WHAT is your take on recent developments in Plateau State?
First and foremost, I want to observe a minute silence in honour of those who lost their lives in the recent killings in some parts of Plateau State namely; Jos North, Bassa, Riyom, Barkin Ladi and Mangu, among others.
It is very unfortunate, most unfortunate in the sense that Plateau State under the leadership of Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong has come to know peace over the years, and have enjoyed peace on the Plateau in the last six years until recently.
What has happened is just a misunderstanding, a crisis situation is not a good or welcome development in any community or state, particularly when people are living together with one another.
Governor Simon Bako Lalang is committed to peace on the Plateau that is why he has been carrying every body along in his government. There is one thing that you should understand, in any society, there are people who are not working for the peace of that society. There are people whose stock in trade is to ferment trouble and that is exactly what is happening on the Plateau.
What effort is the government making to ensure peaceful co-existence amongst the people of Plateau State.?
Well, the record of the governor on his peace mission is there for everybody to see since he was sworn in as governor in 2015. He pointed out categorically that the cardinal objective of his government is to restore peace back on the Plateau where Plateau State will maintain its position as Home of Peace and Tourism, which he did by putting machinery in place to achieve that. First and foremost, he set up a peace building commission, the first of its kind in the country.
The commission helped a lot in restoring peace in the state and as a result peace was finally restored in the state. From this you will agree with me that the governor is a peace loving person, he carries people along in governance because he is a peace loving person; anybody that knows him from childhood will testify. He look at the two major religions in the state as one family and has set the road for everybody in the state to live together peacefully. He has made sure that there is peace on the plateau and for the citizens to live in peace. Before now precisely 2015, Plateau State has been enjoying peace, so the question now is, what went wrong? Where did we get it wrong? That is the question we should ask ourselves. So all hands should be on deck to compliment the efforts of Governor Lalong to restore peace in the state. We need to look inwards, only then can we see reason by ourselves. Let me emphasize here that there is no state that progresses in the face of crisis. We must be our brothers’ keeper. Let’s understand ourselves and support the government of the day so as to develop and equally move forward for the betterment of the citizens.
Recently, Governor Simon Bako Lalong purhcased about 50 security vehicles worth several millions of naira. Can you shade more light on this for the benefit of the people living outside the state.
Well, on this I will say that the governor did not do this alone or in isolation, that is to say, it wasn’t a hidden thing. First and foremost, the decision was taken with the state Executive council, the House of Assembly gave the approval and all the relevant arms of the government are aware.
Secondly, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and other security personnel were present during the occasion of the commissioning of the vehicles. The governor did this to compliment his effort in the security sector. This is not that the state has much money but because the governor has passion for peace in the state he believes that he cannot achieve any meaningful development without peace, so it is a sacrifice the governor had to sacrifice a lot of things to achieve peace in the state by purchasing the vehicles and motor cycles.
The vehicles were purchased to curb the excesses of those who want to bring rancour between the people of Plateau, such as bandits, kidnappers, robbers and others. The governor cannot do the work of the security, so he has to give them the enabling environment and that is what he is doing now just to make sure there is peace in the state and this is also an indication that the governor is touching all sectors of the economy.
To those that had a wrong impression about the state government concerning what is happening, what do you do, what do you have to say and your message to those who lost their loved ones in the crisis?
Well, first and foremost, I want to advise the people of Plateau living outside the state or Abuja, to lend their voices and support the peace initiative of the governor and also help in advising their people back home on the need to live together in peace with one another and be their brothers’ keeper, support the government in its effort to ensure that peace returns to the state.
I want to urge that all hands should be on deck as well as I want to call on all daughters and sons of Plateau living in Abuja to as a matter of urgency get in touch with their people back home telling them the need to tolerate one, another if not, it may spell doom for us, it will bring a lot of setbacks to the state, economic activities will not flourish where there is no peace.
On this note, I want to sympathize with those who lost their loved ones in the crisis, nothing else one can be said, it is only God that can comfort them and for the souls of the deceased, we pray God to grant them eternal rest and give us all the hearts to tolerate and bear with each other so that Plateau will move forward and maintain its slogan of “Home of Peace and Tourism”.
