Panacea to Plateau’s Predicament

Also published in DAILY TRUST

 

I really wonder how much blood has to be shed in Plateau state before the stakeholders come to their senses. I believe even if the sand of Plateau state were a bloodthirsty beast, it would have had enough by now. Plateau state is by the way so blessed that, had it been lucky enough to be in another country, it would have been one of the most attractive states in the world. Unfortunately however, it is now crying for the attention of the people of conscience.

Many functional countries which are however aren’t blessed with a region like Plateau, spend extremely enormous resources to create some manmade environments resembling it, yet not as actually charming as it is, for the simple fact that, the former is natural while later is artificial.

Ironically however, the Nigerian factor has overwhelmed Plateau state, leaving it not only neglected, but actually deprived of its God’s given blessings, rendering it a hell of a sort on earth. Plateau, which was divinely designed to provide inspiration with its beautiful climate and peaceful atmosphere, has now been reduced into a valley of misery where agony and death are unleashed mercilessly.

As a matter of fact, Plateau represents a bizarre irony even in Nigerian context, where irony characterizes almost everything. Flows of blood and tears have now replaced the flows of its natural spring waters. Human skulls and limbs of people of all ages litter its delightful green vegetation. Singing birds, which used to entertain the environment with its inspiring songs, have now been overshadowed by the cries of hacked babies and the groans of mutilated adults.

Worst still is how there seems to be no any sign signifying the end of this senseless bloodshed. And the sporadic respites witnessed from time to time, ironically warn of more deadly imminent attacks, instead of being glad tidings for a sustainable cease of the hostilities.

Equally disturbing also, most of the analysts, who care to address this crisis, are either too prejudiced in their approaches, or are not creative enough to think outside the box and come up with realistic proposals applicable and viable in the peculiar socio-political and demographical context of Plateau state, and indeed Nigeria at large. You need not to be that brilliant in order to figure out the biased inclination of a typical Nigerian analyst addressing the Plateau crisis, which inevitably renders whatever proposal he might come up with, a mere still born.

For instance, it is not uncommon to read or hear a proposal from an otherwise good analyst suggesting the eviction of a whole community from Plateau state, so that according to him, peace may prevail. Whereas on the other hand, another analyst may insist on the immediate application of the largely disregarded provision of equal advantage for both the original indigenes and the so-called non-indigenes in the state, so as to (according to him) address the cause of some communities’ grievances.

Likewise, most of the proposals dished out by most of the stakeholders have either been overtaken by events or are actually unrealistic. The call for the application of the provision of equal advantage between all communities in Plateau is simply unrealistic under current circumstances.

Incidentally, the absence of the socio-political environments conducive to the application of such provision in Nigeria, has originated from the country’s successive governments’ failures to promote real integration and cohesion between Nigeria’s multi ethno-religious groups, which gave room for the rampant practice of discrimination against the so-called non-indigenes, not only in Plateau but in all the states of the federation.

Such discrimination is perpetrated on the basis of the so-called state of origin, even if the people discriminated against share the same ethno-religious affiliation with people of the state discriminating against them. For instance, recently, Abia state reportedly sacked many civil servants for allegedly being originally from other eastern Nigeria states including Imo state, from where Abia itself was curved out.

Similarly, the relatively new phenomenon of deporting street beggars to their states of origin, which some states embark upon from time to time, has added a new dimension to the established culture of discrimination on the basis of state of origin, notwithstanding the fact whether street begging is tolerable or not.

Therefore, amid this widespread culture of disregard for that provision, one can’t simply call for its immediate implementation in Plateau at this time around. It is noteworthy after all that,   establishing such culture of equality is not an event, it is rather a long process of deliberate policy developments matched by strict adherence to the principles of good governance, equity and justice, which unfortunately have been lacking in the country, particular over the last few decades.

Moreover, it is actually the same reason that has eroded the public confidence in the country’s leadership, which inevitably undermines any efforts the government may take in order to address the Plateau state crisis. Without public confidence, government can hardly if at all restore peace in Plateau. An average Plateau resident just like any other average citizen of Nigeria is inherently skeptic about the impartiality of the government officials involved in addressing the Plateau quagmire.

The composition of the security task force to restore and keep peace in the state for instance, has always been the subject of heated arguments over their neutrality, which explains how either side effectively counts on the ethno-religious affiliations of the force’s individual members to expect a fair play or suspect a foul play. This is in addition to the general incompetence in the way the government handles the issue in Plateau and indeed all the other states where similar crisis brews, looms or actually breaks out.

I would therefore suggest the internationalization of the peace restoration and keeping process in Plateau and indeed wherever such tricky situation happens. However, this should be without prejudice to the sovereignty of the countries in which such cases emerge. Though I realize the absence of an international legal framework to justify such action since Nigeria is technically not at war, neither is she involved in a systematic violence against her civilians.

Nevertheless, it is imperative to formulate such a framework at the United Nations, so as to allow for the deployment of teams of reputable international diplomats and international forces to take both civil and security administrations of any region, where such tricky crisis happens. Their mandate should be to restore and sustain peace between various affected communities, and in the meantime administer civil administration of the areas for stipulated periods of time.

Meanwhile, the masterminds of the crises should be properly tried in international courts for crimes against humanity, and punished accordingly.

This is necessary in order to create the environment for the restoration of public confidence in the system in the first place, without which nothing can be achieved as I pointed out earlier. As the situation improves, the status-quo could be gradually resorted through measured withdrawal of the intentional personnel and troops.

Nigeria should take advantage of its current non-permanent membership in the United Nations Security Council to sponsor and push for such proposal, instead of subjecting herself to further unnecessary diplomatic ridicule, by lobbying for a permanent membership in the Security Council, while she can’t secure even her own citizens.