Former Plateau State Governor, Jonah David Jang, has attributed the prolonged crisis in the state to unresolved questions of identity, land ownership, justice and belonging, arguing that years of ignored grievances, denied rights and failures of leadership allowed tensions to develop into sustained violence.
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Jang, in his new book, From Airman to Politics: My Life, unveiled in Jos on August 1, said the roots of the Plateau crisis were both historical and man-made, adding that warning signs had existed for decades before the violence escalated.
Hundreds of people have been killed in different episodes of violence across Plateau State since 2001, while communities have suffered repeated attacks, displacement and destruction of property.
Reflecting on the origins of the crisis, Jang said: “When I look back on the roots of the crisis that engulfed Plateau State, I see a tragedy that was both historical and man-made. It was a storm that had been brewing for decades, yet it was allowed to erupt because of a series of failures in leadership and governance.”
According to the former governor, the conflict cannot be understood solely as a security problem because it is rooted in longstanding disputes over identity, access to land, political participation and the question of who legitimately belongs in Plateau State.
“The Plateau crisis is about identity, land, justice and belonging. Long before the bombs, machetes and the mass burials, there were subtle signs: grievances left unaddressed, tensions ignored, rights denied and injustice institutionalised,” Jang said.
He identified the longstanding distinction between indigene status and citizenship as one of the central issues that fuelled tensions in the state.
“The question of indigene versus citizenship haunted our state. Who had the right to land? Who had the right to contest elections? Who had the right to be called a son or daughter of Plateau?” he asked.
Jang said the failure to resolve those questions allowed resentment and suspicion to deepen until violence became the consequence.
“These questions festered in silence until they erupted into bloodshed,” he stated.
The former governor, who also previously served as military governor of Benue and Gongola states, criticised successive administrations after his tenure for what he described as a failure to take decisive steps capable of addressing the underlying causes of the conflict.
He argued that relying predominantly on security responses would not bring lasting peace because Plateau also requires a deliberate process of healing, reconciliation and reconstruction.
“What Plateau needs and still needs is not just security but healing as well. Not just reconstruction, but reconciliation as well,” Jang said.
He called for a fundamental reassessment of the issues at the heart of the conflict, particularly citizenship, land, political power and access to opportunities.
“We must return to the drawing board and ask: What does it mean to be a Plateau citizen? How do we share land, power and opportunity in a way that respects history and embraces equality?” he said.
According to Jang, failure to confront those difficult questions during the years of violence is a major reason the crisis has continued.
“These questions were ignored during the years of violence, which is why the crisis continues,” he added.
Jang’s position is that a lasting solution to Plateau’s insecurity must therefore go beyond the deployment of security personnel and rebuilding destroyed communities to include reconciliation, justice and a political settlement of the disputes over identity, land, belonging and equality that he believes remain at the heart of the conflict.
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Authored by Ben Ijeoma Adigwe Esq., ACIarb (UK), LL.M, Dip. in Artificial Intelligence, Director at the Delta State Ministry of Justice, Asaba, Nigeria.
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