How Aliyu, Jang foiled emergency rule in Plateau

Posted by admin Headlines, Plateau, State News Sunday, September 25th, 2011

A northern cabal said to be the mastermind of the sustained unrest in the North almost succeeded in causing a declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau State, but for smart moves by the governor, Jonah Jang and his colleague from Niger State, Babangida Aliyu.

Findings by Nigerian Tribune indicated that members of the cabal had penetrated the ranks of the northern governors and had instigated some of them to push for the declaration of a state of emergency in Plateau, using last week’s Northern Governors Forum.

According to initial plans, had the governors agreed to the proposition, they would have moved to the Presidential Villa and briefed either the president or his deputy on the necessity for a state of emergency in Plateau.

The Plateau State governor had earlier voiced his suspicion about the last Northern Governors Forum on the basis that the agenda was curiously focused on his state more than any other northern states ravaged by cries had been ravaging.

Jang, on that basis, had threatened to boycott the northern governors’ meeting, which was held in Abuja last week, more so as he was said to have taken the decision on intelligence reports about a conspiracy that was afoot against his state.

Nigerian Tribune learnt that Jang resolved at the last minute to attend the meeting based on pressure and entreaties from the Niger State governor who chaired the meeting.

Aliyu, according to reports, had equally moved to ward off extraneous influence from the Northern Governors Forum, a reason he advertised the agenda of the meeting on national television, days before the governors converged on Abuja.

However, the suspicion by Jang against the forum was confirmed with his late arrival, which inside sources said was deliberate in order to guage the sentiment shared on the agenda by his colleagues.

The meeting had recorded a full house, although the Kogi State governor, Mallam Ibrahim Idris, was not in attendance owing to the PDP governorship primary held in his state last week.

The issue of state of emergency did not feature in the talks by the northern governors, given the manner the Niger State governor steered it, more so as he firmly called for concerted efforts in addressing security challenges in Plateau, Borno and other parts of the North so afflicted.

Meanwhile, the traditional rulers from the North have called on the relevant authorities to implement the recommendations of reports made by committees of Iiquiries on various crises in the region, especially that of the Soloman Lar panel on the Jos crisis.

This was contained in a communiqué issued to newsmen at the end of the emergency meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers’ Council in Kaduna, at weekend, signed by the Emir of Kazaure, Alhaji Najib Hussaini Adamu.

The traditional rulers noted that the sustenance of peace and harmony within respective communities depended on the ability and the willingness of elected leaders to effectively discharge their responsibilities to the electorate.

The council called on all northerners to embrace continuous dialogue with one another, by speaking the truth, with a view to healing wounds inflicted in the course of advancing individual causes.

The communique issued at the end of the meeting said the council had established a commitee, chaired by Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, to prepare a position paper to be presented at a proposed joint meeting with northern governors, with a view to dealing with the socio-economic and political challenges affecting the North.

-Vanguardwp_posts