The Yeshua Kingdom Foundation International

The Yeshua Kingdom Foundation International, Jos

The Yeshua Kingdom Foundation International is an open-air centre of religious gatherings. It was built in Jos by Jonah David Jang, a man who has been a governor in three of Nigeria’s thirty-six states.  It is located between Doi and Ladura villages in the Du District of Jos South. People have come to refer to the monument as the Ten Commandments because of the spectacle of a giant tablet on which the Ten Commandments of God are engraved. The monument, built from Jang’s personal funds, was commissioned by erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan in December 2021. Jang had ended his time as governor in 2015 and as a senator in 2019.

In addition to President Goodluck Jonathan, who commissioned the monument, two former presidents of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo and Yakubu Gowon, have also walked the soil of the monument. Obasanjo and Gowon were special guests at the maiden edition of a three-day inter-denominational event, which concluded on December 1^st, 2024, following the request of Governor Caleb Mutfwang, the current Governor of Plateau State. The coming of Generals Gowon and Obasanjo accentuated the epic standing of the monument –the event enjoyed record attendance, only comparable to the attendance recorded when Reinhardt Bunke visited Jos in the mid-1990s. 

The Ten Commandments is set in a picturesque location of Du District. It is designed such that the colourful sitting positions form a bow pattern, which faces an elevated podium behind which the tablet stands. The tablet’s giant size compares to human sizes as Gulliver compared to Lilliputians. The arena also boasts of water pools designed for baptism and have been used for that purpose since the inauguration of the monument.

Sometimes in 2010, I visited Makurdi, the capital city of Benue State and noticed the roads were curiously wide and dichotomous. They were also flanked by giant gutters that lessen any possibility of flooding. When I observed that the construction pattern was identical to what Jonah Jang was building in Plateau State, my host confirmed that the roads were actually built by Jonah Jang while he was the military Governor of Benue State. It is this obsession for urban renaissance that has helped Jang to become so powerful that he decides who becomes the governor of Plateau State.

When Jang’s construction turbo took off on the Plateau in 2007, it was relentless and ubiquitous under the Plateau sun, compelling President Goodluck Jonathan to stay for three days, flying across the state and commissioning a stack of projects Jang had piled within a short period of becoming governor. The roads at the heart of the construction were aimed at spreading the physical developments to all corners of the state as much as possible. This was so achieved until the end of his second tenure in 2015. Building the monument with his private funds makes obvious his undying love for Plateau State. The record attendance of the religious event has proven that when constructions spread further away from the city centre, they spur developments in the countryside.  

Within the short period Caleb Mutfwang has been in the state as the Governor, he has been able to demonstrate that he is a protégé of Jonah Jang. The volume of his projects despite the litigations that slowed him in the first year proves this. Mutfwang, who understands the role such monuments play in stirring prosperity, moved around with a broad smile on his face, greeting everybody. It is said that governance is a process, not an event. Unfortunately for Plateau State, this is only true if the People's Democratic Party is in charge. Clearly, the Mutfwang approach is a continuation of what Jang stands for.

There is something iconic about Yeshua Kingdom Foundation International: the monument carries an ambience that is reminiscent of the happy days last seen in the mid-1980s. As far as this is concerned, everyone on the Plateau is upbeat

Staying away from power is like walking into the distance. The more you walk away, the less distinct you become. The more years Jang stayed away from the government house, the more indistinct he became in the minds of Plateau people. However, building the Yeshua Kingdom Foundation International from the leftovers in his pouch has brought him back to the notice of the people in a manner that is so distinct that time will find it difficult to erode.

The constant prayer in the minds of kind-hearted people in Plateau State is for Jang to live long. Clearly, God is answering this prayer. 

Why I Don't Like Boys-Only Schools

AI-generated Photo

I attended two public elementary schools in Jos South. Most elementary schools are mixed, with boys and girls learning next to each other. But when I was about to finish elementary, I started learning that some schools are exclusively unisex. There are examples of such schools in Plateau State. There is the Boys High School Gindiri, Science School Kuru, College of Mary Immaculate Zawan, St. Joseph College Vom and hosts of others. 

Many people assume that Government Technical College Bukuru is a unisex school. It is not. The fact that it is a technical college makes it repellent to girls, but there have always been a handful of girls. The current Principal of the school, Mercy Patu Wambutda, is female, the first woman to hold that position. She is an alumnus of the school and was also the first Head Girl of the school. 

Government Technical College Bukuru is a school that admits students who have already finished the foundation level of secondary in other schools. It used to be the first two years of secondary, but with the 6-3-3-4 system, you have to finish the first three years of secondary to meet the criterion to attend the school, also referred to as Butechs.  

Inter-school sports competitions or Man-o-War jamborees often brought schools together.  It was where I learned the character of Butechs as a school that breeds hard nuts. They would splurge to get attention. For instance, they could go to the extent of eating bread with the polythene plastic covering or pushing three balls of chin chin burns at the same them, making their eyes bulge as if wanting to pop out of their sockets  –they just loved creating a scene. 

The hard-nut character of Butechs’ students did work on our psychologies, making us believe that the school is a-most-attend. So, I wrote the entrance exams to get to Butechs, but I wasn't admitted due to my weak mathematics foundation at the time –it became a silver lining. 

Science School Kuru is one of the most iconic schools Plateau State has ever known. It became very glaring to me when I was a student at the University of Jos –the school would boast of scores of students at the university when other schools had but a handful.

The entry criterion of Science School Kuru is similar to that of Butechs –you must complete basic education. So, while in class two of my secondary, I reluctantly wrote the entrance examination, reluctant because I never liked an exclusive boys' school –it seemed like a prison to me. So, when the results came out, I pretended I hadn’t heard about it. People who saw my name on the shortlist still came to inform me, but I jettisoned the idea of going. When I gave my reasons for refusing to go to Science School Kuru to an old student, he confirmed to me that it was true that they often had to violate the rules by jumping over the fence just to see girls in the host community. 

What is the aim of schools and education? To sum it up, schools are intended to fade the darkness in our minds and provide a good life, position, power and sometimes wealth. Science School Kuru stands along the way to Abuja, the work base of many educated and successful Nigerians. On their way to or from Abuja, some of them will disembark to meet with the local women who sell by the roadside. They give financial donations to the women, admitting the gifts are reparations for the damages done to tubers and livestock, years back. Isn’t this a confirmation that boys' schools are prisons of sorts?

Where I work, there are a couple of men from some of these schools. There are times they talk longingly about their antics during the school days. Some students were daring enough to kill whole goats and take them to the mountains where the goats are grilled and eaten. They would talk about how they often defied the rules to hide cooking stoves in dormitories so that inspectors wouldn't find them. They would talk about how “inmates” would fight ferociously over the illegal meals. When they talk about these things, however, I begin to feel like it may be a prison, but it is an experience that is worth having. I think that I gained and missed something at the same time.