Sustaining peace in the in Jos north There is no doubt that peace is gradually returning to Jos, the Plateau State Capital, except for skirmishes recorded in some area councils. This development can be attributed to the fact that the combatants and their sponsors are tired with the protracted crises and want peace. The Special Task Force (STF) has no doubt contributed to the peace building. However, the government, at federal and state levels, should as a matter of urgency look into the contentious issue that generated the crises, that is the indigeneship/settlership phenomenon. There are over half a dozen reports from previous commissions of inquiry on the protracted sectarian crises on the Plateau with implementable recommendations on how to maintain a lasting peace in the state. These include:-Justice Arbiton Fiberisima commission of enquiry. April 12, 1994; Justice Niki Tobi Judicial Commission of inquiry September, 2001; Plateau Peace Conference, 2004; Prince Bola Ajibola Commission of inquiry of November 2008 crisis (which the Hausa/Fulani Community boycotted); Abisoye Panel of inquiry 2009, and Solomon Lar Presidential Administrative Panel. With these developments, to say we have had enough commissions of inquiry is to state the obvious. If the truth must be told, when the council was created in 1994, the first democratically elected Chairman was Alhaji Samaila Muhammed, an Hausa/ Fulani who later became member, House of Representative, representing Jos North/Bassa Constituency. He was then followed by Mallam Muktar Sale Hassan, although he was removed by the Electoral Tribunal, the rest is history. This paved way for the first indigenous Jos-North Local Government Chairman. Mr Christopher Sarki Jang (KSM). It is on record that out of 774 Local Council in Nigeria, only Jos-North Local Council Area in conjunction with the Plateau State Government issues double certificates of identification, namely, certificate of indegeneship to the so- called ‘indigenes’, and certificate of citizenship to the so-called ‘settlers’. When the Hausa Fulani man was the Chairman, he treated everybody equal. But since then, the so-called settlers suffer discrimination in the federal government agencies, including the military and admission to federal universities, colleges etc. Recently, a Senator representing Plateau North, in the National Assembly, Gyang Pwajok, was quoted to have said, that the so-called settlers had no right to contest any political office in the Senatorial District. How can a lawmaker make such a reckless and childish statement, after coming to canvass for their votes? Despite the academic and intellectual achievements, of the settlers they are not employable by the state civil service, their children denied state scholarship. It is high time we told ourselves the truth about Jos crisis, make amends where necessary and move forward. After all, diversity is a thing ordained by God. We all know the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel. Our people have an adage that says “kowa shireina tsayuwar wata, ya hau ya gyara” meaning whoever is not comfortable with the position of the moon should climb up and make it right. For lasting peace to return to Jos and its environs, these issues must be addressed squarely; if not, the relative peace being enjoyed today is a graveyard one. Lest I forget, the Turaki-led committee on peace and security recently came to Jos, in continuation of its assignment; the Fulani community refused to attend the sitting because they are tired and fed up with endless committees that bring no result. Engineer Ladan, Sr. Haliru Street, Jos
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 17:08:12 +0000
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