SOLDIERS DEPART 'KILLER' POND IN JOS

The military who began a sting operation in Latya, Lo-Pamdyet and Dura some three days ago have finally left the communities yesterday in the afternoon. 

They had cordoned the communities - those who were lucky to leave, left and some others were held hostage in their houses for days. Taken unawares, many families - medical doctors, professors, bankers, pastors, entrepreneurs, poultry farmers, pharmacists, factory workers, wives, children and defendants - who believed they were innocent and have nothing to do with the disappearance of Gen Alkali stayed behind even while the military dredged up the pond (where the General's car was later found). That was a costly mistake. They suffered hunger, depravation of their privacies and their freedom of association and movement was infringed upon. Some had their homes forcefully broken into. Kids were traumatized and some will need to be psychologically healed before they can see a soldier again and be free.

The military accorded me all the respect I deserved. They didn't molest me or my family and never curtailed my movements. Not so with many others. To some families, I had to find ways of smuggling essential commodities like sugar, food, bread etc. to them in their "home prisons". What happened is a story too sad to tell. I pray these communities heal fast so that life can pick up again. And I pray no other community lives to see such militarization in a democracy.

To many of my friends and well wishers who called and offered their homes for me and my family to locate to, I am extremely grateful. Some even got angry at me for rebuffing their pleas for me to relocate my family, saying soldiers are never to be trusted. Some called to pray. Some others sent words of encuragement. Some aggravated our worries with fake news on WhatsApp. It wasn't bravery that made me stay. Everyman has his fears - mine is losing my family. I don't fear for me, am heaven bound.

I want to confess that on Many occasions I also feared for my life. I lived with so much trauma for my girls. I never slept for one night. I prayed for myself and my people in the community every Night as the military siege lasted. I bombarded heaven with prayers and asked God why He was silent.

When I looked at my daughters, I felt like packing and running away even though the Commanding Officer of the soldiers told me we are safe. But some of my friends said, "If Gen Victor Malu's family was not spared in Zaki-Biam, how can you be safe in the hands of trigger-happy soldiers?" But kudos to my brave wife (and they say Yorubas are cowards by nature!), on one of the days I told her to pack all the kids and let's vamoose from the community. But she said, "Temi Love, we are not going anywhere. You are the only reason why some families here are not panicking. When they call you and you assure them that you met with the soldiers and they are safe, they sleep. If we go, some of them would die of fear. We are staying. If we perish, lets perish with these people who look up to you for leadership in this painful time." In the end am glad we stayed! Kudos to my daughters too - they were such brave girls, except for Bicheka who played around and never had an inclination how close we were to a precipice.

We thank all those who stood by these communities through their brace write-ups - Yiljap Abraham and Jonathan Ishaku. Thank God for Kim Jerry Bot, ChrisChris Yilgwan and many others who made some advocacy for the communities with the outside world while others were cowed. Like I said, we remember the role even our government played in this whole saga.

May God heal these communities. May those who were arrested and are with soldiers find their freedoms quick if their hands are not stained with blood.

By Davidson Rotshak Lar JP

UNDERSTANDING THE WILL OF GOD FOR NIGERIA

UNDERSTANDING THE WILL OF GOD FOR NIGERIA

Text: Ephesians 5:15-17

Nigeria's political transition is important for the growth of God's Church and for fulfilling her God-ordained purpose. Before the 1914 Amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates by our British colonizers, Satan's strategy against the propagation of the Gospel of Jesus in our region was already advanced via the agency of Islam. This, however, was temporarily truncated by the 1914 formation of the confederation called NIGERIA.

The new nation of Nigeria thereafter permitted the gospel of Jesus Christ to penetrate the core north. Hitherto, people in the core north had not heard the gospel of salvation through faith in Jesus Christ because of Usman Dan Fodio’s ferocious jihadic wars.  

The body of Christ (the Church) needs to see the importance of the 2015 general elections from GOD's perspective. It is spiritually significant to both unbelievers and to believers. What is at stake is more than just a struggle for the control of the economic resources of the country (the gold and the silver). Also, when we study how God dealt with nations in the past, we will realize that His plan for us is more than just uprooting corruption from our land. The enemy of the gospel, Satan, knows exactly where to plant the falsehood in order for his followers to hold onto the reigns of political power. This is Satan’s stock in trade. He applied the same trick in the Garden of Eden between Adam and Eve and caused them to fall.

Worthy of note is fact that 2015 ushers us into our second century as a nation. The first century of our nationhood ended in 2014. Most of our first century was dominated by Islamic ascendancy accompanied by its strangle hold on government via the various governmental agencies. These governmental agencies have become powerful machineries for the subtle prosecution of 'jihad' by core northerners. This is clearly evident in the military, police, paramilitary, the civil service and in the control of the political system as the ultimate tool.

GOD, in His infinite mercy, intervened in the last eight years of our first century. The last eight years determined whether God’s LIGHT would prevail over DARKNESS in our country’s leadership or not. We saw late Musa Yaradua being replaced by Goodluck Jonathan through natural processes. This, to any Nigerian child of GOD, was divine intervention, in view of the injustice, nepotism and religious killings that immediately followed this divine intervention.  

Because LIGHT took over the leadership, DARKNESS, which had its roots deeply entrenched in governmental agencies, mobilized to frustrate the new order in Nigeria. The new emerging Nigeria is for the purpose of showing forth God's Glory and nothing else. HIS will, therefore, is that Nigeria's 2nd century, which begins this year 2015, should be started and steered by 'Jacobites’ and not 'Ishmaelite'. 

An allegory highlighting this conflict in the Nigerian polity can be seen in Matthew 26:14-16. Satan crept into the heart of a chosen vessel of the Lord to attempt to thwart the will of God. The intention was to try and truncate Jesus' earthly ministry prematurely without the sacrifice of His pure blood on the cross of Calvary. The devil has tirelessly fought Christ without success, to try and frustrate His mission on earth – the SALVATION of man from sin. In this passage the devil entered the heart of greedy Judas, who never belonged to the light anyway.

PRAYER: The Church needs the infilling and leadership of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to successfully fight falsehood within its ranks.

A second allegory can be seen in Acts 7:55-58. The enemy usually doesn’t use his own disciples to thwart GOD's plans on earth. Rather, he prefers to use foolish but willing tools among those who profess the LORD as their God. This way he achieves infamy. He entices gullible Christian men & women to create internal wrangling within the Church of God. Once he has sown the seeds of discord, he proceeds to wreck havoc in the land using his cheaply acquired authority.

PRAYER: GOD should help the Church of Jesus to live right and to be be watchful in these treacherous last days. (1st Peter 4:11)

To round up my brief understanding of GOD's will for Nigeria, I call upon all who profess the LORD's name to grasp the following message: 

1) That we should be guided by love and avoid being noise makers like Nigeria's enemy, who, by much talking, hope to convince saints into handing over their lives for evil manipulations. (1 Peter 4:8)

2) To know that our Holy GOD, who chose Isaac to fulfil Abraham's covenant, cannot go back to Ishmael, whom He cursed.

3) Pray fervently because we are in Nigeria's crucial hour, just as it was with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. (Matt 26:39). That GOD's will for righteousness in our country’s leadership be achieved so that His plans for us may come to pass. That our Muslim neighbors may see the light and be saved before the end comes.

PRAYER: LORD fill the church, including me, with love, which you gave in Christ, so that we can share this understanding with others.

Prologue---
I quote Richard Grenell – Thursday, March 19, 2015 who said:

·        That Buhari is a Boko Haram sympathizer.

·        That the Obama administration should "wake up" to the growing threat of Nigeria turning into an Islamic state, leading to other African nations also capitulating to Moslem extremists.

·        That Buhari as working tirelessly to enthrone sharia law across Nigeria as a whole. This will pose a further challenge in the fight against terrorism in Nigeria & the continent at large.

·        That Western foreign policy observers who are preoccupied with the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, should wake up to the reality unfolding in Nigeria.

Grenell was a spokesman to four former US Ambassadors to the UN, most recently, to Ambassador Zal Khalilzad.

Stay blessed:

Apostle Morgan Azih

True Love Mission Centre 

E-mail: Praisegems@yahoo.com
Phone: 07057180108

(Being text of a message delivered by Apostle Morgan Azih at the prayer meeting of PLATEAU INDIGENOUS INDEPENDENT MINISTERS’ ASSOCIATION {PIIMA}on March 24, 2015 in Jos.)

JOS NORTH LGA: THE TINDERBOX AWAITING IGNITION

JOS NORTH LGA: THE TINDERBOX AWAITING IGNITION

By James Pam, 01 February, 2018

Jos North Local Government Area in Plateau State was carved out of former Jos Local Government Area in September 1991 by the Babangida military junta. Of the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria, this is probably the only one that is not working. LG elections seem impossible here. There is perpetual mutual suspicion among its various people groups. The city of Jos is now polarised with Muslims living at one end of town and Christians at the other. People who grew up as friends find themselves on different sides of the divide today.

Unplanned housing development is evident in many parts of Jos. Some residents of the city behave as if they are above the law. Title to land is being denied some people. The popular Indigeneship Certificate has become a major political weapon. Many no-go areas exist for different groups of people. Nowhere in Nigeria is the settler/indigene dichotomy more pronounced.

Between 1994 and 2012 Jos North LG witnessed rioting, murder, arson and bombing on a scale much larger than in any part of the country. During this period, no fewer than one thousand human lives were lost, property worth billions of Naira destroyed in over seventy different pogroms. Subsequent to these, six Commissions of Inquiry were set at different times to investigate the causes of the crises and to proffer lasting solutions to them: (i)Justice J. Aribiton Fiberesima Commission of 1994, set up by Lt. Col. Mohammed Maina, Military Administrator; (ii) Justice Niki Tobi Commission of 2001, set up by Governor Joshua Dariye; (iii) Justice Bola Ajibola (SAN) Commission of 2009, set up by Governor Jonah Jang; (iv) Justice Suleiman Galadima Commission 2001, set up by the Federal Government; (v) Emmanuel Abisoye Presidential Panel 2009, set up by the Federal Government; and (vi) Chief Solomon D. Lar and Amb. Yahaya Kwande 2010, set up by the Federal Government. Unfortunately, none of their far-reaching findings and recommendations were ever implemented.

The background to this dismal report is the manner in which the Jos north Local Government Area was carved out. We all know that all the 774 Local Governments and 36 States in the country today were created by military governments. Though the soldiers cited criteria such as population, landmass, contiguity, need, federal constituency, demand, cultural similarity and viability, none of us is in doubt that these were not adhered too at all. For example, why should Osun State, which is smaller than Lagos in all indexes, have more LGAs? Why should Kano State have 44 LGAs as against Lagos State’s 20? Why was Jos North LGA created at the requests of the minority Hausa and Fulani settlers  without any consultation whatsoever with the indigenous Afizere, Anaguta and Berom people? Clearly, Gen. Babagida created Jos North purely using religious sentiments and to grant the settlers what they had tried and failed. He should have known, better than anybody else that he was setting the stage for war.

The first request for the creation of a Jos Metropolitan LG comprising of Du, Gwong, Gyel, Kuru and Vwang Districts out of the then Jos LG was sent to the then Military Governor, Col. A. Kama, on 23^rd January, 1989, by the Berom community. The grouse of the Berom was with Government’s policy of creating LGs along the boundaries of existing federal constituencies without any regard for factors such as historical/cultural affinities, consensus of demand, administrative convenience and need for even development. They argued that the creation of federal constituencies for electoral purposes was based purely on population and so will not serve well as bases for LGs. They, therefore, requested for a Jos East LG for the Afizere people and Jos Metropolitan LG for the 5 Berom Districts earlier mentioned. The boundary of Jos North federal constituency dissects Gyel and Du Districts and so any LG along it would erode the jurisdiction of the Gbong Gwom Jos, the affected District Heads and render some Gyel and Du people District-less and placing them under completely different tribal leaderships. Persons whom the Berom hitherto accommodated as settlers would have been granted ruling powers and indigenous status. Peaceful coexistence would be seriously threatened. With the benefit of hindsight, we know today that their fears were justified. 

The second request was for the splitting of the old Jos LG, which then comprised of 2 federal constituencies, into 2 LGs was forwarded to President Babangida on 28/1/1989 by “Citizens of Jos North Federal Constituency” and signed by Alhaji Tijjani Shehu, Ado Mohammed Ibrahim and Alhaji Danliti Gamandi.

The third request for the creation of a Jos North LG was by a hitherto non-existent concocted tribe called “Jasawa” (probably meaning the residents of Jos) dated 18^th July 1991. The settler Hausa and Fulani have continued to lay a baseless claim to the ownership of Jos. They all know where they came from or where their immediate parents came from. One of them was bereted by Justice Niki Tobi when he said that he can rightly claim to be an indigene of three different Local Government Areas in Nigeria and in two different States. The Aribiton Fiberesima Commission wrote in page 24 of their final report that Commission had observed that membership of Jasawa Development Association is for “Hausa/Fulani (Hausa, Fulani, Nupe, Kanuri and their likes) as per Section 5(1) of the Association’s constitution. The Bola Ajibola Commission said on page 21 of its final report that “the Jasawa Development Association, which seems to attract recognisance by force, harassment and intimidation, a conduct which has logically eroded the legitimacy of its operation” and so recommended its proscription.

When President Babangida finally created the Jos North LG in September 1991, Alhaji Ado Mohammed Ibrahim published an advertorial in the STANDARD Newspaper of 4^th October, 1991 in which he expressed the appreciation of the Hausa community in Jos to Gen. Babangida for separating the two federal constituencies of Jos North and Jos South into autonomous Local Government Areas. He also bereted and castigated the Berom nation for rejecting the boundaries of the two new LGs.

The Berom nation, led by their paramount ruler, Da Dr. Fom Bot, Gbong Gwom Jos, presented a letter of protest dated 9^th October, 1991 against the boundaries of the 2 new LGs through the then Military Governor, Col. Joshua Madaki, to President Babangida. They made a request for the adjustment of the boundary so that it runs from north to south along Bauchi road, through Ahmadu Bello Way and the State house of Assembly, through Bukuru town to the Old Jemma’a Road junction. When Gen. Babagida was invited by the Prince Bola Ajibola commission to testify, he responded through his counsel, Barr. Nadayako, that he had not attended to the Berom protest letter by the time he stepped-aside, but had hoped that his successor would treat it. The Berom have never accepted the boundaries of Jos North and Jos South LGs and are still expecting the federal Government to address the matter.  

It is worthy of note that on the day that President Babangida announced the creation of the new Jos North LG, he also announced the excision of Doma LG (now in Nassarawa State) from Plateau State and its merger with Benue State. No reason was given for the action of government. Following orderly protests by the people of Doma LG, government reversed this decision exactly two weeks later. The only reason one can adduce for such action by government is that Gen. Babangida is part of the grand plan by the settler Hausa and Fulani to take over Jos by hook or crook. 

When the next round of LG elections came up in 1992, the indigenous people in the new Jos North LG were still protesting the creation of the LG and so decided to boycott the elections. This gave victory to Alhaji Samaila Mohammed, a Hausa Muslim settler, on a platter of gold and he became the first democratically elected Chairman of the new LG. Realising their tactical error, the indigenous tribes swore to gang up in future elections and vote en-bloc for their candidate. 

In 1994 Col. Kama, appointed a Caretaker Chairman for the LG in the person of Alhaji Aminu Mato, a recent arrival from Kano. The Berom objected to the appointment. The Police had to use tear gas to disperse traditionally-costumed protesting Berom women at the venue of his swearing at the Azi Nyako Youth Centre. Col. Kama was forced to escape the venue with Alhaji Mato in his car. Not done yet, the Berom swore that they would not allow Alhaji Mato to enter the LG Secretariat. They therefore laid siege for him at the Secretariat gates. Alhaji Mato could not perform his duties throughout the duration of his tenure His appointment also led to the first major crisis in Jos. 

The next major crisis erupted in 2001 during a PDP election exercise at Etobaba, Naraguta Ward B, the largest electoral Ward in Nigeria with 72,202 registered voters. The election umpire, National Electoral Commission (NEC) then, had deliberately made it very large because it was made up of indigenous Christians. The total number of registered voters in the five Hausa/Fulani dominated wards of Ali Kazaure, Sarkin Arab, Ibrahim Katsina, Garba Daho and Gangare was only 59,904. 

The next major crisis happened in November 2008 following the LG elections of that year. The final collation centre, which should have been the LG headquarters located in the heart of Hausa/Fulani territory, was shifted to Kabong for security reasons, a predominantly native Christian area. Persons like Alhaji Nafizi Mohammed, today’s Plateau State Commissioner of Information, claimed that PDP adjusted figures at the venue and declared that Party the winner of the chairmanship. The Fiberesima Commission report says Alhaji Nafizi Mohammed made about ten phone calls from the venue calling their supporters to take to the streets because “the infidels have won.” Between 2:30 am and 6:30 am that morning all hell was let loose. The Commission confirmed that 321 persons were killed and property and cars worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed. 2011 saw a wild clash in broad day light at the Rukuba Road junction, Kabong, after a sallah id prayer. Cars, motorcycles were burnt and many lives lost. 2012 recorded bomb blasts at several church premises with fatalities.

The Hausa and Fulani Muslim community boycotted Governor Jang’s Ajibola Commission in 2009. Instead, they instituted 5 suits challenging the Plateau State Government’s competence to set up the Commission of Enquiry and the Commission itself. The cases were, (i) Alhaji Sani Jibrin vs. Plateau State Government in Suit No: FHC/J/CS/10/2009, (ii) Mallam Saidu Musa vs. The Plateau State Government in Suit No: PLD/J20/2009, (iii) Sheikh Balarabe Dawud & 9 Others vs. The Plateau State Government & 7 Others in Suit No: PLD/J326/2009, (iv) Alh. Ali Inuwa and 10 Others vs. The Plateau State Government & 4 Others in Suit No: PLD/J243/2009, (v) Alh. Hassan Sa’eed (Sheikh) & 7 Others vs. Prince Bola Ajibola & 8 Others in Suit No: PLD/J242/09.

The Aribiton Fiberisima Commission recommended the splitting of the LG into three LGs. However, splitting the LG into three will not solve the problem but worsen it. Remember that the paramount ruler of the Berom, the Gbong Gwom Jos, resides in Jos. Also, there is a palpable fear of the Muslims creating and emirate with an Emir in the future and tampering with the geographical jurisdiction of the Gbong Gwom.  

Governor Lalong’s government has scheduled LG elections in Plateau State for February 17, 2018. The ruling APC in the State has a Hausa settler Muslim as Chairmanship candidate while PDP has a Christian Anaguta man. There is tension in the city of Jos already. Residents are very cautious and observant in case something ignites the fragile tinderbox called Jos. Everyone expects high drama when the election results are released irrespective of who wins or who loses. Will the elections hold or will they be postponed for security reasons as has happened many times in the last 26 years.

In order to get us out of the quagmire I suggest a review of the boundary of the two LGs. No one should shy away from this point because it is the crux of the matter. This should be done by all stakeholders, that is, the three indigenous peoples of Afizere, Anaguta and Berom, the Hausa and Fulani community, the Igbo community, the South-south Community, the Yoruba community and other Plateau communities who have made Jos their home should come to a round-table. These people groups should be given the chance to proffer the solution to their problem because the Babangida administration did not consult them ab initio. Recollect that 6 Commission of Inquiry and their beautiful reports did not solve the problem. A State of Emergency in Governor Dariye’s time by the Obasanjo government did not resolve the problem either. Will Governor Lalong be the agent of change or chance?  Jos is a simmering tinder box waiting to be ignited. Will it explode on 17^th February, 2018?

                                                                                                 

GENUINE WORSHIP

God is Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth.
--- John 4:24 (KJV)

THOUGHT ON TODAY'S VERSE
Genuine worship is a gift. Since GOD is Spirit and Holy, we cannot genuinely approach Him without the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we received God's Spirit when we were baptized into Christ and born into God's Kingdom, we can now speak and worship him, our Abba Father, Spirit to Spirit.
There's no other special place or physical instrument that we need; just the Holy Spirit and truth.
Apostle Morgan Azih, 
True Love Ministries
PIIMA