving people and we implore the government to hasten up work on the site.”
Even Hon. Ibrahim Gajatna, the Head of Aleta village complained that the houses at the Apo resettlement site were too small and that the infrastructure such as roads and potable water ought to be provided before they are asked to move. He also questioned the government’s failure to provide the promised farmland, while wondering how 877 homes would share the visible farmland for their sustenance. “That is how they would tell us to move and that they would provide the infrastructure, but when we do, they would not.”
Festus Esekhile, Director of Resettlement and Compensation, shed more light on this issue: “This government is not like that. We are trying to provide minimum requirements for them to move and then as they move, the remaining things will be done. So we provide the things that will enable them to live well. Maybe temporary things like water kiosk apart from the boreholes we have there and the permanent ones may come later with the pipes.”
He, however, lamented that the government could not stop beneficiaries from selling the houses if they wished as was the case in Kubwa. The FCTA would however make sure they do not get houses again at other resettlement sites.
“Our documents are detailed. We know you; we scan your finger and photograph into the computer. It’s not a question of you being given here and then you go to another place and position yourself again and get away with it.”
The resettlement issue is also one of the duties of the FCT Minister of State, Senator John James Akpanudoedehe, who has consistently maintained that it is not an issue to be politicised.
Akpanudoedehe, at a recent meeting with the natives assured them that the FCTA would not resort to a forceful eviction of the natives, from Garki Village, but would set up a committee to make the process easier on the people. He urged them to partake of politics and be business-oriented.
Untold story of an Abuja slum
Less than 100 metres from a popular bus stop called Upstairs in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory lies Maje, a sprawling community where every ethnic, linguistic and religious group is represented – a microcosm of Nigeria.Estimated at about seven square kilometres, entry into Maje community is through a muddy, rutted entrance that passes for a road.
Most of what the residents live in as houses are usually clustered, half-walled, partitioned spaces with broken, rusted metal sheets as roof struggling for space with smelly gutters that serve as drainage.
But, difficult as it may seem to believe, Maje is located in Jabi, one of the major districts in the Federal Capital Territory and blessed with its share of beautiful landscape and the serene atmosphere the district is known for.
Jabi, over time, has endeared itself to many Abuja residents as an emerging area that could challenge the elite Maitama and Asokoro Districts in the future in terms of infrastructural development and elitist class culture.
Yet, within this beautiful environment lie communities such as Dakibiu and Maje, inner-city settlements set aside for aboriginal owners of Abuja, the Gbagi.
Contrary to earliest projections, those settlements have turned into slums, reeking with filth and decay.
But the steadily skyrocketing house rent in other developed parts of FCT has forced people of lower income into the enclave side by side with the Gbagi.
Mrs Oluwabunmi Edoh who has lived in the community for about 15 years said the environment is not conducive at all. “Without any drainage system, but dirty pools of water and refuse heaps at every corner, the stench is suffocating and this has been causing us ill health.
When it rains, it is usually very tough for residents. Most times, we have to engage in community effort to check the flood or our houses could collapse.
This likelihood is there because the houses are not strong .Whenever it rains; we sleep with one eye open.”
Edoh, who organised the first but short-lived private school called Brighter Tomorrow in Maje , continued:”People live here because there is no alternative. We have no other place to go. Houses are expensive in Abuja and people have to manage what they have. We buy water from water vendors; some others buy from boreholes dug by some private individuals around us.
“I operated one small private school with the assistance of the community leader, but the government said it was going to build War College on the land and demolished it.
The school was helping many families whose children could not read and write. They demolished it, promising to build a better one for the community, but they never did. So, for some parents, their children stay at home.”
Since there no police post, residents, at a point mooted the idea of vigilante group. Unfortunately, it did not function for long for reasons beyond their control.
“So, everybody is left to take care of his house. As you can see, no house is fenced. That is the condition under which we live,” Edoh said.
The paramount ruler, Chief Adams Jatau somehow amplifies the poverty in Maje.
“We have been crying unto government to come to our aid. If they are able to integrate us and give us plan for structures to build in this area, we will know how to go about it. There is no development within the community and community without development is dead and bound to crash,” he said.
But The Guardian gathered that the community may have been neglected, because of the people’s resistance to oppression of successive administrations that have considered them ‘as wretched of the earth’.
As communities open up around the district centres, government tends to relocate the original owners of Abuja back into the hinterland, while their land is sold to individuals.
But the Maje community has opposed this, with the people making a resolve to remain glued to their ancestral land until government gives cogent reason they should not be found at the city centres like other humans.
According to Jatau, “I can say that the problem we have with the infrastructure bordered on the fact that we were relocated here during Shehu Shagari’s administration.
“Before, we lived in Jabi Dam area and farmed here.In 1979 when the government decided to construct the dam so that Abuja could have water; they relocated us here to pave way for the dam. But the houses they provided afterwards were not enough. We had thought that government had our interest at heart. So, we have continued to manage our lives without social amenities. We expected government to show us kindness as people who lost their ancestral homes to development.
“After sometime, government returned to claim this place. They counted us and asked us to choose a place and we chose Kado Estate about seven kilometres away. We needed to remain close to our native land, but they suggested Shagari Quarters. Our people went and inspected the environment and returned with a complaint that the place was not conducive.”
Several other attempts have also been made subsequently to lure the inhabitants of Maje out of their ancestral land, but on each occasion, they had reasons to reject government’s offer.
“You want to take us away from our original land to one-bedroom apartments? What will be the future of our generations to come? Those they relocated from other areas have lost their tradition and culture. Those people are now destitute and their source of livelihood which was farming has been taken away.
“Having relocated us once, why do successive government want to relocate us again? Is it that this place is not good for us to live if well planned? If the reason is to make here a tourism destination, they should tell us. But if the reason is to take it from us and allocate it to individuals to build their mansions, that would not be possible. They must give reasons we should be driven away from our ancestral land. If we are sub-humans who do not deserve to live in good place, the government should tell us rather than frustrate us.
If they succeed now in relocating us, that could be laying the foundation for conflict in future.
Future generations might not tolerate them and when they grow up and learn that this is where their ancestors lived and they were relocated to where they cannot express themselves, there might be problem. To avoid such situations, government needs to look at the issue critically.
“The water we are using is tap water owned by an individual who sells to us. There is no single health centre around this area. The electricity is the only thing we have but it is not constant.
Edozie who has treated patients in the area, blamed high infant mortality on such environment that is highly prone to mosquitoes and all kinds of infections. He hoped government would be more sensitive to the needs of the people.
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