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Extension of emergency rule inevitable in Plateau - Moses
Tapgun
As the first phase of the state of emergency
declared in Plateau State by the Federal Government is due to elapse next
month, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state,
and also immediate past Chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in the
state, Mr. Moses Tapgun, in this interview with Special
Correspondent Onoja Audu in Jos, bares his
mind on many issues that affect the state politically. He canvasses an
extension of the emergency rule in the state to allow Gen. Chris Alli’s
administration resolve many of the political/ethnic divisions that led to the
declaration of the state of emergency by the Federal Government. He warns that
any attempt to rush Alli out due to calls for the reinstatement of the
suspended democratic structures will abort the much-needed peace in the state.
Tapgun also commends the Federal Government over the setting up of Unity and
Reconciliation Commission, saying that the commission will enable aggrieved
parties in the Plateau conflict to openly air their grievances. Excerpts:
Serious debate is currently going in Plateau State among the
political elite. In your own opinion as a top politician in the state, do you
think the state of emergency should be extended to give Chris Alli’s
administration more time to consolidate on the peace so far recorded in the
state or the state of emergency rule should terminate on November 18, 2004?
My position concerning the state of emergency that
was clamped on my state is this: I have always advocated for more time to be
given to Gen. (Chris) Alli to
attend to numerous political/ethnic conflicts that have ravaged my state. The
question of peace is not something one can get overnight because it took a long
time for us to get to the crisis situation where we are now. It is not
unexpected as there is a saying that it is very easy to destroy than to
rebuild. It is always difficult to rebuild because it takes a longer time to
build. So looking at what has transpired in Plateau State in the last five years
and with my experience in politics over the years, let me tell you that I am in
support for the extension of the state of emergency to enable proper peace to
return. In addition to that, you know that this conflict thing happened during
the rainy season and most of the refugees couldn’t have come back during
the rains, because the ground was wet and they couldn’t have re-built
their houses by now. So, there is need for us to allow them to settle because
it is now dry season that they are coming back from where they ran to seek
refugee. I think, we should also wait and see what the reaction of the people
will be towards the refugees that are returning, before the democratic
structures are brought back to their former status in the state. May I ask what
will happen if they come back and there is another attack? Will there be
another state of emergency or what? So, I believe we should carefully handle
this matter with caution, that is why I am advocating for an extension of the
emergency rule in the state.
Don’t
you think any government in power after Gen. Alli might have left could
consolidate on the gains so far made towards the peace process in your state?
No: I believe that Gen. Alli who was able to achieve
this feat so far knows what holes he will block and, therefore, should be
allowed to block all the holes and tighten the knots even stronger so that
there will be proper peace. I know that some other persons probably could do
better, but it is a probability. It is not the sure thing. The sure thing we
have at hand now is the person that has done us great in bringing peace to the
state after so many lives have been wasted. It is on the basis of this that I
am saying Gen. Alli should be given more time to tackle the political/ethnic
crisis that has brought us to the present ugly situation we finds ourselves.
Why
are you having this reservation on the relative peace now being enjoyed in the
state?
I have strong reservations because I’m glad you
said relative peace, not proper peace. You know one cannot be sure of the
reaction of the people when the refugees come back. Those structures that some
people are eagerly asking government to return to their former status were the
same structures that were there when trouble came. What school have they gone
within these six months to prepare them to begin to handle crisis situations
now? Why is it that people are rushing within this short period of the
emergency to ask for the return of the suspended structures in the state? If
the structures are returned, could they be able to do what they couldn’t
have done before? They have nothing to show that they have learnt any lesson to
the best of my knowledge! I’ve not seen anything they’ve done. They
are still screaming and making inflammatory statements and so on. That is not
the way things should go. You don’t get peace that way. So, it is on the
basis of all these that I said time should be given so that everybody will settle
down and the refuges resettle, the inhabitants or the indigenes would receive
them. And the way they are received will determine the other factors that will
follow.
What
is your assessment of the just concluded Plateau Peace Conference?
I supported it whole-heartedly. I advocated for it
earlier on. And I don’t see any reason why I should not support it now,
because everybody knows where he belongs and all the little differences that
were there have been highlighted. We know each other’s feelings now; we
know each other’s opinions now, and I think we will be able to stay
together peacefully more than ever before. I think that it is on the basis of
this kind of dialogue that people are advocating for a national conference.
Do
you think the peace conference was able to achieve the purpose for which it was
conceived?
Yes! The conference, to some extent, justified the
purpose for which it was set up. I think there was the problem of time
constraint and that affected them. But the little they were able to do which
I’ve seen and heard, I think they’ve done a lot within a limited
time. I’d thought they would be given more time so that more people would
be able to go there and air their views instead of allowing them contemplate
having a Truth and Reconciliation Commission. I had thought this peace
conference would be the avenue
where people would come and air their personal views on situations and
grievances. But there was no time! So, they were able to just narrow themselves
into key issues.
What
are those issues in your own personal assessment during the conference?
I feel happy that the conference participants were
able to discuss the problem of indigene-settler issue in the state as well as
the problem of boundary and farmlands problems amongst the communities in the
state. I feel okay about inter-personal relationship existing between those who
are residing there and those who came from elsewhere to reside in the affected
communities. Also, some chieftaincy scuffles here and there and areas that were
merged with other areas were touched at the conference which, to my mind, will
help the people to be relieved of the pressure we put over issues we know
little or nothing about.
Do
you think that the resolutions on land ownership and indigeneship reached at
the conference, if implemented, will bring the parties together?
You see, I don’t really believe that Plateau
crisis was just on land and indigene issue; they were only used as instruments.
The whole issue was political. The crises were caused purely on political
grounds. And I’d kept hammering on that and nobody wants to listen. You
see, when you deny people the right to choose their own leaders, you create
hatred, you create disaffection, you create worry all over the place. That was
precisely the problem. When you choose somebody for the people or you impose
somebody who knows nothing about your problem, that was the cause of all the
problems. And what happened was that when people realised that, they forced
people to go and vote, even when they knew those people who they voted are not
going to be around to represent the people. That heated the system. So, when
this crisis happened, people started going back to their religion and falling
back to their tribes, and there was conflict. If they had allowed the people to
vote and if I decided to vote a Hausa man to represent me, what is your
business? If I want to vote an Ankwai man, what is your business? But, when you
say the person you want must represent me, whether I like it or not, the
chances are that I’m likely going to run back to my pastor and say,
‘look oh, see what these people are doing to me’. The pastor is
likely to use this to preach. When that doesn’t work, I will run back to
my friends and tell them, ‘look, this government doesn’t like my
people, why are they doing that to us?’ They’re likely to listen.
And then we will form a bloc and wants to fight back. And this is the cause of
the conflict. It is not land issue. It did not happen outside politics. It has
political connotation. And the earlier we address this properly the better for
all of us who are citizens of Plateau State.
Some
people have argued that Plateau State Unity and Reconciliation Commission Bill,
which is pending before the National Assembly, will be counter-productive to
the peace process in the state, what is your reaction to this fear?
I’ve just told you that. I think I support the
President in this direction, because the time given for that peace conference
was limited. And people who were there were not able to air their views like
they would’ve wanted to. I mentioned it earlier. I’d thought the
peace conference would include this reconciliation of a thing. And that
wasn’t to be. So, there must be an opportunity for the people to go and
say, ‘you’ve done that to me; why did you do it?’ For
instance, we were in PDP, you understand? Some rats, who just came, removed us
out from the PDP and threw us out into AD. Now, we’ve gone back there,
there’s the need for me to say you, Mr. ABC, you’re a rat with a
hole! You caused this problem! You did that, you did that! And, if the public
gets to know, then, we’ll get to know the kind of people we have; we will
know the kind of people we can rally round and work with on the political
arena. And that will bring about stability and peace.
Don’t
you think that by implications this would open up old wounds?
You don’t close old wounds when they have not
been healed, because the wounds will always resurface. You must heal the wounds
from the beginning. And that is the beginning. Those at the Peace Conference,
mark you, were just the representatives of their people. They couldn’t
have aired the views of the people. No! Give the people the chance to say what
they want to say themselves. Then you get to know their feelings properly. Even
these representatives had limited time to air their views as they would have
wanted to in the process of representing their people. The only thing you know,
they went into small sessions and by the time you know it, they’re
preparing their report.
So, if you don’t know the cause of the problem,
you can never solve that problem. The cause of this problem, just like
I’ve pointed out to you earlier, as far as I’m concerned now, is
political. Nobody has called me for any discussion. Nobody has called for any conference.
At the conference, there was no opportunity for me to be able to present a
paper about the way I think or some of us think about the situation. If old
wounds will heal the wounds and if re-opening old wounds will heal the wounds
then, why not? At times, surgically, let me borrow from doctors, you have to
cut up portion of the skin and
then skin-graft the new skin there, before the thing will heal. But not when
the wound is so deep; the wound is rotten, then you carry a new skin and put on
top, it will swell up. That is what I’m trying to say. This thing,
you’re trying to play with lice. The lice will always bite your head. I
was just going through one magazine, the Crystal Magazine, and I read there
Jubril Aminu was saying that Plateau State was a creation of the colonialists
and they picked portions of Bauchi, Adamawa and put them together and that is
why there is this problem. You understand? But, the situation is not like that.
That is not the situation! Even in Adamawa State, there are still crises; even
in Bauchi, there were crises.
Even
Niger Delta?
(cuts in) No! No! No! The case of Niger Delta is
different from what we have here. It is not about land! Nobody is claiming the
land. What they are saying is that the resources in their land they want to
have part of them. In fact, they want to control them. There, they are after
the resources. Nobody wants to take the land from them. But ours, somebody
wants to take the land. He is claiming the land belongs to him. And you are
saying no, the land doesn’t belong to you! There are two different things
completely. So, we should not be comparing and contrasting, No! Niger Delta is
a different ball-game.
Is
there any lesson that the people of Plateau State have learnt or have they
benefited from the state of emergency rule?
They have benefited in terms of peace right now. They
have benefited from the fact that their salaries are being paid. You
don’t know what lack of this salary has caused the people. So many have
died, because they could not afford drugs. So many children have been out of
school because their fees could not be paid. So many pensioners have died
inglorious deaths after serving the nation well. So, it is unfortunate they
couldn’t reap the little benefits that should have accrued to them. And you
know this thing has ripple effects. The traders can now buy things for sale;
and there are people to buy them. So, the economic life of Plateau State is
beginning to pick up. You know it, I know it and everybody knows it. Yes! You
are only pretending that we don’t know. We know the benefits. And those
benefits I have mentioned to you. And, I can assure you that Plateau State is a
civil servants state. And civil servants are very happy right now. And they
will be very glad to hear that the situation remains like that, so that they
can continue to enjoy their benefits. So, they’ve never had democratic
dividends since the beginning of this democratic dispensation. They’re
just beginning to have a feel of these dividends.
And that is why I believe Plateau has benefited from this
state of emergency. People sit outside and talk of democracy. Yes, state of
emergency should not come during democratic dispensation. That is so, because
you are not affected. You are sitting in your state, nobody is dying; your
parents have not been killed, you have lost nothing, your property have not
been burnt, so you can afford to say anything. But, if you are here in Plateau,
you’ll have known the gravity of this. If you’ve lost a beloved
one, you’ll know the gravity of this situation. If as a result of
poverty, you’ve lost a loved one, you cannot take her to the hospital,
you will know the gravity of the situation. So these are the things we are
talking about. We are politicians, we will have been clapping, but, honestly,
we know the value of democracy, we know there was no such value. So, that is
why some of us supported the state of emergency in Plateau State.
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