Release Jos crisis panel report now

The crisis in Jos, the Plateau State capital, has become intractable. Indeed, the crisis became a test case for the survival of the Nigerian nation during the tempestuous months when late President Umaru Yar'Adua was lying critically ill at the King Fahd Hospital and Research Centre, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There was vacuum in leadership resulting from Yar'Adua's inability to constitutionally transfer power to then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan. Within this period, another crisis had erupted in Jos in January 2010, leading to the deployment of troops by Jonathan to quell the riots; an action that was frowned at by some people who felt the vice president had no constitutional power to deploy Nigerian troops, even though that was the natural cause of action to take given the level of violence and destruction witnessed in the crisis.

On February 1, 2010, Jonathan inaugurated a committee mandated to critically examine the issues surrounding recurrent violence in the state, and work out modalities to ensure that the crisis was resolved once and for all.

The committee, initially made up of 15 members, had Solomon Lar, former governor of Plateau State, as chairman, with another elder statesman, Yahaya Kwande, as co-chairman.

The initial 15 members were representatives of the indigenous Birom and Hausa-Fulani settlers. Later, it was expanded to include representatives of other settler ethnic groups from the southern part of the country.

It should be noted that the Lar committee was not the first panel set up to look into the crisis in Jos. For instance, after the 2008 clashes, two commissions of enquiry were set up respectively by the Federal Government and the Plateau State Government. The federal panel was headed by Emmanuel Abisoye, a retired major-general while the Plateau panel was chaired by Bola Ajibola, a jurist of international repute. Both panels were dogged by controversy as there were accusations and counter-accusations of bias and partisanship against both panels. This inevitably encumbered their work.

Therefore, when Jonathan inaugurated the Lar panel, Nigerians were relieved that at last, the solution to the problem was in sight. The optimism expressed by Nigerians was anchored on the calibre of people appointed to the committee.

The committee was given two weeks within which to submit its report but it turned in the report on August 23, 2010; that is, after eight months.

Sadly, since the committee submitted its report, the Federal Government is yet to release the report, let alone implement its recommendations even when there have been several clashes in Jos since the report was submitted.

Given the quality of people that made up that panel, if the report had been made public and its recommendations implemented, we are convinced that peace would have returned to Jos.

Of what use is a panel of inquiry when its report would not see the light of day? There have been insinuations in certain quarters that some prominent Nigerians were indicted by the panel and that the Federal Government might not want to ruffle feathers by releasing the report.

We also note that some people who were arrested in the past for their involvement in the Jos crisis were taken to Abuja and nothing more was heard about them despite the persistent call by the Plateau State Government that such persons should be brought to book. Cases such as this would not engender public confidence in the government's ability to protect Nigerians wherever they are in the country.

It is important for the Federal Government to act on the report now, considering that a state government in Nigeria is constitutionally constrained in matters of security even though in theory, a state governor is the chief security officer of his state.

For the Federal Government to prove that it is sincere in its desire to end the religious and sectarian crisis in Jos, it should, without further delay, release the report of the Lar panel on the crisis. That is the only way the country can progress towards ending the crisis in the city.

http://www.businessdayonline.com/NG/index.php/editorial/18574-release-jos-crisis-panel-report-now

same awaits the post election panel, full of unemployed sheiks and pastors

Odechukwu aint got the balls.

Truely, the fed govt hasn't the ball to deal with the Jos crises. Many panel reports, yet no action. This is sad indeed.