By CALEB AYANSINA

Barring any change in plan, the Original Inhabitants of Shere-Galuwayi Land in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, will soon play host to no fewer than six other communities in the FCT, which will be relocated and resettled into the Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre, by the Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA.

Vanguard gathered that about 5,172 households scattered all over six communities, namely: Utako, Maje, Jabi, Yakubu, Zhilu and Kpaadna communities in the FCT, are to be resettled in Galuwayi, Sherepe, Sherekoro and Sheregwari communities, where the centre is located.

The centre was built during the El-Rufai’s administration to ameliorate the suffering of the victims of his demolition exercise in the six communities.

It is interesting to note that since the end of the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, under which El-Rufai worked as Minister of FCT, in 2006, the Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre up till now has not been occupied, leaving the intended occupants in the slum, un-catered for.

These abandon structures are believed to have further revealed the ‘I don’t care’ attitude of the Federal Government towards the plight of the masses. It has left many wondering how in a country like Nigeria, where housing is deficit, such a centre built to accommodate about 5,000 households is left unoccupied after completion.

A visit to the centre by our correspondent revealed the high degree of neglect as weeds and reptiles had taken over the houses. Some of the structures at there are dilapidated and uninhabitable.

It was also discovered that apart from the project being abandoned, the provision of social facilities at the centre and for the host communities as well as the issue of compensation were only done on the pages of newspapers.

Residents debunked the claim by the FCTA that communities were duly carried along in the resettlement process, insisting that none of their leaders out of the five communities consulted or invited to any meeting by the government, to address some issues arising from the resettlement exercise.

Original inhabitants
Consequently, the Original Inhabitants of Shere-Galuwayi Land vowed to resist any plan by the FCTA, to relocate and resettle the communities to Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre, over failure of the latter to provide social amenities and compensate them.

Addressing Newsmen over the plan, the communities who spoke through the Sherekoro Community Leader, Gbegbe Umar, said the FCTA could not take over their land and give it to outsiders to occupy without compensating them.

“The FCTA cannot forcefully take over our lands, build on it and invite outsiders to come and occupy our land without first paying us full and adequate compensation”, he said.  Umar recalled that when the matter started during the El-Rufai administration, “the government paid some of us as low as N600 and N1000 for the economic trees, describing the payment as ‘shabbily’.

He added that the entire communities “are in the dark over the entire relocation exercise”, noting that, “this approach taken by government offers no better recipe for endless misunderstanding and bad blood between us, the host, and proposed occupant communities of the Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre.

“While we are daily confronted with the realities of adjunct modern facilities at the Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre, our communities, whose lands were forcefully acquired for this development live in abject and unacceptable government neglect; we are currently bereft of power supply, potable water and passable health facilities.”

In view of these foregoing concerns, the communities, according to Umar, demand that the FCTA put off the planned relocation of the six aforementioned communities to the resettlement centre until all issues identified in this letter and previous correspondences are sufficiently addressed.

They will also want the FCTA to: “Embark on extensive and sincere consultation with our communities on the concerns raised in this letter and previous correspondences, especially as it concerns adequate compensation for our lands forcefully acquired for the development of the Galuwayi-Shere Resettlement Centre. It is moral justice that you do not rob Peter to pay Paul.