02 Dec 2008 |
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| Yakubu Muhammad Rigasa The recent mayhem of Jos was something that seemed to have been planned long ago before its execution day which coicided with the local government elections day in the state. I wonder how the crisis happened at great speed with catastrophic results of immense magnitude and at a very short span of time. If the perpetrators along with the forces backing them had not pre-arranged the genocide ranging from knowing their specific targets, the timing, the scope and the manner it would be carried out, it wouldn't have produced this shocking outcome. However, a premonition manifested when stories from travellers passing through Jos signalled an imminent violence looming.
On the fateful day, a friend residing in Jos sent me a text message which read "crisis in Jos" and just stopped without elaborating. I sent back to enquire about the crisis, but to my surprise there was no reply which was quite unusual. Being perturbed, hours later I called to have some details, but the voice at the other end was not normal as all I managed to grasp was "ba lafiya fa" meaning they were not at peace. Later in the day various news media especially foreign carried the reports marking the beginning of the gory story.
Governor David Jonah Jang of Plateau State must carry over eighty percent of the blame followed at a distance by the State Independent Electoral Commission chairman. This is because being the chief security of the state who shoulders huge responsibilities the foremost of which being the protection of lives and properties of his people irrespective of their religious and ethnic inclinations, he had to do everything possible to prevent events of this nature from taking place or at worst minimise the loss of innocent lives through this misadventure. But why did they go ahead to announce the elections results when tension was so high, indicative of what was likely to happen? Can the Governor and the SIEC Chairman swear that the results announced are the true reflections of the wishes of the people of Plateau State? Why did the Governor fail to deploy real (not fake) armed security agents as early as the crisis broke out?
In the aftermath of the violence, refugees were stranded at numerous camps without food aids while reports had it that the state government was assessing the situation to ascertain the number of the refugees before making any supply. How could the government become so insensitive to the plight of its people at such a critical time when no help was either too little or too much? We also heard that fake soldiers were arrested, we are now waiting to hear their judgement considering the enormous economic and social catastrophe these hooligans and many of their likes still at large have caused the state and the nation in general.
Though Nigerians are accustomed to accepting puppets imposed upon them by ruling parties throughout the federation, the case of Plateau State is unprecedented. The elections there apart from being neither free nor fair according to all standards, the force exerted in making the results were too heavy for a rational mind to carry. My advice to the federal government, INEC and all concerned is that the elections be nullified, local government administrators appointed and a convenient time set for fresh elections to be strictly supervised by a neutral body. As for the governor under whose careless attitude this nasty mayhem took place, I think former president, Olusegun Obasanjo and former Plateau State governor, Mr. Joshua Dariye have already set a precedent for the incumbent president, Alhaji Umaru Yar'adua to follow. During Dariye's administration, rampant and incessant civil unrests in the state with a particular reference to that of Yelwan Shendam led to the imposition of state of emergency, the only option that saved the state from further violence and make the then governor take heed of the outpouring calls for him to be serious about the issue of protecting his people's lives and properties.
The ball now rests in the court of the Federal Government. President Yar'adua should take all the necessary action to ensure that all those who have a hand in this incident are brought to book and in carrying out this, he must leave no stone unturned and no sacred cow in the application of justice.
Yakubu Muhammad Rigasa ymrigasa@gmail.com
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