Taraba Wars: Mid-1900s to the present (I)

But it is not. Rather, it is a piece intended to lament some of the most horrendous wars that have been taking place in Taraba State for nearly a quarter of a century now which no one seems to pay sufficient attention to. I am neither a historian nor the son of a historian. But […]

But it is not. Rather, it is a piece intended to lament some of the most horrendous wars that have been taking place in Taraba State for nearly a quarter of a century now which no one seems to pay sufficient attention to. I am neither a historian nor the son of a historian. But yours most sincerely is a mere commentator, some sort of historian in a hurry, and a patriot who feels compelled by love of country and its beleaguered people to draw attention to issues which may be significant symptoms of far larger problems that need to be addressed. The piece, in essence, is my own modest way of drawing attention to what I consider a grave festering sore that if urgent national attention is not paid to it may allow gangrene to set in. The Taraba wars are deeply troubling because they have the capacity to destabilize Nigeria if something is not done to evolve and execute a comprehensive peace plan to ensure a harmonious existence among the various peoples of the state).
One great harm that the Boko Haram insurgency, whose epicentre is in the North East, has done to Nigeria is that it has helped to divert much attention from the even far more ruinous wars that have been going on in another north-eastern state of Taraba in the past twenty something years. To the best of my recollection, in the past twenty five years, the following wars, not necessarily in the order enumerated, have been fought in Taraba, often with devastating consequences: the Jukuns versus the Tivs; Fulani herdsmen allied with the Jukuns versus Tivs; the Jukuns/ Chambas versus the Kutebs; Fulani herdsmen against any of the farming communities and Fulani herdsmen allied with foreign mercenary Fulani versus everybody else (or so it seems). I nearly forgot to mention the alliance of the Hausa-Fulani with the Tivs against the Jukuns to win the chairmanship of the Wukari LGC, the only local government council in the whole wide world that the Jukuns, the
descendants of the famous warriors of the Kwararafa Kingdom of history, lay claim to as their own, a victory that elicited such bloody resentment from the Jukuns. Today, that resentment is still simmering.
One intriguing feature of these wars in Taraba is that they take place between several ethnic nationalities at one time or another and their causes are very well known to the authorities, yet nothing meaningful has been done about them over the years. Another notable feature is that they sometimes consist of shifting alliances of once antagonistic ethnic groups against new foes, meaning that there are carefully worked out mutual interests in some of them but which conflict with the national goal of nation building. Also, the state has the misfortune of harbouring some of the fiercest warrior ethnic groups in the nation. What can be worse: some of the wars sometimes take place simultaneously at different theatres, all of which remind one of the infamous Kiriji Wars of the Yoruba of the 18th century.
The result of all these wars and communal disturbances is that Taraba has for a long while now existed in a permanent state of insecurity and fear. It needs no stating that any community that does not enjoy a fair amount of continuous peace and stability cannot witness much progress. Perhaps, the extremely poor performance in recent times of young Tarabians in the WASCE and other national exams is a symptom of what we are lamenting here. Come to think seriously of it, if school age children, their parents and teachers face constant dislocation, constant disruption in their life routines and constant destruction of property, how can the children do well in their exams? How can their parents become rich in spite of their best efforts? And how can the community become developed when there is no room for planned and sustained series of actions in various sectors aimed at bringing about growth and development?
As we write, there are wars still going on in one part of Taraba or another. It is only the Boko Haram activities that are overshadowing the several low intensity wars simmering in the background. By my humble reckoning, the Taraba Wars have taken a far heavier toll in terms of human casualties; the destruction of property; the disruption of everyday life and the sheer scale of human suffering occasioned by that and the breeding or perpetuation of poverty as a result of the constant truncating of social and economic intercourse than the Boko Haram insurgency which seems to command all the attention. Well, it is in the nature of terrorism that one attack achieves far more negative impact than a conventional war of several years duration with far greater damage.
As is usual with many of such communal wars in Nigeria, politics, economics, social and cultural factors are at the root of Taraba wars. Some of these fights are to assert who owns a particular land and who should therefore enjoy certain political offices. Reminds us of the troubles in Plateau, doesn’t it? There is also fight for economic survival in terms of protecting means of livelihood. And as is true of other communities of Nigeria, religion may become another major factor in the many fights of Taraba, especially if the incumbent governor, who for political reasons has remained the longest acting governor in the history of people in acting political positions in the world, decides to run for re-election in 2015.
Why am I so concerned? Just as Borno is my second home (I did my national service there 32 years ago and enjoyed my stay so much and because of that am irresistibly drawn to its triumphs and travails) Taraba is some sort of home to me too because of my robust friendship with many indigenes. I even own a piece of land there! And secondly, because many of my people live there earning a living as farmers, traders and artisans, I have become very familiar with what goes on in Taraba. And what I hear is usually very bad. I am therefore disturbed about what looks like criminal negligence on the part of the state and federal authorities to deal with the many relational troubles of Taraba state and the near silence of the national media on the many terrible atrocities some grave enough to be described as crimes against humanity taking place in that state.
Like other states of the federation, Taraba is important to Nigeria. But the state is even more significant to our nation in a way many Nigerians are not aware of. For those who do not know Taraba’s especial significance, let me state one simple fact about it: While Lagos, Kaduna, Kano and Abuja act as the melting pot for Nigerians who want white collar jobs, Taraba is the melting pot of sorts for many poor and rich Nigerians alike from all parts of the country who want to make a living in agriculture or agribusiness. Because of this, Taraba has over the years become the number one breadbasket of the nation. If we were a country where statistics is kept, it would have become common knowledge that Taraba contributes a far greater volume of food to the national silos than any other state of the federation. When, therefore, there is a war in Taraba, as it so often happens, it affects the whole country not only in terms of food shortage and consequent higher prices, but also in terms of the number of internally displaced persons who have to relocate to their states of origin and become involuntary parasites on whatever little food is produced there.