On Wednesday, May 18, 2022, Plateau State Governor Simon Bako Lalong approved the creation of 268 districts and village areas, as well as two chiefdoms across the 17 local government areas of the state. The approval for the chiefdoms and districts by the governor, according to a statement by his media aide, Makut Simon Macham, followed the review of the report of a Committee on the Creation of Chiefdoms, Districts and Village Areas in Plateau State, which was constituted on October 20, 2020, and headed by Chief D.G. Fompun.
One of the districts created was Yelwa, in Shendam Local Government Area, where the governor hails from. Yelwa, it would be recalled, attracted global attention early in May 2004. On May 2, 2004, to be precise, an attempted genocide on the predominantly Muslim residents claimed 630 lives, according to official statistics. The ugly incident was a consequence of the prolonged hostilities between Yelwa and its neighbours, whose inhabitants are predominantly non-Muslims. Then President Olusegun Obasanjo swiftly removed Joshua Dariye as governor, placed an emergency rule in the state, and started a process of “healing of wounds” therefrom.
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Now, almost 20 years after the indescribable incidents, many of Yelwa’s residents have picked their pieces and moved on. Of course, nearly half of the residents took sanctuary far away, especially in neighbouring Bauchi, Nasarawa and Taraba states.
And so, the creation of Yelwa District in May was, expectedly, greeted with excitement by the residents. For us, it was a conscious and strategic move by Lalong to deeply entrench the relative peace achieved in the area since the horrid happenings of 2004. Lalong, I need to stress, is quite conversant with the intricacies of the disputes between Yelwa and its neighbours. He hails from a village that is less than 20 kilometres away from the town. Also, he spent most of his childhood playing football and interacting with Yelwalites, either as cousins, friends or associates.
It is most unfortunate, however, that Yelwa’s name was struck off the gazetted districts when the Secretary to the Plateau State Government, Danladi Atu, published the final list on September 9. The message we got from the latest action is that Lalong’s earlier inclusion of Yelwa in the new districts was actually half-hearted.
Instructively, therefore, this exclusion disproves the earlier claim that the decision to create the districts was “part of the efforts by the Rescue Administration to increase inclusivity, unity, peace, harmony and development”. Governor Lalong’s mantra for enthroning a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere that will restore the glory of Plateau State as a home of peace has been widely acknowledged.
However, it bears repeating here that the inexplicable removal of Yelwa at the point of gazetting the 268 newly created districts clearly contradicts all the refrain. It would have been thought that if the Lalong administration were to create only one district in its eight years, it would be Yelwa. Because, Lalong, as stated above, is aware of the intricate circumstances of the livelihood of Yelwalites, who are predominantly Muslims, but surrounded by towns and villages which are largely inhabited by non-Muslims.
It seems Lalong did not reflect deeply on what this exclusion has done, or will ultimately do to his stint as governor of Plateau State. It will surely put strong doubts in the minds of many about his administration’s commitment to eliminating injustice and enthroning justice among the people. Presenting 2nd and 3rd Class Staff of Office to the Adagwom Izere Jos, Mr Emmanuel Ajik, and the Gwom Ibaas, Da Luka Pagyang Pam respectively on December 16, 2019, in Jos, Lalong said: “Under my watch, nobody will be treated as a second-class citizen or superior to another. We are created equal by God and must learn to live together in peace and unity”. Now, why is the case of Yelwa different?
Well, for us as a people in Yelwa, warts and all, we remain focused on our businesses, being a commercially-oriented people, who are hugely endowed by the Almighty with the skills to turn “stones into gold”.
Danlami Bala Apama wrote from Ungwar Galambi, Yelwa.
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