No sincere efforts to address Plateau crises – Bishop Kaigama

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Category: Opinions/Interviews
Published on Monday, 28 March 2011 13:59
Written by Admin
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Catholic Archbishop of Jos, Most Rev Ignatius Kaigama, has said that the crises in Jos and environs have lingered because both the federal and Plateau State governments have displayed lack of sincere efforts to address the cause of the crises.

Kaigama said that though panels had been set up and recommendations made, the two governments had not been able gather enough political will to implement the recommendations.

He told our correspondent in an exclusive interview in Jos on Friday that he was surprised that since the report of the Chief Solomon Lar-led Presidential Advisory Committee on Jos crises was submitted to The Presidency, the report has not seen the light of the day.

The cleric, who was a member of that committee, expressed surprise at what he described as fire brigade approach to solving the crises by deploying soldiers and trucks in the city of Jos. He said that such efforts could be in vain if sincere and concerted efforts were not made to address the real issues that had been identified by all the panels of inquiry, including those set up by the state government, on the Jos crises. Kaigama added that the presence of soldiers in the streets of Jos alone without addressing the fundamental issues would not solve the problems.

He also expressed doubt over the peaceful conduct of the coming general elections, saying that though both the president and the Independent National Electoral Commission had promised credible and free elections, the conduct of those in the field and losers at the polls would be very crucial in deciding the fate of the elections. He called on INEC staff to be impartial and do their job as their boss had indicated. He also tasked security agents to ensure that voters were not molested or ballot boxes snatched by political thugs.

He said, “There is in fact the absence of political will to definitely tackle the problems on ground. We know what to do as Nigerians to bring to an end to the recurring crises, but I don’t believe that there is the political will both at the national and state levels to ensure that these repeated occurrences of violence are stopped permanently.

“Why I talk about the absence of political will is because I can’t see anything done concretely apart from bringing in soldiers and trucks. What else is being done to maintain security and promote peace that is permanent? What else? Even if you bring two million soldiers here and attach five soldiers to each family, they are not going to bring back peace. Bring in all the trucks to Jos, the story will be the same; imagine the expenses being incurred in security.”

ource: http://www.punchng.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art201103282264529