SINCE the unfortunate events in Plateau State, the new media has been inundated with all manners of invectives on the state governor and the state House of Assembly. That is the freedom the social media appears to have given to users; meaning, there is no stopping people to express their opinions on any subject matter.
Yet on the other hand, some went overboard, insisting they were not beyond the perimeter of civilized criticism. I am aware that to get any of my view across, it must not assume a dimension that could injure the feelings of another person.
Before yours sincerely is crucified, first, let me enter a caveat: I do not hold brief for either side; I am aware they both have credible persons to speak for them. However, I am constrained to want to speak, even if I am accused of having being ‘bought’ over. I have a number of reasons why I love Plateau as to be bought.
Governance can be the most herculean task to be undertaken, particularly in Plateau State, or so it seems. Nothing can ever test the soul and the resolve of a man than in superintending over the affairs of men. For me, that of Plateau can be heart-wrenching, considering the fact that, most times people forget quickly if as a public officer, one has ever done anything good in the past.
It can be the more frustrating when there is a crisis in the state; and which needs to be remedied. Crisis, it has been noted, increases frustration, but can be heightened the most as a result of the bashing the state has received. If justice was given in this circumstance, perhaps the derisive treatment by the state would have not mattered.
I found Benjamin Franklin’s words instructive in the circumstances of Plateau: He once said, ‘Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outrageous as those who are’, however it will be suicidal that ‘the further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it’, so wrote George Orwell. I have come to see all the altercations on Plateau as pushing for the frontiers of justice to be frankly opened to all.
The anger of the youth, if you must consider, had to do with the treatment given to victims of thee Rukuba road attack. A number of people have asked questions about the quick intervention of the presidency when the Rukuba sad incident took place, but was not given the same speed concerning the attacks on Bassa and Yelwa Zangam communities. I have said in the past that a corpse has no religion when buried; that means we need to accord respect to all who were killed in the state.
It is on account of this development that we can begin to situate the bickering on the Plateau. Yet, even in the altercations, it does appear that some of them were said or written in the fit of anger, however it sent a message more to the federal government than necessarily attacking the state. What that means is that; ‘until the victims are placed above perpetrators, we are just playing around the truth because its essence will hurt our self acclaimed righteousness.’
We are where we are today not on account of the invectives the governor and the members of the Plateau House of Assembly have stomach; rather, the state has been unfairly treated in a system that we thought should offer all equal opportunities, unfortunately, tried as we can, nothing appears good to be done to Plateau in the context of the what communities have gone through.
Frustration can be intoxicating, and that is the situation locals of communities that have been attacked feel, so also are the other tribes; having discovered that before long, if they kept quiet, they also may become victims one day. What they go through can only be described by them; more so when they feel abandoned. On this score, therefore, you can be hard put to it to question the rationale of certain vituperations. It is not surprising that resistance in this case, will turn out to be a duty, when injustice is seen as a law in the land.
We know for instance, that the ancestral lands of people in various parts of the state have been forcefully acquired. Today, there are new occupants on those lands. What better frustration could that be, that nothing can be done to repossess those pieces of lands? This issue must be dealt with in a way that is acceptable to the owners. It cannot be substituted by anyone, what is needed to be done should not assume any colour. It is no time to blame one another; if the people of the state are not united, the blame game shall continue; while the lands bequeathed to them are taken over.
Many have continued to ask: ‘How can you usher peace in Plateau State when indigenes have been chased out of their ancestral land, or barely hanging on them fencing off the menace of displacement with their lives every waking day? Until we bring this truth and justice to the table, we are just jaw-jawing in vain’.
Some of the utterances and comments are in the main provocative, insulting and demeaning to the person of the governor and his office as well as the representatives of the people. They are all affected; they are first humans who have emotions and who, should be concerned about what has taken place. There is no person in the state that is not worried about the deaths of people; what more, for the governor and their representatives. They feel the pains, and they would do anything legitimate to salvage the situation. Whoever takes the lead, does so on behalf of all; and they should be supported.
Intolerance has never built a nation; rather, it will further polarize it the more: Considering how identity politics is consistently being used to knock people against each other; one finds it the more painful. I have repeatedly observed that the state must meet certain needs of the youth. It cannot be denied some social programmes have been carried out over the years to meet those needs. The only thing needed is to increase the tempo; as the army of unemployed youth can easily be used to settle political scores for politicians. That is the state we do not want to get to, otherwise, before we all realize many would have been wounded as not to be considered responsible to lead.
The problems of the state cannot be gloated over as if they never existed. In all these, all of us are affected; in fact, we are all victims. What has happened is the result of the increasing devaluation of human life, perhaps occasioned as a result of the choices the governments over time may have made in the treatment of its citizens.
In the last couple of days, so much have been said and done. The governor took measures to address certain concerns raised by the House of Assembly; even as some have asked: Could he not have done same without probing? Whether it was the House or Governor Simon Lalong who did it; all of them as well as the people are the beneficiaries. All are, so long as it was meant to deal with a monster which has haunted the state as none of the communities, government or House members can claim not to have been disturbed by the increasing spate of attacks. ‘In fact, with the increasing devaluation of human life North, South, West and East of the country, we should worry about the future of our nation, weaning our children on a steady diet of macabre killings. Painful to recount past incidents; we have been trusting time to heal us but each reoccurrence of these acts reopens them’.
No doubt ‘these conflicts are bred by injustice but government response to them usually generate more conflict because they embed more injustices. A mere respite by pleasing one side than a lasting peace by being fair to all (will not last). I am beginning to agree with those who argue that a lot of the peace talks, conferences, summits, dialogues, you name it, ongoing in the state and country are bunkum. If truth and justice are not on the table, do not form the basis on which they are based, they are a waste of time and deception’.
Earlier the House had addressed a ‘world press conference’ in which it raised the issue that people of the state must start defending themselves in the face of any attack. This call did not first start to be mentioned here, it was Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, who apparently frustrated by widespread criminality and wanton killings in his state, asked them to stand and defend themselves against banditry and terrorism. He has since doubled the call without regret.
The fact that the danger ahead is real, must have informed the call by the House. No man waits to see members of his family being killed before acting to save them. Even as we appreciate this position, knowing that insecurity is currently the biggest challenge facing us as a nation; we must find other means, even as it is a call on governments at all levels to wake up to the challenge.
The message has been made and sent. And rightly so, the responsibilities assigned to the arms of government are not lost in Governor Lalong and the state House of Assembly. Thank God that during the week, whether certain egos were bruised; several meetings amongst the politicians were held to heal the wounds inflicted on each other. There cannot be anything satisfying to all parties to know that the fate of the state is the primary concern of all. If all parties are united; and I dare say, all the bickering will die, and no one will be interested in the impeachment of either the governor or the speaker, as have been peddled around.
Everyone, except a few want peace to reign in Plateau. However, it is a fact that: If peace, like Martin Luther King Jr said; means accepting second class citizenship, I don’t want it. If peace means keeping my mouth shut in the midst of injustice and evil, I don’t want it. If peace means being complacently adjusted to a deadening status quo, I don’t want peace. If peace means a willingness to be exploited economically, dominated politically, humiliated and segregated, I don’t want peace’.
I am sure all want peace that respects our humanity and offers us equal opportunities without hindrance on account of ethnicity and religion.
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