Wednesday, July 21, 2010
FOR THERE TO BE PEACE IN JOS
Commissions of Inquiry, Commentators, stakeholders and observers have gone full cycle on the Jos crisis. After the debates, peace conferences, Military interventions and myriads of suggestions as possible solutions to the perennial crisis on the Plateau, one remedy is finally staring all of us in the face. Decree 2 of 1991 which brought the Jos North LGA into existence is the problem. The indigenous peoples of the area were not consulted, the LGA neatly curves out only Hausa/Fulani homesteads in Jos metropolis, it was General Ibrahim Badamasi Babaginda's personal contribution to the expansionist moves of the Hausa/Fulani Muslims granting them what they could not achieve via the 19th Century Dan Fodio jihad, it pitted the settlers against the indigenes in a very costly war that will never end except the enabling Decree is reversed, it insulted the indegenous peoples' intellect and forebears, it tore traditional Districts into pieces reducing the jurisdictions of traditional rulers while some indigenes were assigned traditional rulers from other tribes. There is everything wrong with the manner in which the Jos North LGA was created. All the issues that have been problematic in Jos will be taken care of in one fell swoop by this solution. It is the abolition of Jos North LGA and reverting to the pre-1991 JOS LGA until the indigenous peoples decide where the boundaries of their new LGs should be. Please watch out for the 'ABOLISH JOS NORTH LGA' campaign soon to b e launched.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
CONGRATULATIONS TO JONATHAN
I congratulate Dr. Goodluck Jonathan on his ascension to the position of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The Bible teaches us that there is no one in authority who has not been permitted by God. It has therefore pleased God to make Jonathan our 14th President which event took place on 6 May 2010. I wish him a successful and peaceful reign.
I have one urgent request to make of President Jonathan immediately. Kindly set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look into and advice you on the recurring crises in Plateau State. Several State Government Judicial Commissions of Inquiry have investigated and made recommendations, but no solution seems in sight after thousand of human deaths and loss of billions of Naira.
I plead with you to please give the Plateau crisis priority. Thank you.
I have one urgent request to make of President Jonathan immediately. Kindly set up a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to look into and advice you on the recurring crises in Plateau State. Several State Government Judicial Commissions of Inquiry have investigated and made recommendations, but no solution seems in sight after thousand of human deaths and loss of billions of Naira.
I plead with you to please give the Plateau crisis priority. Thank you.
TRIBUTE TO YARADUA
As a patriotic Nigerian I must pay my respects to the our last President, Umaru Yar'adua, who passed on to the great beyond on Wednesday, 5th May 2010.
He was an honest man who always called a spade a spade. He did not amass wealth for himself and even publicly declared his assets. His regime made the doctrine of the 'rule of law' popular. He was a gentleman per excellence. We will surely miss him. I wish to use this medium to condole his wife, children, immediate family and all Nigerians.
We should have faith in God Almighty. He who gave us a good leader like Yar'adua is well able to give us another good leader.
He was an honest man who always called a spade a spade. He did not amass wealth for himself and even publicly declared his assets. His regime made the doctrine of the 'rule of law' popular. He was a gentleman per excellence. We will surely miss him. I wish to use this medium to condole his wife, children, immediate family and all Nigerians.
We should have faith in God Almighty. He who gave us a good leader like Yar'adua is well able to give us another good leader.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
REPLY TO TIMMAUS MATTHIAS
RE: FOR THIS TO BE THE LAST COMMUNAL CRISIS
Your article of Wednesday, February 03, 2010 in the Nation Newspaper on the above subject matter refers. Your write-up was informative and appeared to have been written in good faith. However, your penultimate sentence did you a great disservice, in my opinion. You said, “The truth is that the so-called Jessawa are bona fide Plateau citizens with rights to aspire to all political offices.”
You are quite right in saying that it is every bona fide Nigerian citizen's inalienable right to move and settle in any part of the country he or she wishes. However, I would like you to realize that there is a rider to that provision which you quoted elsewhere in your article. That rider is to the effect that that right may be enjoyed only if mobile citizens respect their host communities and also abide by the laws of Nigeria.
In Jos North Local Government Area, respect of the host communities means respecting the traditions and cultures of the Beroms, Anagutas and Afizeres. These nationalities are predominantly Christians while Hausa-Fulanis are mainly Muslims. They also have traditional administrative structures and traditional rulers. By demanding for the removal of the Gbong Gwom Jos and the creation of an emirate council, renaming themselves Jasawas, blocking city centre streets during Friday prayers, siting mosques in predominantly Christian areas, demanding for a district to be curved out of Du District purely for the Hausa-Fulani settlers, quarrelling with the Jos North Local Government Council authorities for relocating the headquarters of the Council in 2009, demanding for the post of Deputy Governor of Plateau State as of right, claiming that the land they bought to built residential houses on illegally is their ancestral possession, imagining that no one owned the land when they arrived Jos around 1930, the Hausa-Fulanis have shown that they do not have an iota of respect for their hosts.
Please note that the Igbos, Urhobos and Yorubas came to Jos along with British tin mining prospectors before the Hausa-Fulanis. Descendants of these people are still here and are very law-abiding. They have never demanded for anything special. They contest for seats in general elections. Many of them are also Muslims. Street names in Jos like Vandapuye, Akpata, Olayiwola and Otunkon bear testimony to this fact.
Recently, one of the settlers tabled a request before the Federal Government’s Abisoye Panel currently sitting at NIPSS Kuru, to the effect that they should be donated the position of Deputy Governor of Plateau State since they have been here for so long. But the Ogbomoshos and Urhobos have been here longer than the Hausa-Fulanis. Do the Hausa-Faulanis have more rights in Nigeria than all other nationalities or what?
I would like you to realize that no tribe in this country has ever demanded for political positions to be allocated to them as of right. Every body contests for these positions in elections. They have also demanded for things like 5 Commissioner positions, LG Council seats, State scholarship for higher education, dual-State citizenship, etc.
I am very sure that the Igbos who have been in Kano for over 50 years still do not and will never qualify for Local Government Chairmanship till. I also believe that a Yoruba man has zero probability of ever becoming a Deputy Governor in Sokoto State. An Ibibio hasn’t the minutest chance of becoming the El-Kanemi of Bornu no matter the longevity of his sojourn in Borno State. I therefore wonder why you are of the opinion that the Hausa-Fulanis of Jos should be treated differently.
Inordinate ambitions, disrespectful demands, feelings of superior ancestry and the like can only annoy others and lead to the sort of crises this country has witnessed in Tafawa Balewa, Ife, Zangon Kataf, Jos, etc. No one has ever successfully taken over the God-given geographical demarcations of any ethnic group in history. Attempts of this have resulted in some of the longest hostilities around the globe. It is the recipe for genocide, ethnic cleansing, and segregations of all sorts.
The Hausa-Fulanis who have settled in Jos will never, never succeed in foisting themselves as rulers over the Beroms, Anagutas and Afizeres. There will be unending crises in Jos North Local Government as long as they do not drop their wicked ambition. Please tell them to save Nigeria the waste of material and human resources.
The solution to the Jos crisis? Abolish the Jos North LG and revert to the old Jos LGA. Alternatively, adjust the southern boundaries of the Jos North to take in parts of Jos South LG so that they Hausa/Fulani tribe never becomes the largest single tribe in Jos North anymore. Ibrahim Babangida’s administration created the present Jos North LG in 1991 without consulting the indigenous tribes and they curved it in such a way as to ensure that the Hausa/Fulanis were almost exclusively the only ones in it. The creation of the Jos North LG was insincere, criminal and intended to give the settler Hausa/Fulanis undue advantage. It amounted to planting a time bomb which exploded within 3 years in 1994 and the fires and deaths have not abated since. Someone should please to help the feuding in Jos.
Your article of Wednesday, February 03, 2010 in the Nation Newspaper on the above subject matter refers. Your write-up was informative and appeared to have been written in good faith. However, your penultimate sentence did you a great disservice, in my opinion. You said, “The truth is that the so-called Jessawa are bona fide Plateau citizens with rights to aspire to all political offices.”
You are quite right in saying that it is every bona fide Nigerian citizen's inalienable right to move and settle in any part of the country he or she wishes. However, I would like you to realize that there is a rider to that provision which you quoted elsewhere in your article. That rider is to the effect that that right may be enjoyed only if mobile citizens respect their host communities and also abide by the laws of Nigeria.
In Jos North Local Government Area, respect of the host communities means respecting the traditions and cultures of the Beroms, Anagutas and Afizeres. These nationalities are predominantly Christians while Hausa-Fulanis are mainly Muslims. They also have traditional administrative structures and traditional rulers. By demanding for the removal of the Gbong Gwom Jos and the creation of an emirate council, renaming themselves Jasawas, blocking city centre streets during Friday prayers, siting mosques in predominantly Christian areas, demanding for a district to be curved out of Du District purely for the Hausa-Fulani settlers, quarrelling with the Jos North Local Government Council authorities for relocating the headquarters of the Council in 2009, demanding for the post of Deputy Governor of Plateau State as of right, claiming that the land they bought to built residential houses on illegally is their ancestral possession, imagining that no one owned the land when they arrived Jos around 1930, the Hausa-Fulanis have shown that they do not have an iota of respect for their hosts.
Please note that the Igbos, Urhobos and Yorubas came to Jos along with British tin mining prospectors before the Hausa-Fulanis. Descendants of these people are still here and are very law-abiding. They have never demanded for anything special. They contest for seats in general elections. Many of them are also Muslims. Street names in Jos like Vandapuye, Akpata, Olayiwola and Otunkon bear testimony to this fact.
Recently, one of the settlers tabled a request before the Federal Government’s Abisoye Panel currently sitting at NIPSS Kuru, to the effect that they should be donated the position of Deputy Governor of Plateau State since they have been here for so long. But the Ogbomoshos and Urhobos have been here longer than the Hausa-Fulanis. Do the Hausa-Faulanis have more rights in Nigeria than all other nationalities or what?
I would like you to realize that no tribe in this country has ever demanded for political positions to be allocated to them as of right. Every body contests for these positions in elections. They have also demanded for things like 5 Commissioner positions, LG Council seats, State scholarship for higher education, dual-State citizenship, etc.
I am very sure that the Igbos who have been in Kano for over 50 years still do not and will never qualify for Local Government Chairmanship till. I also believe that a Yoruba man has zero probability of ever becoming a Deputy Governor in Sokoto State. An Ibibio hasn’t the minutest chance of becoming the El-Kanemi of Bornu no matter the longevity of his sojourn in Borno State. I therefore wonder why you are of the opinion that the Hausa-Fulanis of Jos should be treated differently.
Inordinate ambitions, disrespectful demands, feelings of superior ancestry and the like can only annoy others and lead to the sort of crises this country has witnessed in Tafawa Balewa, Ife, Zangon Kataf, Jos, etc. No one has ever successfully taken over the God-given geographical demarcations of any ethnic group in history. Attempts of this have resulted in some of the longest hostilities around the globe. It is the recipe for genocide, ethnic cleansing, and segregations of all sorts.
The Hausa-Fulanis who have settled in Jos will never, never succeed in foisting themselves as rulers over the Beroms, Anagutas and Afizeres. There will be unending crises in Jos North Local Government as long as they do not drop their wicked ambition. Please tell them to save Nigeria the waste of material and human resources.
The solution to the Jos crisis? Abolish the Jos North LG and revert to the old Jos LGA. Alternatively, adjust the southern boundaries of the Jos North to take in parts of Jos South LG so that they Hausa/Fulani tribe never becomes the largest single tribe in Jos North anymore. Ibrahim Babangida’s administration created the present Jos North LG in 1991 without consulting the indigenous tribes and they curved it in such a way as to ensure that the Hausa/Fulanis were almost exclusively the only ones in it. The creation of the Jos North LG was insincere, criminal and intended to give the settler Hausa/Fulanis undue advantage. It amounted to planting a time bomb which exploded within 3 years in 1994 and the fires and deaths have not abated since. Someone should please to help the feuding in Jos.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
JTF MESS IN JOS
On April 22, 2010, THISDAY reported as follows, "The military Special Task Force (STF) in Jos has described as horrible, barbaric, unfortunate and condemnable, the killing of innocent travelers in Tahoss village, Riyom Local Government Area, along Abuja/Jos highway by suspected hoodlums, after all its effort to restore peace in the area. It has also condemned the incessant attack on some military men, warning the youths not to take the military’s restrain for granted.
"Addressing the press in Jos, the Operation Commander of the STF, Colonel Kayode Ogundele, said while investigations are still on to unravel the perpetrators of the barbaric act, four persons are already in their net in connection with the killings. He said “on Monday four corpses were discovered in a village near Rim, the bodies were partially burnt, and the locals were agitated. More troops were deployed to the area to trace the assailants. And in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the reinforcement decided to comb the entire area of the village. While they were on this, some irate mobs occupied the Abuja/Jos highway to unleash terror on commuters, and in the process seven people were killed and buried in three shallow graves: four corpses were found in one shallow grave, two in another shallow grave, another corpse which they were about burying when we got there”.
The above-quoted report says that four corpses were discovered near Rim partially burnt. We now know that the Fulanis kill and burn their victims. Why burn corpses is hard to understand. A COCIN pastor and his wife were murdered and burnt in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi State, last week by suspected Fulanis on a revenge mission. Most of the slaughtered women and children at Dogo Nahawa on January 17, were also burnt. (See the pictures if you care)
What angered the youths in Tahoss, if I may ask? Did they just wake up that morning and decided for to start killing innocent people along the Jos/Abuja highway without provocation? Of course, not. Some assailants killed four of their brothers overnight and the JTF operatives were nowhere to be found. The Rim/Tahoss axis is now so vulnerable to Fulani attacks that the villagers have lost all confidence in the JTF. It is actually suspected that JTF men could be responsible for some of the killings while the innocent Beroms observe Jang's curfew hours.
Consider the following: Unknown assassins attacked the residences of Timothy Pwajok, his brother, Markus Pwajok, a former Commissioner and the father of the Jos South LG Chairman, Da Dalyop Zi at Kuru Karama at 1:30am two Sundays ago. While the attack was going on, 5 JTF operatives, made of 4 Muslims and 1 Christian, were just 100 meters away and did nothing to stop the attackers till they fled into the bushes. Also, the only Christian JTF personnel had lost his riffle by the time time the attack ended. The rumour is that the JTF personnel disarmed their Christian colleague as he wanted to shoot at the attackers.
in another incident last Sunday, the JTF personnel claimed they were alerted by Muslims in Bisichi in the dead of the night that there were suspected attackers in the nearby bushes. The JTF personnel killed two Berom men only to discover that they were security men at a their duty post. Beroms in Bisichi were enraged but controlled themselves.
Again, about a week ago, a 19 year old Muslim youth. Abdullssamad Mohammad detonated what was most likely a German made grenade in his hands and had both arms from the wrists blown off. While he was receiving treatment at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, JTF personnel arrived the hospital with a letter addressed to the hospital authorities permitting them to convey the houng victim to Abuja for further treatment. Of course, the Medical Director objected in writing saying the boy's condition was too unstable for such a long journey.
Who is doing the killings in Jos now? who is trying to suppress facts now? Who is angering the Beroms now? Are the Beroms really being protected by the JTF anymore? No wonder, they have asked for the withdrawal of the JTF and the removal of the curfew imposed by Jang so that they can better protect themselves on their own. Newspapers must learn to report objectively and not just carry whatever Government officials dish out.
We understand that the Fulani women and children have now been safely cordoned off near Military barracks and are protected with armored tanks while their men attack Beroms nightly from different fronts with the tacit connivance of the Nigerian military.
It is obvious that a solution to the Jos crisis is still far away in view of recent happenings and the taking of sides by some military personnel.
"Addressing the press in Jos, the Operation Commander of the STF, Colonel Kayode Ogundele, said while investigations are still on to unravel the perpetrators of the barbaric act, four persons are already in their net in connection with the killings. He said “on Monday four corpses were discovered in a village near Rim, the bodies were partially burnt, and the locals were agitated. More troops were deployed to the area to trace the assailants. And in the early hours of Tuesday morning, the reinforcement decided to comb the entire area of the village. While they were on this, some irate mobs occupied the Abuja/Jos highway to unleash terror on commuters, and in the process seven people were killed and buried in three shallow graves: four corpses were found in one shallow grave, two in another shallow grave, another corpse which they were about burying when we got there”.
The above-quoted report says that four corpses were discovered near Rim partially burnt. We now know that the Fulanis kill and burn their victims. Why burn corpses is hard to understand. A COCIN pastor and his wife were murdered and burnt in Tafawa Balewa, Bauchi State, last week by suspected Fulanis on a revenge mission. Most of the slaughtered women and children at Dogo Nahawa on January 17, were also burnt. (See the pictures if you care)
What angered the youths in Tahoss, if I may ask? Did they just wake up that morning and decided for to start killing innocent people along the Jos/Abuja highway without provocation? Of course, not. Some assailants killed four of their brothers overnight and the JTF operatives were nowhere to be found. The Rim/Tahoss axis is now so vulnerable to Fulani attacks that the villagers have lost all confidence in the JTF. It is actually suspected that JTF men could be responsible for some of the killings while the innocent Beroms observe Jang's curfew hours.
Consider the following: Unknown assassins attacked the residences of Timothy Pwajok, his brother, Markus Pwajok, a former Commissioner and the father of the Jos South LG Chairman, Da Dalyop Zi at Kuru Karama at 1:30am two Sundays ago. While the attack was going on, 5 JTF operatives, made of 4 Muslims and 1 Christian, were just 100 meters away and did nothing to stop the attackers till they fled into the bushes. Also, the only Christian JTF personnel had lost his riffle by the time time the attack ended. The rumour is that the JTF personnel disarmed their Christian colleague as he wanted to shoot at the attackers.
in another incident last Sunday, the JTF personnel claimed they were alerted by Muslims in Bisichi in the dead of the night that there were suspected attackers in the nearby bushes. The JTF personnel killed two Berom men only to discover that they were security men at a their duty post. Beroms in Bisichi were enraged but controlled themselves.
Again, about a week ago, a 19 year old Muslim youth. Abdullssamad Mohammad detonated what was most likely a German made grenade in his hands and had both arms from the wrists blown off. While he was receiving treatment at the Plateau Specialist Hospital, JTF personnel arrived the hospital with a letter addressed to the hospital authorities permitting them to convey the houng victim to Abuja for further treatment. Of course, the Medical Director objected in writing saying the boy's condition was too unstable for such a long journey.
Who is doing the killings in Jos now? who is trying to suppress facts now? Who is angering the Beroms now? Are the Beroms really being protected by the JTF anymore? No wonder, they have asked for the withdrawal of the JTF and the removal of the curfew imposed by Jang so that they can better protect themselves on their own. Newspapers must learn to report objectively and not just carry whatever Government officials dish out.
We understand that the Fulani women and children have now been safely cordoned off near Military barracks and are protected with armored tanks while their men attack Beroms nightly from different fronts with the tacit connivance of the Nigerian military.
It is obvious that a solution to the Jos crisis is still far away in view of recent happenings and the taking of sides by some military personnel.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
ALHAJI SALEH BAYERI AGAIN
Alhaji Saleh Bayeri, leader of the Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, claimed on live television about a week ago tht himself and others ("we" he said) masterminded the Jan. 17, 2010 Dogo Na-Hauwa wicked massacres of innocent women and children. Yet AP Jonathan has just included him on the Lar Committee investigating the crisis. Gov. Jang of Plateau State called for the arrest of Bayeri by the Police. Who is advising the Acting president on these issues? Nigeria should get serious and tow the path of sanity or it will continue to sink.
In my opinion, and I share this with Gen. Saleh maina, GOC. 3rd Armoured Div. Nigerian Army, no one in Government has addressed the real issues of contention in Jos yet. The members of the Lar Committee cannot achieve much. Their suggestion of dialogues between Jang and his neighbouring Governors and the Sultan of Sokoto make the crisis to look like some border clash and some minor religious misunderstanding. That a big joke.
The problem of Jos versus the Hausa/Fulani goes back 2oo years during the Dan Fodio jihads. The error of Lord Lugard in the days of Indirect Rule have a part to play. MNorthern Nigerian minories were sidelined by the Lord. The insistance of the descendants of the jihadists to subtly carry on the territorial expansion has to blame today. The Beroms are only defending their rights to inherited land just like the South-South militants. Self determination is a basic human right, but not to the neo-jihadists of Jos.
The Hausa/Fulanis should take a leaf from the Ogbomoshos, Igbos, Urhobos, Ijaws, Kanuris, Effiks and many other ethnic nationalities settled in Jos who have lived there in peace longer than them. The present Oba of Agbomosho, Chief Oyewumi, is the owner of the most prestigious structures at Terminus roundabout in Jos. Almost all the taxi drivers today at Hill Station Hotel are Jos-born Yorubas. Why don't they have a problem except the Hausa/Fulanis? The Hausa/Fulani also do not integrate into their host communities. Check Sagamu in OgunState, Idi Araba in Lagos State and the EPZ in Cross River State. The Hausas should say openly what they want when they settle on other people's soil.
Whose FRSC car number plate has the slogan, "BORN TO RULE"? Meaning what? FRSC and Nigerians, answer me!
The Hausas/Fulanis and the Beroms will live in peace as brothers and sisters again, I prophesy. Amen.
In my opinion, and I share this with Gen. Saleh maina, GOC. 3rd Armoured Div. Nigerian Army, no one in Government has addressed the real issues of contention in Jos yet. The members of the Lar Committee cannot achieve much. Their suggestion of dialogues between Jang and his neighbouring Governors and the Sultan of Sokoto make the crisis to look like some border clash and some minor religious misunderstanding. That a big joke.
The problem of Jos versus the Hausa/Fulani goes back 2oo years during the Dan Fodio jihads. The error of Lord Lugard in the days of Indirect Rule have a part to play. MNorthern Nigerian minories were sidelined by the Lord. The insistance of the descendants of the jihadists to subtly carry on the territorial expansion has to blame today. The Beroms are only defending their rights to inherited land just like the South-South militants. Self determination is a basic human right, but not to the neo-jihadists of Jos.
The Hausa/Fulanis should take a leaf from the Ogbomoshos, Igbos, Urhobos, Ijaws, Kanuris, Effiks and many other ethnic nationalities settled in Jos who have lived there in peace longer than them. The present Oba of Agbomosho, Chief Oyewumi, is the owner of the most prestigious structures at Terminus roundabout in Jos. Almost all the taxi drivers today at Hill Station Hotel are Jos-born Yorubas. Why don't they have a problem except the Hausa/Fulanis? The Hausa/Fulani also do not integrate into their host communities. Check Sagamu in OgunState, Idi Araba in Lagos State and the EPZ in Cross River State. The Hausas should say openly what they want when they settle on other people's soil.
Whose FRSC car number plate has the slogan, "BORN TO RULE"? Meaning what? FRSC and Nigerians, answer me!
The Hausas/Fulanis and the Beroms will live in peace as brothers and sisters again, I prophesy. Amen.
Thursday, March 18, 2010
MOSOPP
The promoters of Movement for the Survival of Plateau People (MOSOPP) should please publish their office address, membership recruitment procedures and activities more. I can confidently assure you that there are many of us itching to join your (our) Movement. Please hurry. Get in touch with me via my email.
Those who would like to be members should may send their names and email addresses to me for free onward transmission to MOSOPP headquarers.
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