History Of Abuja FCT and Gade

History of FCT Abuja with Languages.
Aliyu Muhammed (not real name) is a Gwandara
by tribe who lives in the capital city. His tribe is
one of the little known ones as far as the
Nigerian socio-political and economic enclave is
concerned. But he is an active member in the
move by the original inhabitants of the city to
get recognition in the scheme of things as far as
the administration of the capital city is
concerned.
Always present whenever the Original Inhabitants
Development Association, OIDA (the umbrella
body of the group in Abuja) meet to fine tune
strategies for their programs he is equally a
vocal voice whenever issues that affect them are
discussed at any fora. But he is peeved that
many tend to quickly conclude that he is a Gbayi
by tribe wherever he goes or an any point of
discussions he finds himself in. He believes that
ignorance plays a major role in the people’s
quick perception of the resistance being that of
the Gbagyis alone. ‘People generally tend to
forget the fact that there are other tribes that
are regarded as original inhabitants of the FCT.
It is just not the Gbagyis alone that have that
tag. There are about 9 others too. We are all
together in that struggle and all the demands
affect us too,’ he says. But he is quick to add
that there is no division in the ranks of the
inhabitants as they are all focused in actualising
all their goals for recognition.
When the struggle of the original inhabitants of
the FCT is mentioned what quickly comes to
mind is the plight of the average Gbagyi denizen.
Perhaps due to their huge numbers in the capital
city they have become the actual face of the
struggle. In virtually all the over 800 rural
communities in the city one would find groups of
the Gbagyi residents, thriving and making a living
in such enclaves. But the original inhabitants of
the city are actually nine in number though still
contestable in some quarters. The groups include
the Amwamwa, Bassa, Egbura, Gade, Ganagana,
Gbagyi, Gbari, Gwandara and Koro. While a few
people believe that the Gbagyi have seized the
initiative of the struggle while leaving in the
background the other tribes, others says the
other tribes have not been vocal enough in
asserting themselves.
The President OIDA, Pastor Jeji Danladi was
quick to debunk the purported claim of
dominance of the Gbaygi. He describes it as a
move by the government to create division in the
association in order to derail them from their
agitations. He equally condemned the ostensible
dominance likening the situation of the
inhabitants in FCT to that of other communities
around the nation. “Every state tends to have a
language that seems to be bigger than the other;
it is not a sin to be like that, the same thing
happened to Abuja”, he stated in an interaction
with Sunday Trust.
He attributed the erroneous belief to a report in
the 60s, in which the most neglected part of
country in terms of education and development
was quoted as the FCT. “As such, the first areas
that began to enjoy western education were the
villages that were dominated by the Gbaygi
people”, he said. These people he added
accepted Christianity and western education
hence they were highly educated ahead of some
other indigenous tribes in the FCT. This he said
necessitated their recognition for appointments
and consideration ahead of other tribes.
“So it is not that Gbaygi people are dominating
any language. That is not the point. But that has
been used to make other languages feel so and
used as political gimmicks to divide the
association against their pressing agitations,’ he
noted heatedly.
He also believes that there is a conspiracy by
people with such thoughts. He noted that the
government is painting the association with a
Gbaygi colouration, a culmination of the
conspiracy of the elite which sometime depicts
to the other original inhabitants that the Gbaygi
tribes dominate the association and the FCT. He
added that the tribes’ differences including
language and religion have alw