By Okey Muogbo
At a one-Day empowerment seminar in Abuja, the Chamba Nation of Nigeria’s North East gathered to chart a course for economic and cultural upliftment of their people and acknowledgement of the enormous contributions of their illustrious son, Lieutenant General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (rtd) to their collective well being.
Tagged “Chamba Cultural Development Association (CCDA), Diaspora, Abuja in Promotion of General T.Y. Danjuma (rtd), GCON, Foundation.” speakers at the event recalled the exploits of their ancestors as warriors and conquerors, calling on their people to be united in their mission to better the lot of the Chamba people.
Vice President of the Association, Haruna Sambo, in his welcome address recalled the glorious past of Chamba nation when their warrior-ancestors conquered and annexed neighbouring territories.
He lamented that the glory had faded so much that the reckoning of the people had begun sliding into oblivion. He therefore challenged the present generation of Chamba people to embark on serious cultural revival to regain the lost glory.
Sambo poured encomium on former Minister of Defence, General Danjuma (rtd) for his contributions towards the needed re-awakening in Chamba land and his empowerment programmes for the people.
He informed the gathering that Chamba people, though predominantly found in Taraba and Adamawa States, are also found in many other parts of Nigeria like Kaduna and in the diaspora such as Ghana and Togo.
In his speech, Chairman of the occasion, Senator Binos Yaroe, charged the people to strive to develop their place.
Yaroe who was represented by Prof Istifanus Zebadi of Bingham University, Nasarawa State, further said that “according to DNA tests, a large number of African-Americans were found to be of Chamba stock,” adding: “that is how far the Chamba people are spread across the world.”
In his keynote address, National President of the CCDA, Mr Sokponso Kaigama, who described the Chamba people as special, disclosed that the Saturday event was the first of its kind in Abuja.
He said the new leadership of the CCDA under him has embarked on building bonds of friendship among the Chamba people as well as between the Chamba and their neighbours.
He also stated that the leadership was creating awareness on the huge natural resources of Chamba land so that they will be tapped for the development of the area.
Another area of focus of the leadership, he went on, was eliminating all obstacles to the progress of the Chamba nation as well as to identify the individual needs of the people and to support them realize their potentials.
Kaigama also said that his leadership was building strong cordial relationship between rural and urban Chamba people so that those in the cities could provide useful information to those in the rural areas.
He called for the elimination of divisions among the people as that could retard the general development of the Chamba nation.
During the seminar, empowerment packages, provided by the General TY Danjuma Foundation was presented to deserving sons and daughters of Chamba nation.