Kuru Karama Cannot Be Buried or Wished Away

Kuru Karama Cannot Be Buried or Wished Away

Garba Deen Muhammad

A popular columnist with an Abuja-based, northern-owned newspaper told me that when he wrote his column on the Jos crisis last week, specifically on the genocide at Kuru Karama, his editor, for the first time ever, decided to edit the title of his article. The columnist then went on to express deep shock and sorrow at the tone and character of the text messages he was receiving in reaction to the article he wrote. And what did my friend say in the article that some people found so intolerably offensive? That let there be justice; let the guilty party in the Jos crisis, whoever they are, be fished out; that let them be punished severely regardless of tribe, religion and social status.

When he was done, I then showed him my own collection of hate text messages and emails that I got in response to the article that was published here last week. That article entitled “Plateau: It will happen again Unless…” was actually a reprint, having been published in 2008 in the wake of the fourth sectarian crisis in the State.

It is significant that among the people that sent terse, and in some cases insulting text messages and emails to me were my professional colleagues, some them editors, and all of whom are Christians. This is quite worrying; but it is also understandable. I don’t know how many of the people that sent me text messages or emails are Beroms; or how many of them are residents of Jos. In all probability most of them are genuinely and sincerely concerned that their Christian brethren are been murdered and that whatever violence they unleash in turn has always been in self-defense.

Their position is in turn probably informed by what version of the cause of the crisis they have access to, the media being so dangerously partisan in this crisis; or which version they prefer to believe. The editor that decided to tamper with the title of my friend’s article for example, is not Berom, and he probably meant no harm; but neither was the title of my friend’s article harmful in any way.

What this amounts to is that the Plateau crisis is not only eroding reason and making honest assessment impossible, it is also gradually but determinedly inching towards similar crisis in Africa and in some parts of the world. Rwanda and Bosnia easily come to mind. But unlike Rwanda which had ethnicity as major determinant, the Jos crisis has an additional and more dangerous complication: Religion. Thus it is reasonable to predict that the logical, indeed the only likely consequence of the Jos crisis, if left unchecked, would be an all-out ethno-religious war spread throughout the country. Worse of all, just as the latest Jos violence appeared to have started out of nothing, an all-out religious-cum ethnic war could start spontaneously and explode before the authorities realize it has begun.

If that happens, and may God forbid that it should happen, then that would be the end of Nigeria as we know it.

Therefore let all those who opt to take sides in this very dangerous situation be fully conscious of the fact that what is at stake in the Jos crisis is not the interest of any particular tribe or religious group: it is a matter of life and death for anyone that has no other country other than Nigeria.

I appreciate the feelings of those of my colleagues and others that sent angry text messages to me; but I expect that whoever has an opinion to express on this matter must be mindful of the feelings of others as well. As things are, the issues in Jos are already being reduced to propaganda and counter propaganda between the contending parties and their respective sympathizers.

This is unfortunate and if the authorities allow themselves to be deluded that this latest Jos crisis would fizzle out like others before it, then we are in an even bigger trouble than we thought.

The Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan said that “This would be the last Jos carnage”. It is tempting to be encouraged by what the VP said, but it is necessary to point out to the VP that unless his desire—because for now we have to treat his statement as an expression of what he desires should happen’ and not a policy statement—is backed by a strong resolve, he may find himself eating his words sooner than later. So what resolve do we as Nigerians, whether we are Muslims or Christians expect from the authorities in dealing with this crisis that has the potential to consume us all?

First of all we must try to be honest with ourselves; and be guided by what happened, rather than what we think happened. That is we consider facts, at the expense of every other considerations. Fact number one: this is the second very deadly violence under the watch of the present governor of Plateau State Mr. Jonah Jang. We don’t need any further evidence as proof that the man has failed woefully to discharge his most fundamental duty: that of guaranteeing the safety of lives and property in the state. This is no fiction, this is no sentiment; this is a fact. So we have to decide what we want to do with this fact.

Fact number two have to do with the contending issues at the core of the crisis. There is the very complex matter of the settler/indigene conflict. The Beroms, who are the native population in Plateau want the Hausa people that have been living in Jos for over 200 years (a former Emir of Jos was a Hausa man ) to leave Jos. The Hausa say they would not leave.

What does our constitution say about this? Eminent and not so eminent Nigerians have been demanding that in the case of President Yar’adu’s prolonged illness, the provision of the Nigerian constitution should be followed. That is commendable, even if a little belated; well then here is a more urgent case involving human life requiring similar resolution.

It is interesting that among the eminent persons that as recently as last Thursday emphatically called for the recourse to the spirit and letter of the constitution in dealing with the Yar’adua illness, were former head of state Gen. Yakubu Gowon (an indigene of Plateau state); former president Shehu Shagari ; former head of state Chief Earnest Shonekan and a former governor of Plateau state (no less ) Chief Solomon Lar, among others.

Is it too much to ask that such a powerful group should also consider the Jos crisis as critical enough to attract their attention? Should they not pay another visit to the Villa and demand that in dealing with the Plateau crisis the provision of the constitution should also be adhered to? Is there no provision in our constitution that deals with this very basic issue?

Fact number three has to do with precedent. It is very unlikely that both parties in the Jos conflict would simultaneously accept the findings of the existing panels/commissions or whatever of enquiry that are currently in place. So what do we do? We do what Europe did when the Serbs threatened its very existence in much the same way that the perpetrators—whoever they are—of the Jos crisis are threatening our existence.

We invite an Independent Investigator under the auspices of the United Nations (UN). Already there are a few investigations conducted by independent bodies; one of such was the Human Rights Watch which conducted its investigations and released its findings with respect to the November 2008 crisis in Jos. Foreign TV stations also have documented evidence of what happened in Jos and its outskirts such as Kuru Karama in the latest crisis that happened three weeks ago.

These are not speculations; these are verifiable facts. What did the 2008 HRW Report say? The world saw what happened in that little village called Kuru Karama; at least 150 bodies were stuffed in wells and pit latrines. Who did the killings? And why? Anything short of a very honest desire to uncover the truth; and deal decisively with the culprits would signal a catastrophe the volume of which would be beyond any tribe , big or small; or any religion and its adherents.

Meanwhile the local media is free to be as partisan as they wish; the so called civil society groups may decide to continue playing deaf and dumb; when the shit hits the fan, there would be no hiding place even for the ostrich. The matter is that simple. And that critical.

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When the fourth Genocide in Plateau state was executed in 2004, during which Christians in Plateau State massacred Muslim men, women and children in Yelwan Shendam in their hundreds, I was then Editor of the Weekly Trust, a sister (or mother if you like) publication of this and the Daily Trust Newspapers. Doing the Yelwa story was a most emotionally devastating experience.

At a time when it was impossible for anyone but the perpetrators of that act of savagery to penetrate that enclave of barbarism, we managed to smuggle in a reporter into Yelwan Shendam through a risky but effective corridor. The reporter came back with more than a story: he brought back revelations about the total lack of remorse from the perpetrators of that mayhem; in the commercial vehicle our reporter used to travel from Jos to Yelwa, he heard how those strange creatures recounted their exploits with relish; how they massacred their victims and how they looked forward to the next bloodbath that was sure to surpass the last one. We released what information we could in our newspaper and in the wider interest of peace, we concealed what was necessary.

Then we all waited to see what the then President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo would do. To the best of my recollection, it was the only time during which the former president acted in consonance with overwhelming public opinion; usually we went one way, and he went another. This time he sacked the wayward state Governor, Joshua Chibi Dariye by declaring a state of emergency in Plateau state and came down hard on those who tried to hide behind the cloak of religion, while in reality they were no more than bigots and accessories to mass murder.

At the time, many people felt no subsequent governor in plateau or any other state for that matter would ever again allow himself to fall into a situation similar to Dariye’s; perhaps, at least in plateau state, we’d seen the last of such callous disregard for life, especially that of women and children.

The tragic events of Friday, November 18 2008 in Jos, the Plateau state capital told us how wrong we were; and how naïve. What is most frighteningly sickening is that Jonah Jang, the Plateau state governor, a self-confessed ethnic jingoist and a man of such obvious bitter disposition is so comfortable with himself, in spite of everything.

About Jonah Jang, I believe Mohammed Haruna, in his characteristic manner, had said all there is to say in his column of last Wednesday, November 8. Even by his own standards it was a most succinct essay. I had sent him a text message after reading the piece with my compliments. But I also observed that he did not offer any suggestions to the Federal Government. When I enquired, he told me it was deliberate, but he did not say why; I could only surmise that perhaps like most people, he had grown tired, inevitably, of speaking to a brick wall. Instead he had opted to present to the public a most vivid portrait of Mr. David Jonah Jang; Governor and chief security officer of a state that is turning out to be the most savage, unattractive, socially backward state in Nigeria. “Only in Nigeria” as Ishaq Modibba Kawu said while lamenting the tragedy with me last Thursday “can you have characters like Jang occupying such important and sensitive position of leadership”.

This brings us to the kind of responsibility that the Yar’adua government must now shoulder. And what a huge and delicate responsibility it is too. Already Jang and his people, notably his commissioner of information, a certain Nuhu Gagara (I wonder if he is a relation to Major Gagara who was executed for his part in the 1976 coup against the Murtala regime); are behaving as if they had just won a major battle in a long drawn-out war they are determined to win. This, even while some of their victims languish in hospitals, refugee camps or huddle in their houses without basic necessities such as clean water; another abject failure of such an incompetent an inept state administration.

The first obvious starting point for the Federal Government is of course to determine culpability. But that should be the easiest of its tasks; in any case knowing who the guilty party is has never been the problem when it comes to crises of this nature, whether in Plateau state or elsewhere. It is what governments do with the results of their investigations that have always been the bane of handling such issues effectively. We might well ask: this being the fifth of such ugly, animal behavior emanating from Plateau state, what has been the result of previous investigations? Answer: another uglier mayhem.

The Yar’adua government must avoid being tagged with this type of tragic stereotype. Whether he rules for another two months, two years or six years, he owes it to humanity to ensure that not only that another Genocide does not happen under his watch, but that he is able to provide a permanent solution, no matter what it would take, which would outlive him.

This means that determining what constitutes a permanent solution is the first, most crucial task of the Yar’adua regime. For Jang and those who share his dark view of humanity, a permanent solution is for the Hausa-Fulani, who have lived in Jos and its environs for over 200 years, to pack their things and leave. Period! Otherwise they should either stay as slaves; or risked being butchered periodically.

Clearly this is not even feasible, and therefore not an option worthy of any attention. For the Hausa-Fulani and Muslims in Plateau, a permanent solution is a guaranty of their fundamental rights so that their children can grow up unfettered, unmolested, so that they can vote and be voted for, so that they can buy and sell freely; but most importantly so that when they go to bed at night—especially Thursday nights—they could sleep soundly and peacefully like other Nigerians everywhere else; their only fear being that of Armed robbers—again like other Nigerians.

Can the Federal Government do this? It must, otherwise it should consider itself a failure no matter what successes it is able to achieve elsewhere.

There are no two ways about it; this would necessitate the creation of another state from the present Plateau state! And such new state, no matter what permutations and gerrymandering formula are employed, must include either all of Jos North, or that part of it where the Hausa-Fulani and Muslims have a majority. In the past, newspaper articles such as this one have been written; political speeches had been made; assurances and promises have been made. But in the end they have always failed to stop another more gruesome round of mindless violence. Nigeria and Nigerians have failed the victims of the Plateau Genocide too many times in the past; they should accept no more promises!

This article was first published after the 5th ethnic crisis in Jos.

Garba Deen is the publisher of The Companion