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Abuja Natives Create Street Theater Performance
The Abuja Original Inhabitants Youth Empowerment Organization (AOIYEO) said it has created Street Theater Group to easily pass the message of the culture, history, and plights of the original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Communication officer, AOIYEO, Blessing Moses, revealed this over the weekend at a street theater performance titled “The Land is ours” at the Durumi II playground, Abuja.
According to Moses, the choice of a street theater for the drama performance hinged on making it accessible to community members both indigenes and non-indigenes alike.
She added that beyond entertainment, AOIYEO wanted to educate and inform the people on how to handle challenges unique to them as Abuja’s original inhabitants.
Her words: “The reason why we decided to use street theater to advocate the rights of the Abuja Original Inhabitants is so that the common man will understand and relate to his own issues. We wanted to inform and educate the people using entertainment and this goes a long way to get the people’s attention”.
Moses emphasized that promoting the rights of Abuja’s Original Inhabitants was the priority of the street theater performance, which AOIYEO intends to recreate in other communities in the FCT.
Also speaking to the Director of the play, Chima Igbokwe, said the play was not written out of the blues.
“It was written from the facts gathered from people across communities in the FCT who have some unique experiences, especially regarding Land Compensation and the inability of some indigenous people to earn a source of living through Agriculture,” he emphasized.
The producer of the play, John Adaelo explained the production set was to depict the cultures, address their plights, and promote the rights that are unique to the Original inhabitants of the FCT.
The Musical drama comprising a 16-member cast and crew explored themes of agriculture, displacement, ignorance, land grabbing, culture, and history of the Original Inhabitants in the FCT.
