Residents of Jos the Plateau State Capital has described the current peaceful atmosphere being experienced in the State as a dream they thought will never come true, especially since after the crisis that engulfed the State before the present administration took over the mantle of leadership.
This is no doubt also the reason Mr President, Muhammadu Buhari, is visiting Plateau to witness the peaceful atmosphere and to congratulate the Governor for making the security of lives and property one of its topmost priority.
The President who will also commission some projects executed by Governor Simon Lalong’s administration, had earlier said in one of its broadcast that without peace there cannot be development.
The coming on board of the Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA), at the inception of this administration is no doubt why the Lalong led administration is celebrating 30 months of peace in Plateau, especially in the Tin city of Jos, which was before now characterized by incessant bomb blast.
A political observer who once lived in Jos and left as a result of the crisis whom our correspondent ran into in the cause of filing this report on a stop over visit narrates thus: “My growing up days were full of excitement and this memorable experience was characterized by the peaceful, friendly, and cozy environment that can only be found on the Plateau”.
He continued: “I arrived Jos through the Yakubu Gowon Airport on board Arik Air, full of nostalgia and apprehension. I looked forward to an evening of relaxation after a one-hour flight: around 7pm, I took a walk around the city, expecting to see burnt houses and dilapidated structures as a result of the theatre of incessant crisis that had bedeviled the state: I was rather disappointed by seeing the large number of white guests in the lobby, the restaurant and bar, with street lights on the major roads, suddenly my impression was reshaped that things are back to normal; the following morning as I drove around the state, I couldn’t believe how much the city of Jos and indeed the Plateau had changed into a city that can be best described as the once peaceful city that we all used to know”, he said.
This testimony of peace cannot be discussed with the tireless effort of the Director General, Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA), Mr Joseph Lengmang, who since inception of the Agency, has canvassed the length and breath of the State bringing stakeholders on a round table discus and proffering solutions to the crisis that has torn the state apart.
Lengmang, using proactive measures, developed various platforms of meeting points were stakeholders come together to discus issues of early warning signs of conflicts before it escalates.
Mr. Lengmang had earlier said the Agency will be focusing on building sustainable structures of peace within the grassroot.
“We are poised to develop a sustainable peace platforms in all the wards and Local Government Councils, to further push the message of peace to the grassroots”, he said.
With support from the United States of America through its Embassy in Abuja, the Plateau Peace Agency once got a nine-month financial support to further foster peace between the waring Fulani herdsmen and farmers.
The Agency and the Embassy held a nine-month consultative forum with stakeholders in the 17 LGA’s in Plateau with the aim of providing solutions to the perennial problem.
The project which was tagged ‘Mechanism for Sustainable Cooperation and Transformation of Farmers/Herder Conflict in Plateau State’ was tasked to develop policy framework and mechanism to address the protracted farmers/herders conflict.
However in one of it’s engagement with citizens of the State to further brainstorm on peace process, Lengmang said the Agency with its core values of fairness, equality and justice, believes that the task of sustainable peace building and conflict prevention can only thrive in an atmosphere of inclusiveness.
“We uphold the principle of wider consultation and popular participation of relevant stakeholders to deliver on our goals and target by also upholding and promoting the ideas of impartiality and objectivity by believing in the sanctity of human dignity that all human beings are equal and deserves to be respected as such, irrespective of their race, ethnicity, religion, ideology and party affiliation”, he said.
No wonder, the Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo, at the recently concluded National Summit on Security held in Abuja, commended the Plateau State Government for bringing on board the Peace Building Agency, for the purpose of addressing conflicts, with emphasis on Berom community and the Fulani face off.
Osinbajo said, “we are mindful of the Peace-Building efforts in Plateau State, for example, the Government constituted a Peace and Reconciliation Committee to work with the Berom and Fulani communities which had been at loggerheads for years.
“The Government also went ahead to establish the Plateau State Peace Building Agency, the first of its kind by any State Government in Nigeria: Since its creation in 2016, the Agency has fulfilled its mandate of resolving conflicts and tackling the underlying causes and triggers: the results have been encouraging; Plateau State, once the hotbed of ethnic and communal violence in the North Central, has enjoyed a great deal of peace in the last two years”, the Vice President said.
To cap it all, the PPBA, through its vibrant DG developed a Five-Year Strategic Plan Document To End Conflict, which the unveiling will be performed by President Buhari during his visit.
The unveiling of the document by the President himself shows the seriousness attach to peace building in the State and the country at large.
Lengmang had earlier said citizen engagement in peace building process is key, hence the support and cooperation of the people becomes imperative as citizens have a very important responsibility to secure their lives.
He said the validated document hopes to capture the interests of the people with regards to peace and security, as it has clearly outlined chains of activities that the agency would role out for the period of five years.
However, in an interaction with our correspondent on President Buhari’s visit the PPBA’s DG said “as we anticipate the arrival of the President of the Federal republic of Nigeria to Plateau state on 8th March 2018, we are so excited at the prospects that his first official state visit will offer us as citizens of Plateau state.
“Our joy knows no bounds, as the Plateau State Roadmap to Peace, a Five-Year Strategic Plan Document which was developed by the Plateau Peace Building Agency in collaboration with several stakeholders will be formally launched.
“Mr. President alongside the Executive Governor of Plateau State-our Chief Peacemaker will unveil this important document during a Town Hall meeting where pertinent Governance, Peace and Security would be discussed.
“As a people, we know where we have been, we know the struggles and difficulties we have encountered and we understand the overreaching implications of our children to growing up in an environment of hate and mutual suspicion. In fact, we know first the drawback associated with conflict and violence”.
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.