*As Plateau leaders commit to peace at interactive session with Tinubu
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja, told stakeholders from Plateau State to return home with open minds to seek peace and put a permanent end to the recurring crises in the state.
Towards this end, the President challenged the leaders, led by the State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, to review past government White Papers on security crises and to propose implementable resolutions for the government’s consideration.
Speaker after speaker at the meeting, including the youths, identified the key issues of indigeneship, religion, ethnicity, and farmer-herder clashes that fueled past conflicts, they promised to work hard to ensure peace prevails in the state.
The meeting attended by a 32-man delegation was a fulfilment of President Tinubu’s promise to meet Plateau stakeholders for extensive discussions on the recurring violence and killings in the state. President Tinubu called for the meeting during his visit to the state following the violence in Angwa Rukuba in Jos North Local Government Area on March 29.
Members of the delegation included Prof Nentawe Yilwatda, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former governors – Senator Simon Lalong, Senator Jonah Jang, Chief Joshua Dariye and Sir Fidelis Tapgun, HRM Mohammed Haruna, Emir of Wase, HRM Da John Putmang Hirse, Rev Dr Dunka Gomwalk, Chairman Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).
Other delegates were Rear Admiral Samuel Atukum (Rtd), former Military Governor; Rt Hon Naanlong Gapyil Daniel, Speaker, Plateau State House of Assembly; Dame Pauline Tallen, former Deputy Governor and Minister; Air Marshal JD Wuyep (Rtd), former Chief of Air Staff.
At the interactive session, which lasted about three hours, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Mohammed Dorro, announced that President Tinubu had approved N2 billion in relief support for victims of the March 29 attack in Angwa Rukuban, Jos.
President Tinubu said leaders at every level needed to resolve to seek peace and live in tolerance of one another.
“No protocols, no hinderances, we are here to speak our minds and find a permanent solution to a recurring conflict and chaos. I have heard the leaders. Everybody here is seeking peace. How do we chart our path to that peace?
“Let us first of all accept one resolution – tolerance for every inhabitant. If people are being recruited to provoke anger, conflict and killings, it is you, the leaders, that should first of all examine yourselves,” the President said.
He underscored the need for leaders to champion a concerted effort to achieve enduring peace in the state, given that Plateau State was known for peace and for its receptiveness to other tribes across the nation.
“We all must find a way to accommodate one another. We must stop the situation where people are recruited to instigate tribal conflict and killings. I am glad that I listened to the youth.
“As leaders, you must go back home, summon a leadership meeting among yourselves, take the gazette, review the previous recommendations and agree to implement the White Paper. Bring to my attention any knotty issue that may arise and bring up an implementable resolution,” President Tinubu told the delegation.
According to him, “to stop creating orphans, widows and widowers, there must be an enduring peace in the state,” assuring the delegation that his administration was committed to the infrastructural development of the state. He also called on the state government to identify and name agent provocateurs so they can face the full wrath of the law.
President Tinubu urged the governor to draw on the pool of enlightened leaders available to him across all spheres of life to foster harmony in the state.
The President further enjoined the governor to make justice, fairness, tolerance, and the integration of other ethnic groups an integral part of his administration’s efforts towards a lasting peace, stressing that everyone in the state needed to have a sense of belonging and participate in peace-building efforts.
In his remarks, Governor Mutfwang thanked President Tinubu for his continued efforts towards finding a lasting solution to the recurring security challenges and violence in the state. He pledged the elders’ commitment to support the initiatives.
He added that it was the first time that all former governors of the state were in one room for such a meeting, assuring the President of their resolve to chart a new pathway towards peace in the state.
“Our coming here today shows that there is a renewed spirit on the plateau; that we want to be together. We are determined more than ever to close all our gaps, ensure that we rise above all the divides of religion and ethnicity, and build a state we can all be proud of, because we are one of the critical states in this country that contribute immensely to the economy. And a lot had been lost over the decades that we want to recover. We want to thank you for your leadership that has engendered this new spirit of unity.
“Having gathered this momentum, we want to assure you, by God’s grace, that we will build on it to tell a better story in the years to come. One of the things that we are determined to look at aggressively is how to turn conflict into profit by making sure that, under your leadership, we bring our people out of the shackles of poverty,” the governor further pledged.
“By God’s grace, we know that you are with us, and we want to assure you that we are also with you. In your journey to salvage Nigeria, we are in this together. Thank you for having us over.”
In his remarks, the Gbong Gwon Jos, HRM Da Jacob Gyang Buba, lauded President Tinubu for his purposeful leadership and efforts to restore peace in Plateau State. He requested that the President deploy more troops to the state and install CCTV cameras, as he had promised. The royal father expressed belief that the creation of state police would go a long way towards addressing insecurity in the country.
He also commended President Tinubu for appointing competent sons and daughters of the state, such as the APC National Chairman and the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, to support the administration in running the country’s affairs, and requested that more slots be provided for Plateau State indigenes.
He recalled that in the past, the football team, the Mighty Jets of Jos, founded by the late Alhaji Isyaku Ibrahim, brought the state to national limelight, had players from virtually every part of the country who remained in Jos, even after the civil war.
He called for the President’s intervention in the return of the IDPs to their ancestral homes, especially as the rainy season commences. He particularly commended the First Lady, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, for visiting the state twice with relief materials following the unfortunate security incidents.
Several members of the delegation harped on the need for the leaders to be committed to the peace process, affirming that without sincerity of purpose, an enduring peace would be an illusion in the state.
Representatives of the Christian and Muslim youths told President Tinubu of their resolve to work together towards peace in the state and support the governor.
Former Deputy Speaker and current member of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, stressed the enforcement of the rule of law to allow criminals to answer for their crimes, pointing out that drug abuse was playing a big role in the insecurity in the state.
