Taking The Devil Out Of Plateau
By
Ibrahim Sheme
isheme@yahoo.com
The Devil has found an abode in
Plateau State. He exploits human frailties and plants doubts,
distrust, hatred and revenge in people’s hearts. He finds hearts
filled with prejudices and pours in venom. Then he fuels the
accumulated anger, heating it to a level where it must burst into
violent rage, remorseless killings and destruction. The Devil laughs
whenever we discard the love which binds us as a community and is
joyful that he can use us to destroy our societies. He lures people
onto destruction and, finally, Hell. Isn’t the Devil man’s enemy?
Jos is hellish today because the Devil is there. Jos is almost no
longer fit for human habitation. It is a war zone in a jungle, where
people live in fear. Human life no longer has any sanctity. Death
stalks the city, even in the interludes of peace, like the promise
of acid rain. Today, even policemen and soldiers, on whom the
civilian population depends for protection, are afraid to serve
there. A report published in LEADERSHIP yesterday said that 52 cops
had been killed in the crises that rocked the city since 2002.
It is most unfortunate that the Devil lives in Jos because, first,
it is a beautiful city; the Devil should display his wares in ugly
places. Second, Jos used to be very peaceful, hence people from all
over the world made it their home, making it the most cosmopolitan
town in northern Nigeria. In the past, people ran to Jos whenever
there was sectarian violence in Kano or Kaduna. Third, the Devil
shouldn’t have been living there because it is home to some of the
most religious people in Nigeria. It has been a missionary hub since
colonial times. Christian and Islamic evangelists regarded it as an
important base in their task of spreading the Word not only in the
old Benue-Plateau area but also across northern Nigeria.
So, how could the Devil, that most accursed creature, find a safe
haven in this idyllic place, the city of pastors, reverends, malams
and sheikhs? Who gave him a permanent residence there, a base from
which people carry machetes, knives, swords, cudgels – and now bombs
– to send one another to the great beyond? Who are his landlords on
the Plateau? Politicians blame politicians for the crises. I want to
agree because in the past, before politics was used to divide the
city, ordinary people lived together in peace, eating together,
partying together and sleeping together. Many inter-married.
To drive the Devil away, our leaders must find the so-called
politicians who instigate this murderous conflict. Everyone agrees
that some high-level personalities are culpable. But who are they?
They should be named and severely punished, together with their
errand boys, the killers who carry out the attacks.
Another point on which everyone is agreed is failure of leadership.
This contributed much to the crisis. Meaning what? The Jonathan
administration has refused to declare a state of emergency there. It
is only paying lip service to the crisis. The state government has
also failed to embrace every resident as a Nigerian citizen.
Instead, it is mouthing phrases like ‘settler’ and ‘indigene.’ Where
was this deadly dichotomy in years past when the people lived
together as brothers and sisters?
This failure of leadership has been linked to the governance style
of Governor Jonah David Jang. A wide spectrum of opinion in and out
of Plateau is agreed on one indisputable fact: Jang is part of the
problem – if not THE problem – in the resolution of the Plateau
conundrum. His failure to provide statesmanlike leadership in his
domain, by either wilfully fanning the embers of the crisis or from
sheer incompetence, has been an obstacle in the way of finding a
lasting peace. Many Christian leaders who are not afraid to tell the
truth believe that the governor is pitifully incapable of solving
this seemingly intractable problem; instead, he has been chasing
shadows – such as blaming his opponents within his own political
party. This gargantuan failure is responsible for the unending calls
from both sides of the divide for the imposition of a state of
emergency in the state.
In more civilised climes, Jang would have resigned from office long
ago. Amazingly, he is eyeing another four-year term as governor! But
it is imperative for him to quit the Rayfield Government House at
the end of his first four-year tenure and not seek re-election. This
is because it is easy to surmise that four more years of him as
governor could mean four more years of conflict in Plateau State;
four more years of hundreds or thousands killed, and four more years
of the wild goose chase and failure to end the inter-ethnic and
inter-religious divisions in the state.
Jang should show statesmanship, as any conscientious leader should,
by not regarding himself as a factional leader. He should accept
that his four years as governor have brought only death and
destruction, and that renewing them would have a long-term
implication for interreligious harmony not only on the Plateau but
also in the rest of the country. It could redefine the future of
cohabitation in the country. All civilised nations are becoming
multi-ethnic and multi-religious. Jang should accept that he has had
enough of this madness and allow another person, who could even come
from his village, to become governor so that, perchance, a
sea-change would occur.
This all-important decision may not be Jang’s alone; community
leaders nationwide should help him decide. Because it is for the
common good, they should impress it upon him that a new leadership
is needed to address this unfortunate tragedy, a leader with a new
vision of how peace could return; a leader untainted by the divisive
politics of the moment. Any other governor in Plateau would be more
trusted than Jang, who wears a cloak of suspicion and distrust. It
is important to know that Jang cannot protect anybody; was he not
there, with all the executive powers and funds, when hundreds of
Christians and Muslims were killed and properties destroyed as if in
Beirut, Baghdad or the Gaza Strip?
If Jang refuses to see the light and decides to carry on at all
cost, then the good people of Plateau State must vote him out this
year. In a democratic dispensation, and with the promise of free and
fair polls, any recalcitrant politician must be shown the door by
the electorate in a peaceful manner. Voting for Jang would mean
voting for four more years of conflict. That would mean giving the
Devil the licence to continue to stalk this picturesque state,
causing mayhem and genocide. Jang should help his people –
Christians, Muslims, Berom, Hausa, etc. – to expel Satan.
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