The Plateau Peace Building Agency (PPBA) wishes to express its deepest condolences to the government and people of BENUE state over the unfortunate series of attacks that took place in the wake of this New Year, 2018.
We on the Plateau feel particularly saddened by this avoidable and unnecessary loss of human lives and properties. We do understand more than anyone else the pains and hurts that the people of BENUE are subjected to. We understand because we have been there before and the risks we face are still as stark as ever. Yet, we must not lose hope and faith in the promise of a better tomorrow. Our destiny as a people offers not a cup of despair, but of multiple streams of opportunities and blessings.
These ugly incidents should not serve as a motivation for vengeance or incentive for hatred. On the contrary, let the memories of the loved and lost inspire deep ratiocination in our minds such that never again will evil prevail as it has for all those who lost their lives to brutal attacks on the eve of 2018.
As an agency of government saddled with the responsibility of promoting the culture of peaceful and harmonious coexistence through advocacy, research, multi-stakeholder dialogue and partnerships, we fully appreciate the magnitude of the existential threat facing our people in Plateau state, Middle Belt and across the country. We submit that we can only triumph over this evil when we are united over a common purpose and also strategic in our thinking as opposed to being merely reactionary.
We must find a solution to this problem through systematic dialogue, strategic engagement and appropriate policy response rather than allowing mutual hatred to take a better part of us. There is neither a short cut nor strategies that are embedded in raw sentiments that can edge us closer to finding a lasting solution to this menace. The right thing to do is to think through all available options and decide on a position that will not return to hunt us or our children in the near or distant future. The government and security agencies must also rise up to their responsibilities such that this somewhat senseless orgy of violence is permanently arrested.
In this light, the Peace building agency wishes to advice against arbitrariness in policy formulation, politicization and sensationalization of the issues underlying the growing tension between Fulani herdsmen and indigenous communities in the North central part of Nigeria.
We strongly covet the support, prayers and collaboration of our people in finding a lasting solution to this growing problem while also working hard to solidify our resolve to ensure that we bequeath a Plateau that is at Peace with itself and the rest of the world.
And in the words of the iconic Nelson Mandela, “May your choices reflect your hopes and not your fears”
Joseph Lengmang
Director-General
Plateau Peace Building Agency
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