How would an Oyibo man solve a problem like Jos? First, he will articulate the real issues and not shy away from any ramifications of the problem. Here in Nigeria, panels are set up to investigate such problems, where they seal off their minds to some possibilities or fail to put all likely causes and effects on the table. Many times, such panels already have their minds made up before they commence sitting. Also, a lot of the reports they come up with are influenced by the biases and prejudices of the key members, if not entirely by the committee leader. That said, this is how I see the problem in Jos:
Jos is a multiple accident scene. Not physical accidents but that of ideology, of religion, of politics, of history, of economics, of the traditional versus the modern, of psychologies. This presents a great puzzle to decipher. But Jos is at once a call for Nigeria to commence solving its problems holistically, shunning all its prejudices. The modus operandi in Nigeria has always been hypocrisy, where one party plays holier-than-thou, pointing fingers at the other. Perhaps a quote from former Military President Ibrahim Babangida will help at this stage;
“We should not allow national discourse to degenerate to a level where we begin to see a difference between our past and present in terms of absolute. Evil versus good, corruption versus holiness, soldiers versus civilians, saints versus sinners… we are sharpening the edges of conflicts in the society.”
Indeed all that is happening in Jos today, could be found in the above statement by IBB. How? Just a few days ago, the youth wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), issued a scathing statement on the issue of Jos, casting aspersions on the Hausa/Fulani Muslims and asking for Soldiers to be withdrawn from the town. They were clear in their minds that soldiers ALWAYS supported the Muslims against them. The singular question that comes to my mind when this allegation is made against the soldiers and peace-keepers in Jos, is; ‘Are all the soldiers posted to Jos Muslims?’ Surely that is not possible. Just a few days later, someone erroneously reported to be an ‘ad-hoc staff’ of INEC, was chased and lynched by some Berom youths, as the soldiers looked on. So who is supporting who?
A few days before the CAN statement, the Council of Ulamas in Jos also released a statement in which they blamed the governor for what is going on in Jos. They claim he is something of a tribalist, and called for a state of emergency to be declared in the state. I would tread cautiously on that matter too, for it may not be true that the governor himself decides to set his state on fire from time to time. Overall, the two camps made it clear that what we are seeing in Jos, are mere dress-rehearsals compared to what is to come. When in January 2010, a series of violent eruptions seized Jos, the then Acting President visited and declared that ‘NEVER AGAIN’ will such happen. That is the sort of hollow treatment of our problems that has led us to where we are today. NEVER AGAIN, how? Of course, everybody went into denial mode, until the next volcanic eruption.
One thing is for sure; the hatred between Muslims and Christians, so-called ‘indigenes’ and so-called ‘settlers’, is now deeper than ever, and more palpable on the streets of Jos, and this is spreading fast to other parts of Nigeria. It is a fact that the politics of today is the politics of ‘divide-and-rule’, where politicians, even at the highest echelon, go about pitching one group against the other and subtly exploiting the differences between our innocent, honest and poor people, just to gather votes. They often know how to create the problems, but not how to solve them.
The problem of Jos will not be easy to solve, and it will take time. But we must commence immediately. Jos will not heal except we heal nationally. Jos will not heal until we can find leaders of large heart and great philosophical standing. Jos is a call for people to quit their religious bigotry and have a godly heart that is ready to accommodate others. Jos is a call to liberalism in our thoughts and actions. Jos is a call to share of the little we have and ditch the destructive sense of entitlement (of always thinking the world owes us rather than seeing our responsibility to make the world a better place). The Jos problem will continue to be there if Christians see Muslims as evil and Muslims see Christians as infidels.
The people of Jos must admit, that it is with the invention of the Theodolite, that instrument with which the ‘oyibo’ man measures land and draws maps, that the matter of who owned what land became even more contentious. Our forefathers had land boundaries but many times these were flexible. That is the reason why the Hausa/Fulani community was allowed to ‘settle’ in parts of Jos, over 200 years ago. Just how many years is the cut-off point, by which we should consider someone a settler or indigene? Are there any international standards? Is 200 years not enough for one to become an indigene of a place? The cases of Zimbabwe and South Africa may help us here. The Boers (Dutch people), settled in South Africa over 500 years ago. One cannot say they are settlers. But the British who settled in Zimbabwe came with colonization in the mid 1800s and though they are now indigenes, they were made to allow the Zimbabweans rule themselves in 1980. Still, it can be argued that everybody migrated to where they are today. No one grows onto a land from one spot. So, what is happening in Jos may need international intervention and interpretation.
Traditional society collides with the modern. Traditionally, our people had more understanding and love for each other in the olden days. But rather than progress, our society in Nigeria became one of rancor. Considering the economics of what is going on, traditional economics was accommodating. But modern economics considers ownership rights, the value of land and of course all the modern natural resources which our forefathers never bothered with. Jos is the scene of a great pile-up accident of philosophical proportions. Jos is a call to Nigerians to straighten their ways and recognize that we are all one, created by God. Only those with a large heart, a broad vision, great knowledge and wisdom and a clean, unbiased mind, could ever solve the puzzle. Punishing culprits alone cannot solve the problem. It would even deepen enmity.
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