SUDDEN FEAR IN THE LAND I WAS BORN
SUDDEN FEAR IN THE LAND WHERE I WAS BORN
Hail to the great land where I was born, a land naturally endowed with both human and natural resources. A land Located at the middle belt of Nigeria with different good sites for tourisms. So bless and rich is the soil that unique agricultural produce are cultivated on it like the oaths, wheat, sugar cane, potatoes, tomatoes, to mention but few. The hospitality and peaceful coexistence of the people over the ages has made the land to be known as the home of peace and tourism. With the enormous mineral resources in the land, mining becomes the predominant occupation of the people. The great land of tin ore, Jos [Tin city]!
Plateau State is a land with great cultural heritage which could be figured out anywhere in the world.
Great are the people!
Great is the land!
Growing up in Jos, I never knew that there would be a time of doom. With no premonitions, everyone moves freely, day in, day out in search for greener pastures. There was a freedom of worship which makes everyone professes his or her faith freely. Children were not exposed to incentive killings on the street and the city was heavily secured which makes everyone moves freely at night till dawn. I grew up to meet a city highly admired by foreigners who picked solace in the mild and cold climate found in Jos after their sojourn through the harsh climatic conditions found in most west African countries. Little to wonder then why the first white settlers, on reaching the land, felt great ease and exclaimed ‘Jesus our savior’ [Jos], as it is being called today. No one was having another in mind, there was an absolute peaceful co-existence in the land. Such was the land where I was born and raised.
Then suddenly, there was a drastic change. It all began on Friday the 7th day of September 2001. Yelling and crying for help was all we could hear from different directions. There was a state of pandemonium, where people were running aimlessly to different directions for refuge. What went wrong? That was the question that rose on my mind, but there was no one to feed me with such answers.
Prior to this date, there was an incident that occurred, the Jos main market [Terminus] was boombed and set ablaze by unknown figures, making thousands of its inhabitants jobless. Could that be linked to the crisis? Only God knows. All we could see in the street was rampage, blood streams, flowing down the road with their tributaries joining. There was a total division in the town. Each ethnic group dominates an avenue in which a member of the opposing group dares not enter. Just as the Feringada, Angwanrogwo and Katako areas were dominated by the hausa extraction, the Apata/Jenta axis were conquered by the Igbo/Christain group.
It was very disgusting to see children whose parents have been murdered, running hopelessly and aimlessly, shading tears of blood. Even Mosques and Churches were set ablaze. The culprits of these acts were the supposed Christians and Muslims in our society. Where is the regard for the almighty God which everyone claims to adore? Individual buildings and establishments were intentionally vandalized; making the land more like a hell. What a height of man’s wickedness and intolerance to another that no one caught, was spared, even the physically challenged, children or women. Able youths who have dreams were put to tragic ends if met. Goody, secondary school mate was a victim. He was cut with a middle size matchet and was left to run back home with the matchet right inside his head. On reaching our neighborhood, he fell down and gave up.
We cannot deny the fact that these immoral acts and ruthless killings greatly paralyzed the activities in the state, making it no longer safe for living. The damages continued until an intervention was made by the then head of state, president Olusegun Obasanjo Who sent in troops to wage the crisis. But the question is, did they succeed after all? They only succeeded in calming the rampages but not putting an end to the crisis because there is still a cold war till date where people tend to be restricted in their movement at intervals. People are now dyeing silently and people barely account for them. And in any slight provocation, such incident reoccurs. Similar was the case on another Friday, the 28th day of November 2008. There was yet another similar bloody crisis which took away thousands of lives and many properties were also vandalized.
Has it now become our new way of life? Have we eventually sold out our conscience for violence? Many questions have risen on what could actually be the cause of this state of disorderliness. Many researchers attribute it to ethnicity. This I disagree because the two pronounced ethnic groups that are mostly involved in this crisis are the Hausa and Igbo. And having known fully well that the two mentioned groups are strangers in the said land, I wonder how two strangers would be fighting over a strange land. Some are of the opinion that it started between the Hausa and the Landlords [Plateau indigenes] and then extended to the Igbo group while some other researchers are of the view that it has to do with religious differences.
On earth, there is a general belief in an existence in a supreme being which is God. The different religions we have all over the world today is simply different perspectives by which a group of people acknowledges the Supreme Being. Let us be realistic, no religion in the world that its doctrine encourages insensitive killing of human and vandalizing of properties. God frowns at all these indecent behaviors. Let us come back to our senses, knowing fully well that we are fighting falsely in the name of God, there is no reward for the wicked but retribution.
The youths are mostly the tools for accomplishing these acts. They are being filled with all sorts of lies and material things by some selfish politicians who are just after their selfish urges. They don’t care about the future of these youths so the youths must be cautious of them. Don’t be deceived because you have a good life to live and not that of fear. We all must come together in dialogue to settle our differences amicably irrespective of one’s tribe, religion and political interest. We must all bear in mind that the economy of the state and that of the entire nation is in jeopardy as a result of these shameful acts. The insecurity has scared off many investors who could have invested greatly in the state, creating more employments for our youths. It is our responsibility to build up a great nation, so we must not be involved in such acts of vandalism. Dialogue remains the best option in settling differences so we must stick to it and for the sake of our future generations, let us not inculcate the spirit of wickedness and hate in them, for they still remains the future leaders. By exposing them to all these insensitive killings, we are only creating a future of hooligans where immoral courage reigns with sudden fear. Are these worth it? Search your conscience!
BY SYLVESTER CHIKELUE NNOLI
