by Daniel Nyam Gwash

As a true president of the people and for the people and elected by the people, he must allow fairness, equity and justice to prevail over the case of crisis victims in Jos and other places.

Early this year, 2013, a news piece was aired on NTA network and other radio networks with particular reference to the FRCN station which explained the stand of President Goodluck Jonathan regarding innocent victims in the crises across the country, that they will not attract federal government assistance.

The president has spoken and this is final since no action can come outside this declaration.  There is no assistance that can come out without the approval of Mr President.  This may look final and a no go area to those in government. His declaration may be final but as far as victims of those crises are concerned, the final is not at sight at all.

These victims would have regarded it final and laid to the issue regarding losses incurred by them in the course of the recycled crisis in Plateau, Bauchi and Kaduna States if the National Assembly had paid particular attention to the complaints of the victims and passed a verdict.  This has not been done even with the fact that NASS is the country’s highest law making body.

President Jonathan’s declaration is unclear and scanty both in issues and facts, and above all neglected. His declaration therefore attracts more posers than answers that can put to rest fate of victims of the community cum religious crisis in the aforementioned states.

In lay man’s understanding of Mr President’s declaration, victims in all those crises are guilty of the crisis.  They perpetrated the crisis because they fought themselves, maimed, killed and destroyed their properties.  The victims of these crises are or belonged to the less privileged group and therefore handicapped as to seek redress in the court of law.

However, the less privileged may be far from the reach of court; it has members of the public as its own court.  The public verdict over the need for assistance to be rendered to crisis victims has remained alive and active.  The president’s verdict was not backed up by any tangible evidence suggesting the action which he has taken.

The victims will never cease to drum out the unfairness and injustice contained in Mr President’s declaration.  A president of the people, for the people and elected by the people cannot come out to make such a naïve declaration.  He has to arm himself with notorious facts by which his action can be defended squarely because he can make such a probing declaration.  This is absent and a nullity to that declaration.

Mr President’s declaration looks more like a trick to sweep under the carpet the inability and eligibility of his government to tackle insecurity in the country.  The emergence of the so-called Islamic militant group, Boko Haram, has further confirmed the weakness of government in this area. I wonder and disagree vehemently with Mr President crowning victims of the crisis as cause of their own problem.

It appears President Jonathan have forgotten and put behind him reports submitted to him over those crises in the aforementioned states especially Jos crisis.  The reports were turned out to the president by those commissions of enquiries which he instituted and which conducted investigations on the remote causes of crisis in those areas.  This cannot be said to be source of his declaration.

The inability of Mr President to release and implement any of those reports has further exonerated victims of this crisis.  They will gladly accept responsibility and drop cry for assistance from the federal government and by extension Mr President if the findings of the reports have established guilt of the victims.  After all, he who goes to equity must go with clean hands.

The findings in those reports are predetermined hence the cover-up being provided by the federal government. The secret for restoration of sustainable peace and re-establishment of lasting unity and coexistence in the crisis ridden areas is the release of those commissions of enquiry. The withholding of same is mere suspension of the dooms day.  This is what appears unknown and not properly digested by Mr President.

The President’s declaration betrays his 2015 ambition.  He has rather declared that the plight of the victims can only be met by another president and therefore, they have to wait until 2015.  He is looking for a way to remedy the case of those who took arms against part of the country but shutting the door against those whose areas were triggered into crisis as reports of the commissions of enquiry have clearly established.

It may interest Mr President to know that majority of the people negatively affected by the Jos crisis are still refugees either as squatters or outright refugees in refugee camps without least remedy of how they can recuperate from that dastardly life.  Their relations and millions of sympathisers are not left out in singing similar song appealing for assistance for the victims.

Many actions have been advanced in the past and this has injected sense of belonging in the victims.  The victims were made to fill chain of forms with the anticipation that help would come their way after all but this never materialised to date.  The victims have withdrawn into their shelters filled with frustration.

The circled crisis in states such as Plateau has tripled level of poverty.  This is because many lost their means of livelihood while others had their properties acquired with earning either set in flames or destroyed beyond recouping.  People in these classes are yet unable to make both ends meet and for political reasons, Mr President has turned his face away from them.

It must be told point-blank that the ball is still in the courts of President Goodluck Jonathan with or without declaration.  As a true president of the people and for the people and elected by the people, he must allow fairness, equity and justice to prevail over the case of crisis victims in Jos and other places.  A leader must be a man with a large heart and this is the expectations of Nigerians, south and north and nothing less.

 

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Read this article in the Leadership Newspapers

 

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