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The national chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists,
Mohamed Garuba, on Tuesday, said that the call for the declaration of a state
of emergency in Plateau and Borno States is not right.

Speaking with journalists at the presidential wing of the
Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Mr Garuba explained that the declaration of
state of emergency in Plateau State in the past did not bring about peace in
the land, adding that the government should be proactive and work towards
unearthing the cause of the anarchy in the affected states. “We believe that
the issue state of emergency should not be the solution to the problems,” he
said.

“Because we remembered vividly that some time ago, when this
crisis continued in Plateau State during the time of [former governor] Dariye,
President Obasanjo then declared a state of emergency, but unfortunately the
crisis and the problems still persisted. Therefore the best way as far as we
are concerned to address this very serious problem is for government to look
inward and find out the root courses of these unfortunate incidents.”

Political repercussions

Mr Garuba noted that the upheaval in the two states may not be
as a result of religious intolerance, adding that the government should act
quickly before the level of security in the States deteriorate beyond what it
is presently. “As far as we are concerned, it has more to do with politics than
religion,” he said. “I am afraid to say that if the government allows such
insecurity to continue, it maybe virtually very difficult for us to experience
the April 2011 elections. People are already scared. If you look at the number
of turn-out on the review of the voters registers in Plateau and Borno, they
have recorded the lowest in terms of participation and I am sure it is going to
be same thing when it comes to 2011 elections.”

“Most importantly I believe there are lot of committees that were formed by
the government to investigate this incident in Jos and Maiduguri, but up to
this time nobody has been arrested and no culprits have been prosecuted and I
think that is the major problem. Government has to implement the recommendation
of all the committees that were formed. There is no reason why the government
should not expose the findings of these committees and then try as much as
possible to implement the recommendation of these committees. If the government
fails to do this, I want to assure you that this crisis will continue; and
indeed it is going to be unfortunate in this part of the country. Why we are a
little bit concerned is that if we are not careful, gradually this crisis will
escalate to other parts of the country,” he added.