Hipcity Hub (Hipcity Innovation Centre), a nongovernmental organisation has engaged government stakeholders in a bid to further improve the provision of basic service delivery for residents and original inhabitants of Abuja Municipal Area Council, AMAC.
Speaking with journalists at a Town Hall in Karu Chiefdom of AMAC on Wednesday, the Executive Director of Hipcity Hub, Bassey Bassey said the town hall was organised to bridge the communication gap between government and the people they govern.
He said the town hall would instil confidence in the Original Inhabitants (OIs) to hold their elected and appointed leaders to account.
“Oftentimes, we know the bureaucracies that people face trying to access those in government. So opportunities like this, at a Town Hall, you find your representatives coming down to your level to listen to your plight, listen to the issues and challenges that you face because often, these people don’t live amongst us. So they may not be abreast of current issues that are happening,” said Bassey.
According to him, access to education, healthcare, water and others fall under Hipcity’s concurrent list of the basic needs of AMAC and all other Area Councils where they previously held Townhalls in the FCT
He said, “By the constitution of Nigeria, it is the duty of government to provide basic services to its people, issues of water supply, issues around access to education, access to health care.
“So the federal government has a role to play. The state government has a role to play as well as the local government. So when you put all of these together, you see that basic services are human rights, and it is the duty of government to provide.
“At town halls like this, you get to hear from the people, the basic services that are lacking within their domain, and they can ask government those questions as to when they can expect those things to be done.”
He further explained that the town hall was not a one-off, stating that the outcome of basic service delivery issues across all Six Area Councils, and 17 Chiefdoms in the FCT would be harmonised into a compendium called Service Charter.
The compendium, he said, would be used to engage government stakeholders responsible for the delivery of basic services for FCT inhabitants.
On his part, the Traditional Ruler of Jiwa Chiefdom in AMAC, Tanko Nuhu (Madaki), commended Hipcity for such an avenue to interact with government stakeholders.
He urged government to double its efforts in ensuring that governance is felt by the original inhabitants of Abuja.
Also speaking, the Zonal Coordinator of Federal Health Insurance Scheme (FHIS), AMAC office, Ms Folake Folarin, encouraged original inhabitants of the FCT to enrol in the Scheme as government has made provision for free enrolment, targeting the less privileged.
