Yero’s valiant crusade for peace

Violence and crisis on the other hand have never been agents of development. There has never been any society anywhere in the world that achieved growth through crisis.  Nigeria in general and Kaduna State in particular, cannot be different. In the particular case of Kaduna, from 1987 to date, not less than ten crises were […]

Violence and crisis on the other hand have never been agents of development. There has never been any society anywhere in the world that achieved growth through crisis.  Nigeria in general and Kaduna State in particular, cannot be different. In the particular case of Kaduna, from 1987 to date, not less than ten crises were recorded, in which many people were killed and huge volume of property destroyed. These unpleasant happenings have not only led to displacement of thousands of citizens, but has also plunged the people deeper into misery and social tension.
Successive administrations in the state have made efforts at curbing the situation and were forced by the circumstance to commit scarce resources meant for development into maintaining security and providing assistance to victims of violence.  
Since Mukhtar Ramalan Yero took office last year, he has built on measures to tackle the situation, embarking on a shuttle across the state with the goal of ending years of acrimony and deeply rooted suspicion among the various ethnic and religious groups in the state. He has successfully held meetings with stakeholders of the constituent segments of the people, made up of politicians, traditional rulers, religious leaders, youth groups etc. At the recent peace fora held in Kagoro, Zaria and Rigachukun for the three senatorial zones, which he initiated, Governor Yero appealed to different segments of the state to embrace peace through dialogue as means of settling all contending issues unity and progress of the state. The approach appears to be bearing fruits, because it created an open forum where frank and sincere talks were held by people who hitherto don’t see eye to eye.
 In Bajju Chiefdom for instance, the initiative gingered the Agwam Bajju, Malam Nuhu Bature to organise series of meetings where all parties affected by the 2011 political conflict in the domain were brought together at his palace in Zonkwa. The session examined and discussed the matter comprehensively and a settlement was reached at the end. This has by no small measure helped to heal broken relationships among the people which was as result of crises in the area. Similar meetings has also been held in several other communities across the state, where people of different backgrounds signed peace pacts that will see them work together for the purpose of sustaining peaceful coexistence and unity of purpose. In view of the complex nature of the state, chiefly due to its composition and diversity, Yero’s peace model is most appropriate for resolving decades-old conflicts. This should be sustained and institutionalised in order to further build on the gains so far achieved in building lasting peace in entire Kaduna state.  Factors that are sources of conflict must be quickly identified and addressed to avoid crisis situations.
The people must be positively mobilized and educated to protect them from being negatively influenced by agent provocateurs, who bring nothing but disharmony and disorder. The people must be sensitised against allowing themselves fall to the antics of hate preachers, who are ‘evil men’ masquerading as ‘men of God’ from both Christians and Muslims side. They have to be made to be conscious of their responsibilities as citizens and the need to avoid intolerance created by negligible variances such as language or religion.
The political maturity of the people must also be improved towards a new culture of politics without bitterness and playing by the rules of the game. This is applicable especially to our youths who are central to the peace process, but have been reduced to a ready tool of destruction often misled by disgruntled persons into perpetrating acts of violence.
We must also not forget that many people are locked up in poverty due to growing economic hardship. To check this, there is need to expand the technical skills capacity of youths through training and provision of job opportunities and also self employment-entrepreneurship process. Government should provide technical skills by training the youths towards providing gainful employment prospects- make them aware of their potentials and motivate them to use resources at their disposal to improve themselves.
These are some of the sure ways to mobilise people into the spirit of self-reliance, prevent them from engaging in violent acts and ensure the required growth and progress for the purpose of developing Kaduna State.   They would be pockets of resistance, even sporadic violence, but in time, these too would be isolated and soon overcome through this peace initiative.

Umaru wrote from Zonkwa, Kaduna State