Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday reviewed the incessant bloodletting in Southern Kaduna, and declared that violence will not resolve the differences between the warring sides.
He said at a meeting in Kaduna with stakeholders in the area that the hate and anger generated by the crisis is so much that the issues at stake cannot be resolved in a hurry.
Osinbajo used the visit to assess the level of progress at the Kaduna International Airport ahead of the diversion of flights from the Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja to Kaduna.
At the Southern Kaduna crisis meeting, the acting president said a quick fix solution would not be apt as the crisis has a long history which he is studying through previous reports of commissions on inquiry, briefing from security agencies and other reports.
”I must say there’s no question whatsoever that violence would never stop any of the problems we are experiencing today, there’s no way we will resolve it that way,” he told the stakeholders including religious leaders, traditional rulers, and ethnic groups as well as representatives of the Fulani community.
Continuing, Osinbajo said: “On this matter I have read documents; quite a few of the reports.
“As a matter of fact, I have tried very hard to study the crisis in Southern Kaduna. Personally, I have read quite a few documents including reports of past crises.
“Recently, I have taken briefings from the service chiefs on what is going on and since I got in today (yesterday).I am also taking briefing from some of the senior officials of the armed forces and state security.
“And I want to say that I don’t want us to be in a hurry. I am certainly not in a hurry because I don’t believe that a crisis where there is so much blood letting and hatred over the years can be resolved by a couple of meetings. No, I don’t believe that is possible.
“I have talked to His Excellency the governor, that what I would like to achieve is not a quick fix but I want us to begin a process and I want to be a part of that process that will listen to each group separately and then get everyone together.
“And I want us to respect those who have lost their lives that we are not trying to fix something quick, we are not trying to resolve it now however it is resolved and pretend all is well.
“We will take our time and as I said, to sift through whatever is required so we can find a proper and lasting solution.
“But, how many more lives do we want to lose before we stop this crisis? We must therefore strive to put an end to this, otherwise it will consume everybody.
“Violence, enmity and hate cannot solve the problem we are going through. We must therefore begin a process of peace building”, he said.
Osinbajo promised to convene meetings with representatives of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) and other stakeholders separately.
Governor El-Rufai in his opening remarks vowed to fish out and prosecute those who have participated in the killings or instigated killings in Kaduna State over the last 37 years.
He said some of the people that were not invited to the meeting were left out because “we suspect they are behind some of these problems and we do not intend, as state government, to give legitimacy to anyone under investigation for being behind some of these problems.”
Government, he added, has identified bringing culprits to book, deployment of security and commencement of peace building efforts as panacea to permanently ending the Southern Kaduna crisis.
Stakeholders who spoke at the meeting including the CAN Chairman Bishop George Dodo, Agwan Atakad, representative of JNI, Alhaji Sanusi Maikudi and National Assistant Secretary of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, Ibrahim Abdullahi traced the crisis to 2011 post election violence and suggested ways out.
Earlier, while fielding questions from journalists shortly after inspecting the Kaduna Airport Acting President Osinbajo said the international community had been sensitized to endure the temporary arrangement.
He said that all contractors handling various works at the airport have been given a matching order to ensure speedy conclusion of works as scheduled.
He said the contractors have made considerable progress although he admitted that “there is quite a bit to do.”
“It is going to be completed over this weekend like the ceiling, air conditioning and all that, security facilities. So we think that, it may not be in a complete state of readiness by Wednesday. I expect that within a very short period of time the airport will be very usable and comfortable state,” he said.
“We asked people working on the airport to quickly speed up or to double the number of people who are working on the ceiling and some other facilities, they certainly need to work much faster and much more diligently to be able to deliver on schedule.
”I think that, foreign airlines will, but what we need to tell them is that obviously this is a temporary arrangement and they should really work with us on the temporary arrangement.
