I guarantee peace in Jos if re-elected, says Jang
February 8, 2011 11:49PM
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The governor of Plateau State, Jonah Jang, has promised to end the violent crisis in the state if he is re-elected in the April general elections.

“The next four years must see total peace and a high level of development that has never been witnessed in the history of this state,” the governor told the crowd which received him after his return from Lafia, where he collected the People’s Democratic Party’s (PDP) flag to contest the governorship election.

He said Plateau State had seen enough bloodletting and must say `no’ to further bloodshed. “We must have peace on the Plateau because without peace there can be no development. They (opposition) did everything to disrupt the development of this state but they are shocked and surprised that despite the crisis, we are still able to embark on a lot of developmental projects” he said. Mr Jang also said that his administration has embarked on many programmes that will keep the youth engaged and check violence in the state. He appealed to the people to shun violence and conduct themselves peacefully to avoid plunging the state into further crisis before, during and after the elections. He also cautioned the youth against the consumption of a local brew, popularly known as “goskolo”, saying the product was destroying their future and had killed many in the past.

He also said his administration was developing an attractive agricultural programme that would engage the youth, stressing that the era of farming with crude methods was over. “We are modernising agriculture and farming will soon be the most attractive thing to do in Plateau; we want to make agriculture the bedrock of our economic development.

“You will not even do anything apart from just owning the farm; everything will be done for you until harvest when you would pay for whatever inputs that were applied at subsidized prices.’’ He also said that his administration was bringing in taxi cabs and tricycles in batches for distribution to the youth with a view to checking the excesses of commercial motorcyclists.

Speaking about his former deputy governor who recently decamped from the PDP to the Labour Party with her supporters, Mr Jang said they were ‘his opponents’, who created the crisis in the PDP and moved to a party that is largely unknown in Plateau. He said PDP is the “authentic and dominant” party in the Plateau.

He added that the contest in the April general elections will be between “PDP and others” and boasted that the PDP primaries in the state were adjudged “the most transparent and the most peaceful” and hoped that the general elections will be the same. He urged the electorate to beware of “desperate politicians who will keep their children overseas and use other people for political and electoral violence.”

He expressed confidence that President Goodluck Jonathan will win the presidential election and said the president’s campaign train will arrive Jos on Febraury 17. “The president asked me to thank the people of Plateau State for the bulk votes during the party’s presidential primaries and called for more of such support in the April polls,” he said.

NAN