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By  Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

MR Darius Haruna Diji, Head of Logistics and Procurement of the Original Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organization,AOIYEO, has called on members of the National Assembly representing people of the FCT to rise above sentiments in order to address the plights of the indigenous people of the territory.

Diji, made the call in a paper he presented at a one-day sensitization/ town hall meeting organized by AOIYEO’ in collaboration with Mark Arthur foundation, held in Abaji Area Council Secretariat on Wednesday.

Speaking at the event, tagged,”Promoting the Rights of Original Inhabitants of FCT”,Diji said there was need for the legislators to see the plights of the FCT natives as their top priority, especially as they pursue their new agenda of amending Nigeria’s most derieded constitution.

He said the only way to correct the injustice done to the indigenous people of the FCT is through amendment of the constitution, which he noted, is the only recipe to avoid the looming danger of the continuous neglect and violation of the rights of the natives.

According to him, all well- meaning Nigerians and the world must stand up in concert with the original inhabitants of the FCT to put the key constitutional and governance issues undermining their political, civil, economic and cultural right on the platform of change.

“And this is why we are here to harness appreciate outreach strategies and information about constitutional priorities and concerns in addressing the marginalization and statelessness of FCT original inhabitants,” he said.

Also speaking, the Project Manager of AOIYEO, Bitrus Lawrence Garki, said the sensitization programme  was organized in order to enlighten the natives and  harness appropriate strategies on how to be able to tackle issues that has to do with marginalization, statelessness, land compensation and service delivery in FCT.

He said the sensitization programme was solely focused directly on people of the communities across the FCT to get their inputs.

“And we also recognized that this is a political season. And we strongly believe that AOIYEO will take a stand to accommodate demands that are put forward from the original inhabitants,” he said.

He added ,” If a community can be able to come together and create a chatter of demand, especially whenever politicians are campaigning, people of such community can use the avenue to present their demands,”.

A resource person, Muhammad Ismail, stressed the need for the youth to enagged themselves on hands/skills acquisition programme so that they become self- reliant.

The resource persons at the event examined the significance of culture, gender, women, youth participation in politics, voters education, and among others.