‘3% of Abuja original inhabitants get water from FCT water board’

Just 3% of Original Inhabitants (OIs) of Abuja get water supply from the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) water board, a new report has revealed.

The report titled ‘Baseline Study on Improving Access to Inclusive Basic Services’, was released on Thursday by the HipCity Innovative Centre, with technical support from its implementing partners.

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The Executive Director of HipCity Innovative Centre, Bassey Bassey, said the report assessed the service delivery gaps in basic education, basic healthcare and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH), faced by OIs of Abuja.

He said the study was conducted in 60 communities in the FCT, across the 6 Area Councils.

According to the report, a majority of community people acknowledge that there are government supplied water sources in their communities but only about 10% of these water projects are working.

It said primary healthcare centres across many of the communities sampled were unequipped.

Also, it revealed that many OI communities do not have primary schools, making it difficult for children to acquire basic education.

Bassey said the study was an eye opener that the government and its agencies can leverage upon to begin to fast track efforts to level the divide and alleviate the sufferings of the FCT OIs, especially those in rural communities.

“As an organization working to promote and protect indigenous people’s right, we call on Nigerians of goodwill to solidarize with the indigenous people of Abuja who have given their up their land for us all to have a commonwealth and a centre of unity, to press on the government to ensure that these people have access to inclusive basic services.

“We seize this opportunity to call on the FCT Minister to prioritize the basic services needs of the OIs of Abuja by ensuring that resources and funds are mobilized to close the service delivery inequality faced by the OIs,” he said.