| YOUR LETTERS
Re: Plateau State: Alli and verdict of history
Kindly allow me a
space to react to a
write up by one Jonathan Ishaku which apparead in the Daily Trust of Thursday, July 22, 2004 attracted my attention because of a seeming contradiction between the contents and credentials of the writer as the “President of Information for Democracy and Development (IDD) Jos”.
I assume of course, that Mr. Jonathan is serious about the word democracy.
My concern is in your endorsement of the views of one Alhaji Garba Mohammed whom you claim belongs to a so-called Hausa/Fulani Development Association. First, I doubt very much if there is any organization called the Hausa/Fulani Development Association in Jos. I know of the existence of Jasawa Development Association which comes probably close to what you are claiming to exist. Secondly, Alh. Garba Mohammed whosoever he is, is not a member of that association as he does not qualify to be a member, being not from Jos as defined by the association’s cons-titution. More importantly however, Alh. Mohammed is presently not a happy man having lost his freedom to freely move around in Jos.
For if you had followed the aftermath of Alh. Mohammed’s unguarded and instigated outburst at the meeting with the administrator, you would have realised that he now moves in the company of police escorts at home and everywhere else he goes. Thirdly, Alh. Mohammed told the administrat6r that he is from Misau in Bauchi State and thus he is a resident of Jos and no more.
Now you quoted Alh. Mohammed as having told the administrator to the effect that Hausa/Fulanis are settlers and should let the indigenes vie exclusively for the Chairmanship of Jos North.
If there is any other thing undemocratic, this statement and its endorsement by you must qualify as the most undemocratic by any claimant, pseudo or real, to the democratic principle.
In its plain and elementary meaning democracy is the rule of the majority. It is antithetical to any consideration that confines it to anything that will not give expression to the majority. I am sure you will know that an indigene/settler dichotomy in a democracy, if it answers that name, has no place, since it has the effect of restricting the choice of a majority on the alter of a misleading and fictitious assumption as the indigene/settler dichotomy.
In a democracy, my assumption is that the indigenous population is what is sought to be protected as they have the numbers to constitute the majority and thus rule themselves. Where a so-called indigenous group is seeking an easy way out through a non-existent dichotomy, questions must be asked as to the genuineness of the claim to the area or domain in question.
Constitutionally, every segment of Jos city and indeed everywhere in Nigeria has a. right to contest for the Chairmanship or Councillorship and any other office in Plateau State and elsewhere. It is the electorate or population that will determine who gets the mantle of leadership.
As a democrat, I am sure you know this as elementary.
So it is disturbing to hear you endorsing the warped views of Alh. Garba which narrows the democratic space at best, and worst makes a mockery of the entire concept. Unless of course, there is a new theory of democracy which is known only to you and Alh. Garba.
If the so-called indigenes in Jos have the numbers, they do not need General Alli’ s fiat, which will exclude non indigenes or settlers, to win an election in Jos North. Where they do not have the numbers, they must bow to the wishes of the majority, while retaining their say as a majority. This am sure answers the question you raised in your piece on how the foundation of justice could be established in Plateau State.
You will agree that justice is only established where the majority are allowed to prevail, without any attempt to curtail or circumscribe their rights to that advantage. I recommend to you the setup in Sabongari area in Kano, in Sokoto and Kaduna, where non-indigenes have been elected into council positions owing to their commanding presence in those areas. None have challenged their right to be so elected, as it is a healthy development for the democratic course and the much touted national integration.
I must also say that your endorsement throw up the question as to the real owners of Jos. I believe the one simple way to resolve this protracted question is to allow a free contest, aside from other historical facts on the real creators and owners of Jos. Could you possibly be afraid of this real and practical test without governmental support and connivance to hide the truth?
One other issue you raised in your write-up is the clue to the burning of the Jos main market. My dear Jonathan, with the level of clarity I saw in your write-up, if you apply same to the puzzle in the burning of the market, you will arrive at an answer within minutes.
In my view, the starting point is who owns what is inside the market. Without any hesitation you will agree that Hausa/Fulani, Igbos and Yoruba own the entire market and surroundings amongst themselves. In your piece your fingers were pointing to the HausalFulani as possible perpetrators.
Now I do not know a rule which will propel the owner of a capital to self destruct. It seems to me that whoever are the perpetrators of the heinous act must be those that feel excluded in the largest economic activity on the Plateau, and who feel that they should have a better right to such activity since it is happening in their perceived land. Leading from this thesis must be an assumption, that once the economic hold is destroyed Jos will be vacated just like that for perceived owners of the land. I find this theory more plausible as the groups I mentioned above have between themselves lost a whooping 500 - 700 million Naira in the inferno.
I will leave some of the other things you said about Gen Chirs Alli to his public relations staff to respond, but must plead with you Mr. Ishaku to join in the effort to restore Plateau to its past glory. I see your write-up as a brilliant but futile and unnecessary attempt to further the embers of distortion and instability in Jos in particular and Plateau in general.
I should tell you that the Hausa/Fulani in Jos are there forever. It amounts to complete waste of time and energy to think they will simply pack and go and leave behind what they and their grandparents toiled to build. Any thinking to the contrary is wishful and unrealistic. The sooner we find a formula of living together the better for everyone. Let me say that towing the line of thinking of the likes of Solomon Lar or Dariye will bring nothing to Plateau State but destruction. That is unnecessary and too costly.
Muhammad Kabir,
Off Bauchi Road, Jos
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Re: Security alert by Luxury bus owners’ Association of Nigeria . It is interesting to read the
press statement credited
to Luxury Bus Owners Association of Nigeria on the front page of Daily Trust of July 22, 2004. While I commend the association for issuing the press statement, however they should also inform their members to put their vehicle in good condition to guard against vehicle’s breaking down on the road. Armed robbers usually use this opportunity to rob passengers of their belongings.
Moreover, the association should look into the neatly hidden clause “money collected cannot be refunded” even without completing the service paid for.
A case where a bus breaks down on the road, in the middle of the night and the only solution is to wait till the vehicle is repaired which usually takes one or two days is not fair.
Do you have to wait till the bus is repaired, because in most cases when it happened, the driver and the so-called Escort will stylishly leave passengers to their fate without making attempt to provide alternative.
I am competent to say this because, I have fallen victim twice to this act of your members. I and other passengers in this particular Luxury bus have to look for alternative using our money, having been told by the bus driver that, he was not having fund with him.
My point is if I and other passengers in that bus did not have enough money on us, how do we get to our destination at the appointed time?
Therefore, I am urging the association to teach their members efficient service delivery as being campaigned for in the present dispensation. They are all part of dividend of democracy, as we all have a stake in making the nation a pride place to live in.
Abdulrasaq Abolurin
ARMECO Limited, Kakuri, Kaduna
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