The Gongola Peoples Forum (GPF) has launched a statewide sensitisation drive aimed at dismantling partisan divisions and rallying indigenous communities around a common cause of inclusivity, justice and self-determination.
Teams of the group, currently touring wards and local government areas to inaugurate interim structures, said the Forum is not aligned with any political party, stressing that partisanship is the business of politicians, not GPF.
The teams said, GPF’s mission goes beyond electoral politics, focusing instead on uniting more than 85 indigenous ethnic nationalities of the Gongola Valley and ensuring equity among them, regardless of size or influence.
The Forum said its goal is to guarantee every indigenous group the right to autonomy and self-determination, free from domination or dictates of any powerful bloc.
Speaking in Demsa, leader of the delegation and GPF National Financial Secretary, Chief Medan Fwa, said the vision of unity among Gongola peoples had been frustrated for over a century but insisted the time had come for it to be realised.
He warned supporters against politicising the movement, noting that recent gains were made possible through what he described as the courageous steps taken by Governor Ahmadu Fintiri, which he said had set a precedent for the survival and sustainability of the cause “our forebears laid down their lives for.”
Chief Medan lamented that the identities of over 85 indigenous ethnic nationalities were at risk of extinction due to what he described as the aggressive imposition of a foreign culture seeking dominance in the state.
He said GPF had shown capacity to collaborate with existing pressure groups, particularly the Adamawa Unity Forum (AUF), to reclaim cultural leadership and ancestral lands for indigenous peoples.
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He stated that politics had previously divided Gongola communities and stalled their collective aspirations, but GPF now intends to use politics only as a tool, not a master, to achieve inclusive leadership beyond party lines.
He also declared that the Forum was determined to dismantle religious fault lines long exploited by elites to divide and control the people, noting that adherents of different faiths were now united in the struggle.
Chief Medan said indigenous peoples had lived on the land since 1750 and must now rise to reclaim their rightful place in society and governance.
In a final charge, he urged the people not to be deceived by politicians offering inducements, advising them to collect the money but vote according to conscience, insisting the funds being shared belonged to the people in the first place.
