By Abdulaziz Abdulaziz
Shendam
Fifty six ethnic communities in six local government areas in southern part of Plateau state, yesterday signed a declaration for peace and harmonious relationship among themselves, signalling an end to many years of ethno-religious crises and tensions.
An elaborate ceremony which has in attendance the United States’ and German ambassadors to Nigeria, among other dignitaries, saw representatives of various ethnic nationalities involved publicly signing the peace accord.
The peace initiative, which is being driven by an international nongovernmental organisation, Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, is a sequel to similar accord reached among communities in Jos and its environs three years ago.
In his address, the Plateau state governor, Barr. Simon Lalong, described peace building as a cardinal objective of his administration, describing peace as the only condition for meaningful development in the state.
According to him, investigation has shown that some crisis were deliberately instigated by persons in authority to get room of stealing public funds in the name of security votes.
He said previous administrations in the state have spent billions of naira in security votes the monies he said could be saved with peace across the state.
“We noticed that billions have been siphoned. When you ask they will say security vote. It’s a way of siphoning money in billions”, he said.
In his opening remarks, the chairman of the occasion, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu recalled how difficult it was to start the mediated dialogue among warring communities in the aftermath of the Jos crisis, adding however that with resilience of the mediators and other stakeholders, the initial difficulties had been overcome.
He said with the signing of the peace accord among the people of southern Plateau, the initiative to bring back peace in the state was now complete following the success recorded in Jos.
He lauded the various community leaders who have demonstrated commitment and desire for peace in the dialogue process, leading to all parties reaching a consensus.
Lead mediator of the Centre of Humanitarian Dialogue, Mrs. Alice W. Nderuti said the signing of the peace declaration followed series of meetings among selected stakeholders from each affected community.
