http://www.thisdayonline.com/nview.php?id=168541

If this had come from anybody I would not have taken it serious but Gen bali is one man who commands so much respect from me, I dont respect people easily but he has over the years earned my respect. He is discplined and professional, reminds you what a Soldier should be. He is one of the first Public Officers i know who resigned. He was minister of Defence under babangida and resigned when he felt the The Military President was taken over his functions and duties when he could have looked the other way and enjoyed the persk of office but he left because he said he wants to be responsible for every decision made for the Defence as a minster. I am not one to take sides but the truth has to be told, when we see white, lets stop being diplomatic, if not we will never solve this problem. Plateau is my home and I am dying gradually with eac crisis. Enjoy

Bali Berates Jos GOC

By Olawale Olaleye in Lagos and Seriki Adinoyi in Jos, 03.14.2010

Former Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff in the General Ibrahim Babangida regime, General Domkat Bali, at the weekend berated the General Officer Command-ing (GOC), 3rd Armoured Division, Major-General Saleh Maina and other top military commanders and accused them of compromising the security of Plateau State by showing bias in their handling of the Jos crisis.

Specifically, Bali pointed accusing fingers at Maina, who he said has taken sides in the crisis. He said his fear was that should the military be polarised along religious lines, it would be the end of Nigeria.

Bali, a four-star general, gave this hint even as there were reports last night that security agents intercepted a truck suspected to be carrying arms in Riyom Local Government Area of the state. The vehicle with registration number, Bauchi XA 724 MSA, was however said to be conveying jerry cans of palm oil and many bags of cement to Kano for sale.

He described the military commanders as being part of the problem in Jos and accused Maina of habitually not taking calls, irrespective of who is calling.

“The GOC, Maina or – whatever his name is – I did call him many times, but he won’t pick my phone. So, one day I met him while he was going to the Governor’s office, and I stopped him and asked why he has refused to pick my calls after calling many times? The idiot only told me he was overwhelmed by the happening. You see, I am a General. I called to show interest in what was happening, because I am here in Jos,” Bali fumed.

“After that time, I tried calling him again but he still refused to pick my calls. The reason I called was that there were fake soldiers from Niger, Chad and so on. They were flashed on the television screen and I saw some of them wearing canvas, slippers and so on. The people I saw were not boys that could not be stopped and their weapons collected from them. But with what I saw on the screen, they (the fake soldiers) and the Army were virtually operating together, and the army did not arrest or stop them [as far as I know anyway].

“So, I believe, and a lot of people believe so too, that the GOC is playing games with us, and that they are part of the problems.”
Bali said as a soldier, he is not as patient as the state Governor, Jonah Jang because “if I were Jang, I would have made more inflammatory statements. I am talking about something very serious. This is not just about Plateau, but the whole of Nigeria. You see, the Chief of Army Staff is an Hausa man; the GOC is an Hausa man; they dictate who should come here and who is to serve in what position.

“My feeling is that they should remove Maina, because he has shown bias for Islam and it is a dangerous thing not just for Plateau, but for the whole country. The moment this country is broken along religion line, there may be no Nigeria any more. Especially as it regards the military, because the ultimate force bringing Nigeria together is the military,” he said.

Bali was optimistic that the Jos situation is not hopeless said Jos has always been peaceful. “When I schooled in Kuru here, it was the most peaceful time that Plateau was. We then were celebrating Salah as though we were Muslims children, and they were celebrating Christmas with us as though they were Christians. The conflict began when the interest to dominate grew. And of course it met with resistance; that was when the problem started. The issue is why must it be the Hausas that want to dominate Jos? Why not the Yorubas or the Ibos? That’s the problem.

the picture is getting clearer,if domkat bali can come to the open and say this,and going as far as calling this man an idiot, then we are in serious trouble due to incompetence.
maina is not picking calls, how do you gather intel if you are not picking calls, they probably might have called and called him before finally sending him text messages. imagine a general overwhelm due to civil disturbance, if it was a war nko?
i don,t understand this country we are seeing white and clearly calling it black, it is most unfortunate that more souls will be lost due to the negligence of this goc person, before he is finally removed.

Jonah Jang also made this argument that Saleh Maina was ignoring calls and Maina responded telling us he did not get calls but text messages.

Is text message not enough to alert a security operative? Talk about sleeping on duty.

I think the whole 'Jonah Jang is the problem campaign' by the North has been exposed as empty and diversionary.

Imagine!!!!! Even Gen Domkat Bali thinks this is all about the politics of domination which started during the days of Uthman Dan Fodio.

Truly Nigeria lives in an age long gone!!!!!!!!!!!!!

df2006:

the picture is getting clearer,if domkat bali can come to the open and say this,and going as far as calling this man an idiot, then we are in serious trouble due to incompetence.
maina is not picking calls, how do you gather intel if you are not picking calls, they probably might have called and called him before finally sending him text messages. imagine a general overwhelm due to civil disturbance, if it was a war nko?
i don,t understand this country we are seeing white and clearly calling it black, it is most unfortunate that more souls will be lost due to the negligence of this goc person, before he is finally removed.

Bali is the one acting like an idiot. He seems to be angry only because his calls were not picked up but not because of the terrible tragedy at hand.  If maina is to answer all the calls he receives, he'd be on the telephone 24 hours per day.  The whole affair reveals the lack of sophistication in the operations of the Nigerian Army and gross incompetence within its ranks.

ndu_chucks:

Bali is the one acting like an idiot. He seems to be angry only because his calls were not picked up but not because of the terrible tragedy at hand. If maina is to answer all the calls he receives, he'd be on the telephone 24 hours per day. The whole affair reveals the lack of sophistication in the operations of the Nigerian Army and gross incompetence within its ranks.

If the GOC is not willing to liaise with the State Governor (who BTW is the Chief Security officer in the State) and Domkat Bali (Who is a former joint chief of staff) please kindly tell us who he will liaise with? This is a failure of security networking and Saleh Maina should bury his head in the sand. He is no General.

mikeansy:

If the GOC is not willing to liaise with the State Governor (who BTW is the Chief Security officer in the State) and Domkat Bali (Who is a former joint chief of staff) please kindly tell us who he will liaise with? This is a failure of security networking and Saleh Maina should bury his head in the sand. He is no General.

The Governor himself is incompetent as well. He should have established cordial and close relationships with those who are meant to safeguard the security of the state. I suspect that the Governor did not give the General the customary egunje - these people are all thieves.

hope the fools in governance will listen and do the right thing?

ndu_chucks:

The Governor himself is incompetent as well. He should have established cordial and close relationships with those who are meant to safeguard the security of the state. I suspect that the Governor did not give the General the customary egunje - these people are all thieves.

Elaborate on the bolded.

ndu_chucks:

The Governor himself is incompetent as well. He should have established cordial and close relationships with those who are meant to safeguard the security of the state. I suspect that the Governor did not give the General the customary egunje - these people are all thieves.

Another tried and tested diversionary tactics, when you are caught out you simply blame everything including the system itself but will rather refuse to get to the root of the matter.

The last time I checked a General in the Nigerian Army should not be on the pay-roll of State Government.

How does this address the crux of Domkat Bali's argument. Why is it OK for the Igbo and Yorubas to live in Jos without trying to dominate the majority tribe (the Beroms) and not ok for the Hausa Fulani to live quietly without trying to dominate. Is Jihad posible in 2010 Nigeria?

mikeansy:

Another tried and tested diversionary tactics, when you are caught out you simply blame everything including the system itself but will rather refuse to get to the root of the matter.

The last time I checked a General in the Nigerian Army should not be on the pay-roll of State Government.

How does this address the crux of Domkat Bali's argument. Why is it OK for the Igbo and Yorubas to live in Jos without trying to dominate the majority tribe (the Beroms) and not ok for the Hausa Fulani to live quetly without trying to dominate. Is Jihad posible in 2010 Nigeria?

well said. . . for an ex-general to come out and talk as bali did, water must have passed garri, at least we dont know bali to belong to the group of ppl that talk anyhow now. . .

and he still refused to answer calls after they met the first time, doesnt that show something?

asha 80:

Elaborate on the bolded.

@asha 80, are you a Nigerian?

mikeansy:

Another tried and tested diversionary tactics, when you are caught out you simply blame everything including the system itself but will rather refuse to get to the root of the matter.

The last time I checked a General in the Nigerian Army should not be on the pay-roll of State Government.

How does this address the crux of Domkat Bali's argument. Why is it OK for the Igbo and Yorubas to live in Jos without trying to dominate the majority tribe (the Beroms) and not ok for the Hausa Fulani to live quietly without trying to dominate. Is Jihad posible in 2010 Nigeria?

mikeansy!!! diversionary tactics? That's a stretch na. I was not addressing the root of the problem but simply pointing out that both the Governor and the General are incompetent, and that the system is corrupt. Shikena.

Ndu_chucks

What point are u trying to make? i also don't understand you, are u trying to say the useless GOC didn't pick the governor's calls because the Governor hasn't bribed him?

When did u realise that General Saleh is incompetent? after you have been caught out? I thought you were just defending him for not picking up his calls which would have forwarned him about Security in the state. I think Gen. Saleh may be complicit in this matter. If he does not take time he will be court martialed.

Army commander admits being forewarned on Nigeria violence
News - Africa news .The Commander of the military unit that is overseeing security in Nigeria's restive city of Jos has admitted being forewarned about Sunday's massacre of hundreds of people in three villages on the outskirts of Jos, capital of central Plateau state.

However, Maj.-Gen. Saleh Maina denied ever receiving a phone call from State Gov ernor Jonah Jang, and defended the army's role in the violence.

Jang had accused the army of failing to act on information that the villages of Dogo Nahawa, Zot and Ratsat would be attacked, saying the killings would have been avoided if the army had heeded his call.

Jang's widely-reported statement has triggered calls for the removal of Maina, w ho is the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 3rd Armoured Division in Jos.

The military had been saddled with providing security in Jos since January, when a similar sectarian violence left 326 dead.

The state government said over 500 people died on Sunday when armed Muslim Fulan i herdsmen descended on the villages, inhabited mostly by Christians, in the early hours of Sunday, burning houses and killing and maiming the villagers, especially women and children. But the police put the death toll at 109.

``No government official called me prior to the mayhem ad Dogo Na Hauwa and othe r surrounding villages. They have my numbers,'' he told journalists in Jos.

On the allegations that he was forewarned about the attacks, he said the text me ssages he received gave him wrong directions, meaning the troops he deployed did not get to the affected villages until most of the killin gs have been carried out.

'However, I'll like to tell you that some text messages were received by some of my officers which they forwarded to me. And let me just read some of them to you⦠that some Fulani men were seen in large numbers arou nd Barkin Ladi and Furbon area, and that was 12 minutes to 9pm [on Saturday].

``Another text came in at about quarter past 11 pm, and this one said some Fulan is were seen with some weapons around Jos East. None of the texts mentioned Dogon-Nahawa.

'I quickly deployed some troops to Shen and Du areas which were also mentioned in some of the texts. Another troops led by a captain deployed to Dogon-Nahawa area at about 2am, but like you know, the road is very bad and conf using such that even if you go there during the day it is not easy to locate the place until 2.45 am, and they moved round the place. And at about 3.41am report came in that some Fulanis were operating at Dogon-Nahawa and the surrounding villages, and I sent troops that were there at about 5 am. And at 8am, I sent a larger troop. In this process three of the attackers were killed and some others arrested,' the commander explained.

His explanation seems not have placated those calling for his removal.

A former Chief of Defence Staff, retired Gen. Domkat Bali, alleged that the mili tary was beginning to divide along religious line, a development he described as dangerous for the country's unity.

'Major General Saleh Maina has lost the trust of the people, he is believed to be play along religious line, and that is too bad not only for Plateau State bu t

for the nation as a whole,' the local press quoted him as saying Friday.

Plateau women, dressed in black attires, yesterday marched to the State House of Assembly and the Government House, Jos, demanding the removal of Maina.

http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/army-commander-admits-being-forewarned-on-nigeria-violence-2010031345743.html

ndu_chucks:

@asha 80, are you a Nigerian?


mikeansy!!! diversionary tactics? That's a stretch na. I was not addressing the root of the problem but simply pointing out that both the Governor and the General are incompetent, and that the system is corrupt. Shikena.

You very disingenuous.So maintaining cordial relationship with the GOC is by bribing the GOC periodically when the GOC is not under him?And with this stupid mentality you hope the country will just move forward?

honeric01:

Ndu_chucks

What point are u trying to make? i also don't understand you, are u trying to say the useless GOC didn't pick the governor's calls because the Governor hasn't bribed him?

You want me to say that the useless GOC didn't pick the governor's calls because the Governor hasn't bribed him? mba o  

It suffices to say that if the Governor had established a "great" relationship with the general, the Governor's phone calls would have been answered promptly. I don't know whether bribery is a customary manner of establishing such relationships in Nigeria - but believe you me, if the Governor had wined and dined the GOC the previous week, the Governor's calls would have received a higher priority.  

@asha 80, the truth is bitter. I believe these people are currupt - sad to say.

hope the fools in governance will listen and do the right thing?

All this talk is semantics. The deed has been done. The north has overplayed it's hand for the last time.

If we have a true commander in chief, Maina along with Iwu would have been sacked by now

The GOC is an hausa man and he purposely allowed the massacre to go on.

one more thing, i heard the governor has no power to instruct the army in his state, how true is that?

honeric01:

The GOC is an hausa man and he purposely allowed the massacre to go on.

one more thing, i heard the governor has no power to instruct the army in his state, how true is that?

100% true.

honeric01:

The GOC is an hausa man and he purposely allowed the massacre to go on.

one more thing, i heard the governor has no power to instruct the army in his state, how true is that?

I believe that is true. This is the reason why smart Governors establish very cordial relationships, by all necessary means, with the army in the state. That relationship did not exist in this case.

Mariory:

All this talk is semantics. The deed has been done. The north has overplayed it's hand for the last time.

that is what we keep hearing every time.
Yet they keep playing that hand.

i see, then definitely, we are not practicing true democracy, why can't a governor be able to instruct the army in his state when there's an emergency?

ndu_chucks:

I believe that is true. This is the reason why smart Governors establish very cordial relationships, by all necessary means, with the army in the state. That relationship did not exist in this case.

I see, but why not look at it this way, what if it's the GOC that does not want to associate himself with the governor because he's not hausa?

honeric01:

I see, but why not look at it this way, what if it's the GOC that does not want to associate himself with the governor because he's not hausa?

I seriously doubt that. Trust me, these people love naira more than their tribes, they've been known to sell their tribes, masses, and souls for the naira. They are corrupt to the core.

honeric01:

i see, then definitely, we are not practicing true democracy, why can't a governor be able to instruct the army in his state when there's an emergency?

So you think we have been practising real federalism or democracy?  

ndu_chucks:

I seriously doubt that. Trust me, these people love naira more than their tribes, they've been known to sell their tribes, masses, and souls for the naira. They are corrupt to the core.

Speculation, you can't be so sure, so lets just leave it at that that the GOC is just not competent enough, he should be replaced/transferred.

asha 80:

So you think we have been practising real federalism or democracy?  

In our case, i don't even know the one we are practicing at all, our system of governance is like rice concoction.

The simple truth is that Goc Jos has a hand in this, so also jang.

The january attack on kuru was instigated by the Governor( dont ask dont tell) and this march massacre also has Goc jos hand in it.its like bosoms for tats.

Both surely knows whats is going on.i hope all is made to face the consequence sooner or later

justfash50:

The simple truth is that Bali has a hand in this, so also jang.

The january attack on kuru was instigated by the Governor( dont ask dont tell) and this march massacre also has Bali hand in it.its like bosoms for tats.

Both surely knows whats is going on.i hope all is made to face the consequence sooner or later

abeg explain

The two are from the opposing tribes( dont ask dont tell).

I am amazed that some people would suggest that you need cordial relationships for people to do thier work. The GOC, if whats everyone is saying is true, should be removed and tried. It is absolutely disrespectful for him to suggest that he was too busy to take calls from a Former Very senior General as well as the state governor. Kick the bloody fool out. He is part of the problem

Looks like the Jos crisis has finally broken the ranks of the Sharia North's dominance on Nigerian politics.
Plateau, Benue, Taraba, Kogi, Half of Adamawa, Kaduna,Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa and all of Southern Nigeria are closing ranks ideologically.

The Sharia/ Arewa North is finished politically!! They are left with  barely 25% .
They've lost dominance of the house of assembly. They've lost dominance of the military. They no longer have the population they've longed lied that they had.
It's finished for Sharia/Arewa North!! It is finished!!