The suspended
governor of Plateau
State, Chief Joshua Chibi Dariye, has broken his silence since the declaration of a state of emergency in the state, saying he accepts responsibility for everything.
In an exclusive interview with Daily Trust at the weekend in Jos, Dariye declared that his government accepted responsibilities for the crisis in the state “but we did our best to stop it.”
He said the imposition of the state of emergency on the state has helped him to look at things in a better perspective than before.
“I accept responsibility for the crisis because I am the leader. I now resign my fate to God. I came nearer to God and discovered that there are certain people who can give you solutions that will put you into trouble.
“So as far as I am concerned, I will remain silent and even after the state of emergency, I will remain silent because I discovered that when you open your mouth too wide, you might be in trouble. So I believe that the best thing for any leader to do in this coun-try is to fear God,” he said.
He explained that his decision to remain silent over the events that led to the declaration of the state of emergency was deliberate in order not to join issues with any one.
“What I will like to say for now is there is no comment. It will be prejudicial for me to say anything. I don’t want to talk because there is an administrator who is looking into the matter and he is trying to put things together.
“Whatever the circums-tance was, we dAid our best to stop the crisis before the state of emergency. I don’t want to comment on this issue. I pray that we will put these thing behind us bec-ause I believe that the state of emergency will wipe away those things so that we can build on a good foundation.”
The suspended governor told Daily Trust that contrary to the believe that his government did not want the Muslim community in the state, he worked for the Muslims and respects the religion.
He said the insinuation is not true, pointing out that religious problems existed in the state even before he was made the governor in 1999.
According to him, with over 50 percent of his family who are Muslims, “I cannot dislike the Muslims as some people are saying.”
He said the problem has gone beyond Plateau State and that it needed to be addressed for the unity and oneness of this country.
“I not dislike the Muslims as widely misund-erstood because I also have family members who are Muslim. If you look at the pattern of crisis in this country, it has its history because it did not start from Plateau State.
“At the age of 47, I know what is good for this country. I think silence is the best. We should be prayerful with the situation we find our self.
“We should return to God and find out what we did wrong or good. We should bear with the situation at hand like I told Mr President during one of my visits to him that, thank you for the state of emergency because it helped me to see things better.”
He advised those polit-icians he described as oppo-rtunists not to take the advantage of the situation in the state to tarnish the image of his government saying that “God did not consult an-yone before the declaration of the state of emergency.”
He said, “To tarnish som-eone’s image or shorten his tenure is not the answer. We should know that there is somebody called God who sees the heart of a man and who will make things right.”
According to him, even if his administration decided on all variables “you can have a date with destiny. So let it be, it is better to judge an officer when he is in the office.”
Chief Dariye maintained that even if his regime is terminated, “I told people that I will remain a citizen of this great country and contribute my quota.
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