News Editor
By David Odama
Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa state has appealed to the Afo Nation to embrace peace for development of their communities as well as the entire Nasarawa State, warning that if all entreaties failed, his administration would be left with no option than to wield the big stick.
Governor Sule gave the warning during a one-day Afo Youth Summit on peace and security, organized by the Nasarawa Peace and Prosperity Project through Law (NAPP-LAW), in Keffi
According to the Governor, the Afo Nation has no reason whatsoever not to embrace peace considering that the area hosting the Afo people has been blessed with abundance natural resources ranging from lithium to even rare minerals that are in high demand globally.
He described as an embarrassment to the entire country a situation whereby brothers who have coexisted peacefully now resort to violence resulting to the killing of innocent people, warning that the Afo nation can not allow their political differences to throw the entire community into chaos.
“You are blessed with resources. Everywhere people are talking about processing lithium. It is an embarrassment to the nation. We are having two brothers fighting each other and they are killing innocent people among them. You can not allow political differences to make you disrespect your leaders,”, Sule warned.
“Nasarawa State can do anything within its means bto support and ensure that we have peace. As long as we have the peace, we will create the opportunities for you. It is not lack of employment. You have opportunities there. One of the companies that is coming to you, Gangfeng can easily employ four to five thousand people. But that company can not build anything if there is no peace,” he added.
“I worked for investors and I understand the language of investors. Investors will invest only where there is peace. Where there is no peace, no serious investor will go there. Only illegal miners who would bring no benefit to the community would go there,” he stated.
While highlighting the various efforts put in place by his administration to address security challenges in the area, including the establishment of a military base, construction of the Mararaba-Udege-Agwada road, amongst others, Governor Sule however threatened to deploy tougher measures if they people fail to reconcile their differences and to embrace peace.
“I am begging you in the name of God to reconcile your differences and leave in peace. As a Governor, it’s my responsibility to start by begging, by pleading, by appealing. If all that does not work, we will apply force. Because it is our responsibility to maintain peace in the area. We will apply force if everything else does not work. Because we can not afford to keep going like this over and over,” he stated.
He urged participants at the summit to serve as trainers for other youths in order to cascade down the message of peace and reconciliation among the Afo people.
Speaking as the Father of the Day, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, the Adeweji of Afo Nation, blamed some Afo elites for refusing to key into all the efforts being made to broker peace in the areas affected by the crisis.
The first civilian governor of the state lamented that the crisis in Afo land, particularly in Nasarawa Local Government Area, Udeni Beki, Akum, Udeni Gida, Udeni Magaji areas, and Mararaba as the seat of the development area, started in earnest last year.
“When this was happening, efforts continued to be made by people who thought they had the voice and they had the image to advice. But somehow we didn’t see the desired result. There are people who are part and parcel of this community who have had the privilege of service to the community and the state and who up to this point in time, we have not been able to get them to join the efforts for looking for peace in that community,” he said.
“Nobody should love Afo land more than you. If we fail, the shame is ours. If the crisis continues until the end of the present administration, it is unfair to Governor Sule and his administration. We need to get together. We need to start to listen. We must avoid being the greatest enemies of ourselves,” he stated.
In a keynote address, Ahmed Salihu, Executive Director, Centre for Community Actions for Peace and Development (CCAPAD), said the summit was organized with a view to bringing Afo Nation together to discuss their problems in order to proffer practical solutions.
In a goodwill message, Rtd. Commodore Yahaya Owuna, the Waziri of Afo Nation, blamed the crisis on the collapse of tradition and culture of the people in terms of discipline, irreconcilable political differences among the elites, as well as unemployment.
Earlier, in a welcome address, convener of the summit, Professor Abdulkarim Kana (SAN), said the one-day summit was aimed at training 100 youths to become peace ambassadors across the respective Afo communities.
