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?