(Published by The Southerner, Sunday, April 20, 2025)

Jos, Plateau State, in Central Nigeria is home to Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, Festus Okoye, Fabian Okoye, Titus Mann, Pam Sha Dung , Richard Umaru, Edward Daudu, Jonathan Ishaku, Felix Morka, Wale Fapohunda and many prominent Nigerians who have crossed my path. They were active in the struggle to restore democracy in Nigeria.

These actvists called Jos home and felt like there could never be a better home elsewhere in Nigeria. That’s the Jos they knew and loved.

Jos, the home of Yakubu Gowon, Nigeria’s Head of State and Commander- in- Chief of the Armed Forces during the civil war, whose name, according to war time propaganda, meant Go On With One Nigeria, and of General Domkat Bali, former Minister of Defence and the famous Langtang Mafia; and other mafias.

From Marxist comrades produced by the University of Jos, to descendants of those who toiled in the tin mines that supported British war efforts during World War 11; the lawyers, accountants and other professionals, traders, business people from all over Nigeria who trooped to Jos seeking fortune and to raise families in a serene environment, and the regiments of soldiers who served in the military garrison, and found a home in Jos even after retirement, and to recent arrivals mining rare minerals, this is indeed a city never to be forgotten.

Jos has been a home to all, producing great sportsmen and women, and frontline nationalists who fought for minority rights and against feudal hegemony. The list is endless. Everyone who had a taste of Jos and its rolling hills, splendor, and tourist attractions, fell in love with Jos.

Even the British colonial predators tried to introduce Apartheid in Jos to keep the best areas for the exclusive use of the whites; black people were not allowed to use the famous Hill Station Hotel. With its rich arable land, temperate climate, and cosmopolitan character, Jos was a place to live for and it would seem, if need be, die for.

Since 2001, death has however stalked Jos and the entire Plateau like the biblical plague, spreading to Southern Kaduna, Benue, Nassarawa and Taraba States. This tragic turn of events has become a metaphor for everything that troubles Nigeria and threatens its corporate existence.

From incessant violence which has devastated the local economy, to the countless number of bodies and blood trails of the dead, the wounded, the traumatized, the dislocation of entire populations and the blighted and burnt out villages; all are clear evidences that Nigeria is becoming increasingly ungovernable.

The circle of retaliatory raids and massacres has defied security measures. Several military operations, law enforcement initiatives and inter-faith dialogues have simply failed to curtail the internecine warfare that has engulfed Jos, indeed Plateau State and a large swath of Central Nigeria.

The inter-ethnic conflict in Plateau State, which has pitted the Fulani herders against local farmers in an area that is unarguably one of the most arable and fertile lands in Nigeria, had led to the death of hundreds of people, with villages pillaged and settlements razed to the ground.

Plateau State has a history steeped in pre-colonial history, primarily between settled communities who assert their ownership of the land and have resisted oppression and domination since the pre-colonial times. In the last two decades, the nomadic herdsmen who also lay claims to the land and deny that they are settlers and citizens of the same country have been at daggers drawn. The Fulani claim they have rights and stakes as other citizens of the same country.

There is however, the increasing involvement of heavily armed jihadist elements or those Jonathan Ishaku referred to as the Janjaweed from the Sahel, who have no ancestral link with Nigeria, but have invaded the country spreading terror, banditry, and insurgency, not just in the Middle Belt but across the nation.

These elements have resorted to criminality, such as cattle rustling, kidnapping, destruction of the crops of farmers, raping of women and the indiscriminate killing of people irrespective of their religious persuasions and environmental destruction.

The word genocide is now increasingly at play in the Plateau mayhem. Aside from the ethno-religious and other primordial divides is the struggle for political hegemony and control of the vast natural resources of the Plateau.

With indigenous population hard pressed by the growth of communities and increasingly scarce water and land resources, the locals have fought against the Fulani herdsmen who they described as settlers.

They accused the Fulani of seizing lands, if necessary by force, destroying their communities and livelihood and mounting reprisal raids, using sophisticated weapons.

The Fulani have also claimed attacks on them by the indigenous populations, which they said are under-reported, hence the reprisal attacks. The nature of the crisis has been divisive and polarizing, destroying the Plateau’s peace and diversity; with the best weather for tourism and livelihood in jeopardy.

With the country’s many years of peaceful coexistence among the diverse groups, the crisis in Plateau in nobody’s interest; certainly not in the national interest. And it is symptomatic of the general malaise that has afflicted the entire country.

The first motion that was debated in 2003 in the fifth National Assembly was a call on the Federal government to restore law and order in Plateau. It was moved by Hon, Victor Lar representing Langtang North and South Federal Constituency. Lar narrated the scorching nature of the conflict and the death of thousands of people from both sides.

Since 2001, Hon Lar told the House, more than 7000 people had been killed with over 50,000 people displaced. The motion was passed, and a committee set up to visit the area. I was a member of the adhoc committee. In Jos and most communities visited in Plateau State, we saw deserted villages, unharvested crops, burnt farms, and farmhouses, and displaced people.

It was difficult to believe that the Langtang we visited was home to the famed Langtang mafia and some of the finest generals and military officers the nation had ever produced, including Generals Gowon, Bali, Jerry Useni, Brigadier John Shagaya and several retired generals, Colonels, Admirals, former military governors, ministers and some of the most powerful men in Nigeria during Military rule.

These influential officers held sway during that predatory era, camouflaging ancient disputes and deep-seethed anger with military diktat. The end of that era revived mutual distrust and violence.

In Langtang, we saw the stately homes of the generals protected by soldiers. We also saw burnt-out villages and overcrowded IDP camps. The high-heeled generals and their families had fled to the safety of Abuja, Kaduna, Jos, and London.

When President Olusegun Obasanjo declared a state emergency in Plateau State in 2004 and suspended the polarizing Governor Joshua Dariye, Jos witnessed a short spell of peace for three to five years.

Between 2005 and 2011, I visited Jos frequently to see my son who was a student of the Nigeria Airforce Military School. Although Jos had become relatively peaceful, on every visit, I held my breath. Military checking points were mounted on every kilometer, from Akwanga in Nassarawa State, through burnt out villages, abandoned farms and despairing populations along the Southern Kaduna stretch of the undulating road, to the Plateau the story was the same. I was relieved when my son graduated from High School in 2011.

Plateau enjoyed a spell of peace till 2014 when the campaign to oust GoodLuck Jonathan from power by Northern elites aroused another bout of bedlam. The demons engaged in a blood for blood struggle, and once again revived and activated mayhem.

But, with the victory of Muhammadu Buhari in the Presidential Election, there appeared to have been a pause. And now, there’s a reoccurrence. Is this latest burst of violence a seasonal affliction, a man made operation or a spiritual problem, even as we discuss the 2027 election or evidence of the failure to resolve the the general problem of managing diversity?

The retired generals in the Middle Belt, who obviously live well, having amassed a lot of wealth to secure their immediate families have little or nothing to lose even if Nigeria is burnt to the ground.Instead, they have been asking that communities be given arms to defend themselves.

Self-defense, even in international law is legitimate. But it is obvious that in Nigeria, blood for blood produces more blood trails. We have shed more than enough blood. I expect the generals to proffer solutions on how to improve law enforcement, and efficient and effective military deterrence of the bloodletting. Not communities who are not trained to handle sophisticated weapons turning on each other.

The solution is simple: those given the mandate to lead should unite all their peoples and resolve their differences politically. The solution can be found in robust civic engagement, with sincerity, an appreciation of our common humanity and equal citizenship.

The relative peace in the Niger Delta resulted from the amnesty programme and the disarming of the militants under the Yar’Adua-Jonathan era. It is a clear example that with the political will and sincerity of purpose, peace can be negotiated and achieved. Peace is possible in the Jos Plateau and across Nigeria.