The sectarian riots and violence that took place in Jos in late November, 2008, left hundreds of people dead and billions of naira worth of property lost. Since the end of this crisis, rather than have a humble assessment of all that went wrong and make attempts to correct them, we now have another crisis of blame and buck passing.
Following the end of the violence, the seed of distrust had been sown. The Plateau State Government had wanted to swear in elected local government officials before the Presidency intervened. In the same week after the violence, the state governor, Jonah Jang’s request to see the president was turned down. There was also the debate as to who was to blame for the slow response of security officials in quelling the violence. The governor is regarded as the chief security officer of the state but this is just a myth as the governor does not have any explicit powers and control over security officials.
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In the last month, four separate probe panels have been set up. President Yar’ Adua has constituted a Federal Government panel to look into the reasons behind the Jos crisis and prescribe solutions. Jang has also constituted a panel, led by Justice Bola Ajibola to unravel the issues behind the Jos crisis. Both houses of the National Assembly have also set up panels. As we await the reports of the different panels, we have observed that the constitution and composition of the panels have become more important than the objective of setting them up. The argument as to who has the right to constitute a panel has become an issue of its own while the causes and solution to the Jos crisis are left unaddressed. Indeed, the state government had taken the Federal Government to court to determine who has the right to set up a panel on the crisis.
These events demonstrate in no small terms that there is lack of confidence and trust between the state and the federal government. Statements made by representatives of different sections of the community in Jos also take either the federal or the state position. There are complaints about the composition of the different panels by different groups. The question of probe has become a huge crisis itself rather than a process towards solution.
The crisis that has emerged in relation to the panels does not meet the expectation of those that have their lives and property and certainly does not meet the expectations of the generality of Nigerians. General observation of the area of violence shows that there is a combination of ethnic and religious undertones that now have a political colouration to it. If the federal and the state governments cannot agree on the principles to end this cycle of violence in Jos, it will amount to an act of diminished responsibility. People of different ethnic groups have been known to live together in peace until political manipulation came. In the constitution of the panels, we are surprised that there are evidences of another set of political manipulation which will not bring solution to the cycle of violence that has lasted over a decade.
Instead of attempts at healing the wounds that resulted from the violence, or rebuilding mosques and churches that were burnt or compensation for the families of the youth corpers that lost their lives, we have continuous and distracting debates and crisis of confidence on the constitution and composition of the probe panels. This is an unwanted memorial to the lives lost. We call on those concerned to be sober in their attitude and utterances and work towards a common solution.
