Oil in Northern Nigeria, Nigeria is Possible

Professor Agbaji Emmanuel Ogezi is a lecturer at the Department of Geology and Mining University of Jos. He is also a beneficiary of a professional chair from the Petroleum Technology Development fund (PTDF). On April 25th, 2008 he delivered a lecture titled “Geology, Time, Minerals, Environment and Man”.

Egezi was educated at Amadu Bellow University Zaria where he had a First Degree in Geology. He later attended Leeds University in the UK where he backed an M.Sc and a Ph.D. Besides these degrees, he has been a lecturer for more than thirty years. He thus represents a reservoir of knowledge. Considering the fact that Nigerian Universities have been under funded, it could be said that the likes of Egezi have been under utilized. The professional chair to Nigerian Universities as a whole is thus a respond to a cry from within the country to save such knowledge repository from wasting and from ensuring the nation benefits from the resources spent on training such individuals.

The essence of the lecture, Ogezi said, was to interact with the community. It was meant to tell the community outside the university what researches he has done and how it relates to the community.

The lecturer mentioned a number of benefits of his researches to the immediate community. One is that their research has shown that the Tin ore reserve in Plateau State has not been exhausted. Those explored are only the shallow-seated reserves but deep-seated reserves that can be exploited with technologies that were non-existent in the past are still present in Plateau State. Also in the course of his researches he also carried out the Environmental Impact Assessment. Based on this, he and his team intend to recommend technologies that can be used by women and children such that the hazards they usually get exposed to in the course of mining are minimized. His lecture has also demonstrated that Plateau State is well endowed with diverse solid mineral deposits that need to be carefully evaluated by knowing their exact number and commercial worth.

The Nigerian Economy is dependent almost solely on oil revenue and the country can get into financial trouble in situations where oil revenue fails. Presently the unrest in the Niger Delta is growing in dimension. As at present the Nigeria daily oil export has been cut down by about 20% as a result of the sabotage to oil facilities by the militia groups operating in the region. The area of solid minerals is one surw area that can generate enough revenue to sustain the nation where oil revenue fails. It has however, been left in cold for so long. Ogezi says there has been some progress on the sector and they have been trying to improve on the progress through their interaction with the government. As at now, according to him, there are seven solid minerals government is trying to concentrate on. To move forward however, there must be a law stating the terms of engagement for mining companies so that they will not just be groping in the dark and putting their investment at risk. The laws according to him are now in place and with the current status of government, progress will be recorded.

While answering a question as to whether there is oil in the Northern part of the Country or not, the professor explained that as a result of the professional chair to the University, they intend to carry out further investigation on the Benue Trough with the aim of confirming how true that suspicion is. According to him, the Chad Basin, which is actually an upper extension of the Benue Trough, is known to have petroleum and the lower extension of the Benue Trough and Anambra Basin, gas is known to exist. Also he remembers, as a kid, in Idoma land in Benue State a lot of drilling was undertaken. Thus the PTDF project will involve gathering all these facts and re-interpreting them before he can answer the question in the affirmative or otherwise. As far as he knows however, the types of rocks that host petroleum deposits are there.

The Iraqi War and the Plateau Man

Oil fields across the world have remained the bone of bloody contentions. This, undoubtedly, is due to the fact that oil brings a lot of wealth to whoever owns it. Except in the most developed nations of the world that are capable of generating wealth through other means, oil producing nations elsewhere around the world have had to contain with one crisis or the other. Southern Sudan not only hosts oil but has hosted one of the bloodiest and long lasting wars in Africa until a few years ago when a successful peace deal was brokered. The peace deal nonetheless left in its wake a shattered country that will take decades to rebuild. Angola, one of Africa’s oil producing nations has a similar story to tell. The Niger Delta has seen all forms of crisis including hostage takings, Killings, and sabotage to oil installations just to press hard their demand for a greater control of the oil resources in the region. In the Caspian Sea region, Russia has often used oil to punish its former territories that find common ground with the United States, its rival, on any political issue. The Middle East, the most endowed oil region in the world has been the unstable region. The Gulf of Mexico, the only oil region known to be innocent of human conflict has however been the region of natural disasters that can only be attributed to the fact that nature is indeed capricious. Hurricane Rita and Katrina are some of the most recent natural disasters in the Gulf of Mexico.

It has often been said that when the US sneezes, the world catches a cold. Recent events have however shown that this is no longer exclusive to the US as oil producing regions have shown that whenever they vibrate, the ripple effect travels across the planet. On the 20th March, 2003, the United States of America invaded the nation of Iraq with the aim of discovering nuclear weapons the American Government believed were hidden somewhere in that country. The Government of Iraq was overthrown and the country taken over. Against all these, no weapons were found thereby compelling people to believe that oil is at the heart of the matter. The continued occupation of the country by the invading forces and the regard of the succeeding Iraqi Government by Islamic fundamentalist as a puppet of the US have all contributed to an unexpected escalation of the war. The result is that the war now between the Iraqi and the occupying forces on one hand and the Islamic militia and insurgents on the other hand, has endured since 2003.

Iraq is the second largest oil-producing nation in the world after Saudi Arabia. The war in Iraq has ensured that the daily oil production in that country fell from 2.0 million barrels per day in 2004 to 1.5 million barrels in 2006. The economic principle of “ the lower the supply the higher the price” is never changing. The Iraqi case has proven not to be an exception as oil prices rose sharply to levels unprecedented in the history of the global oil market.

Iraq is not new to disturbing the equilibrium in world oil prices. In 1990, its invasion of neighbouring Kuwait led to short falls in oil supplies such that members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Counties, OPEC, had their daily production quotas raised. This is referred to in Nigeria as the “Windfall”. Nigeria been an OPEC member benefited a lot from the war. The present war has had a mixed outcome for the countries of the world. Oil producing nations have benefited favourably while the result has unfavourable for non-oil producing nations. This is because the oil producing nations have benefited from the increase in the prices per barrel of oil from less than $25 in 2003 to more than $110 at the present. Though the Iraqi war has been the primary cause of the upward rise in the price per barrel, it must be admitted that other factors such as the political instability and industrial unrest in Venezuela and the Niger Delta crisis have also been responsible. The Niger Delta actually comes next. As a matter of fact the May increase from $110. 20 in March to $114 in May was due to damage of oil installations belonging to the shell Petroleum Development Company and the industrial action by the staff of the Exxon-Mobil which cut down the production to less than 2.Omillion barrels per day.

Oil revenue to the nation has thus witnessed a dramatic increase between 2004 and the present. For instance the oil revenue shared among the Federal, State and Local governments was about N197 billion in January 2004. In November 2007 about N334 billion was shared to the same tires of government. This excludes excess crude revenue occasionally shared. This means that there is now more revenue for states across the nation to carry out their developmental activities. Plateau State is not left out. Recent remarks of Governor Da Jonah Jang have revealed that some financial deductions from the accounts of Plateau and Nassarawa States for debt servicing were made in error. By the time it was realized, the remittances were made to Nassarawa State alone. This, according to Jang, was due to the non-challance of the previous Government in the state. Jang said that the last remittance made to Nassarawa state was about $80 million and that when the state cried out the payment was halted pending the rectification of the problem, which will ensure Plateau receives all that is due to it. By the time that happens, it will no doubt add a huge sum to the coffers of the state Government.

As far as the development is concerned, the state and local government authorities are partners. Besides the subventions sent to the state Government, the local government also receive their own subventions from the same source. The increase is, hence not peculiar to the state governments. Thus the money made available to the Plateau man as a result of the Iraqi war and oil field instabilities comes through two inlets and is thus staggering.

It is one thing to have the resources that can be used to change the live of the ordinary man in Plateau State. It is however, another thing to put the money into proper use. It is only a strong political will that can guarantee a prudent use of resources for the state. The political history of Jang as we know it, is an attestation to the fact that integrity is still the most attractive political quality that can be used successfully against political rivals or opponents. Jang was said to have ruled with the fear of Heavens as the Military Governor of Benue and old Gongola States. By the time he retired from the military he was said to have but a single house built in his village at Du in Jos-south. Till today, it is still his only personal house. It is this political pedigree that has seen him through the stormy political climate in Plateau state to eventually place him on the highest leadership throne in the state.

Times change and people change too, physically and psychologically. Hence we are not supposed to base our prophecy of the leadership direction of the Governor on events that were recorded decades ago. Perhaps Jang was naïve and lacked ideas as to what to do with the type of public resources his colleagues personalized. There is wisdom of basing our prediction on the events of today.

Late Police Commissioner, Joseph Gomwalk was the first indigenous Governor of Plateau State. He is not only revered because of his mark as a pioneer Governor of the state but also remembered, as the most distinguished Governor Plateau State has ever known. In a nutshell, he holds the best administrative record of all past leaders in Plateau State. During the 31St anniversary of the dead of Gomwalk, Jang did not hide his admiration for Gomwalk. In other words Jang sees himself as a protégé to the pioneer Governor. Protégés always follow in the footstep of their role models, eventually living a life comparable to that of the role model or even beating their records.

Since real democrats managed to salvage Nigeria’s democracy from the embers of military leadership in the late 90s, only a few Governors have been heard to talk about finances saved for the states despite projects undertaken. Atahiru Bafarawa at the verge of living office in Sokoto State, in 2007 declared N13billion left over. Umaru Yar’Adua was also said to have left some billions of naira in the coffers of Kastina State. These they declared at the end of their second tenures. In Plateau state Jang saved N6billion in less than one year. This is a demonstration of an amazing transparency that is rare in present day Nigeria.

The ordinary citizen in Plateau state, over the decades, has been oppressed by the absence of quality education for his children, scarcity of potable water supply, poor state of health facilities, lack of jobs, irregular salary payments and denials of certain allowances to the civil servants, a limited number of roads and the poor state of existing roads. So far we have seen a genuine and unprecedented effort to address these woes. For example the state government has commenced the payment of pension and this includes civil servants that retired as far back as the 1970s. Since Plateau state was created in 1976, the message is that all the administrations before that of Jang have failed to address these problems. This is an indication that the combination of factors needed for the prosperity of Plateau state are within the tips of our fingers and these of course, are the political opportunity, will and the resources.

Prophesy of prosperity for the state based on the favourable consequence of the Iraqi war may however, not materialize if certain factors fail to play out favourably. Industrial actions by the workforce in the state have become critical in deciding the future direction of the state. This is because labours have continued to lay ambush to public finances since the issue of the consolidated salary took centre stage. If labour is able to sway the state authorities to yield to all their demands, it is likely that the expected infrastructural, social and economic changes of the state may not become a reality. According to the Governor, yielding to all the demands of the workforce will leave the state with a lean purse that cannot adequately support the dream of the authorities for the Plateau man.

The second factor is the possibility of the restoration of peace in the troubled oil regions of the world. The Iraqi war has shown that peace may be by the corner as the level of violence is receding and Moqtadar El Sadar, the Shiite Islamic cleric and commander of the Mahdi Army that has engaged the US and Iraqi Armies in some of the most fierce battles in Iraq has increasingly expressed his willingness to engage in peace talks. As a matter of fact the oil production level has risen above pre-war levels. In addition to possibilities of stability in Iraq, the Nigerian Government has not rested on its effort to successfully broker peace in the Niger Delta.

One factor that has however shown signs of spurring the increase in oil prices is the rapidly growing economies of China and India. If the continuous demand for oil to support these economies becomes persistent, it is unlikely that prices will drop.

Since the increase in oil prices affected non-oil producing nations negatively, the idea of the use of fuel such as ethanol to supplement oil supplies became very appealing. The success of this may force prices down. The use of grains to produce ethanol has however, led to global food crisis. So far, demonstrations due to increase in food prices has been recorded in Haiti, Ivory Coast, Egypt, and Senegal this year. The continued production of ethanol from food crops such as sugar cane, potatoes, corn, cassava and so on depends on whether the world food production can improve enough to feed the hungry and at the same time serve as raw material for the production of the bio-fuel.

Another factor that can frustrate the realization of the changes the huge financial resources can bring is the problem of corruption especially at the local government level. The local government has had corruption as its greatest woe. Corruption is largely responsible for the problem of zero allocation that has made it impossible for many local governments to pay salaries between 1999 and 2003. When it eventually became possible for local administrations to pay accrued salaries, most council chairmen were non-challant to addressing the problem. Following the inauguration of the State Government on May 29, 2007, the authorities acted gentlemanly when it ensured it used its influence to sway local governments into paying huge portions of the unpaid salaries. If the State Government can sustain that control on the local governments, the ordinary Plateau man should be able to enjoy the benefit of the huge financial resources the Iraqi war has placed in the coffers of the state.

Community Bitter With NIPSS Kuru

The vision of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, (NIPSS) in Kuru, Vom is “to be the apex centre of policy, research and reflection for a better Nigerian and human society”. If however the allegation of its host community, Kuru, is true then that vision statement simply confirms the reality of the statement that “action speaks louder than words”.

According to Da Pwajok Dangal, the village head of the immediate host community of NIPSS, the presence of the institute in his domain is more of a curse than the blessing they thought it was going to be. The sins of

NIPS S against his community constitute a grave betrayal of the trust the community had for the institute. First, no single subject of his has received compensation for any of the more than 270 plots of land on which the institute stands. To add insult to injury, the institute is a brazen violator of the government practice of conceding positions in the lower cadre to the host community. More than 90% of the positions at that level are dominated by people outside of the host community. The situation is the same when it comes to casual menial jobs.

Da Dangal became the Village I-lead of the very community in 1974 following the demise of his father in 1973. It means he oversaw the acquisition of the land on behalf of his community. Since NIPSS was founded in 1979, it is therefore his responsibility to keep pursuing the case, but he is not even treated with esteem when seen in the premises of the institute. For him the issue has thus become too low to get under and too high to get over as his subjects are now looking at him with suspicion.

The situation of he Kuru community as a whole is that of a victim of robbery and cheating or that it is a reflection of the underlying intentions of government agencies whenever there is an issue of land between government and the people.

In addition to the land hosting NIPSS, the land on which the Police Staff College and the Federal School of Soil Conservation (all founded in 1974) were built, have all not been paid for. Government institutions are not the ends in themselves. They are means to an end. This ends, like the vision statement of NIPSS states, is creating a better Nigerian and human society. The scenarios in Kuru, however are not just a reflection of the non-challance of the institutions to the difficulties of the people but a conscious, albeit a covert intention of impoverishing the people and its unborn generations: No land to cultivate and no money to by food. The future direction thus points to that of eternal underdevelopment and misery.

NIPSS is a by-pass for the most powerful people in the country. The immediate past and pioneer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, is presently attending the regular course of the institution. This underscores the significance and prestige of the institution; leaders of the country do pay a visit to course participants. The vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan attended the inauguration of the present course participants. The refusal of the institution to pay compensation for the land is indirectly an insult to all Members of the National Institute (Mni) and the nation at large.

When confronted, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NIPSS, Mrs. Mariam Amodu rather than paint a transparent photo of events, chose to refer the News Tower to a publication of the Punch Newspaper that implied the institute is not owing the community a dime and she was not ready to say anything other than “we are not owing them anything”. Since the issue is sensitive, it is expected that the institute will show evidence of compensation or an agreement in which the community agreed to give the land for free.

Musa Dung Passes On

Until August 18th Musa Dung was a staff of the NASCO group of companies where he has worked for thirty years, starting from 1978.

On the 17th August Musa was involved in a motor accident along the Bukuru Express Way. The accident occurred about a hundred meters away from his house. He had closed from office and was driving home when another vehicle from the opposite lane ran into a pot-hole, lost control and crossed over to his side of the road to smash the Mercedes 190E in which he was driving alone. He was taken to the Jos University Teaching Hospital and died the next day.

Death often chooses the most noble of men. Musa was a very discipline and honest man who lived a very organized life. Musa once admitted the fact that he loved money but will prefer to stay poor if getting the money involved doing anything unconventional. Thus he was the Cash Officer of NASCO Group Of Companies when he died. Musa was also the treasurer of his clan’s development union. When he died the union had nothing in its coffers. This is because the union refused to heed his advice against investing all it had at Pinnacle Golden Ventures where it was lost.

Musa’s sudden demise again brings to mind the need to have a speed limit along the Bukuru Express Way. When the road was constructed in the late 70s there were just sparse settlements around it. The construction of the road however spurred the speedy development of settlements leading to its present urbanized status. Thus there is the need to have a speed limit from the Police Staff College to the heart of the city.

Jang Addresses Press

Governor David Jonah Jang has addressed the press regarding key issues of his administration during a press conference convened at the Government House in Rayfield on Friday 26th September. Excerpts:

Education

While answering questions on education the Retired Commodore addressed the issue of renovation of primary schools. He noted that primary school renovation was collaborative as it involved the federal and the state governments with each paying a counterpart fund.

Jang did not forget to talk about plans to establish special science secondary schools spread evenly across the three political zones that include the north, central and southern zones. In the northern zone, Science School Kuru where the Governor was educated will be the Special Science School for the Zone, while Government Secondary School Mangu will be the school for the Central Zone and Government Girls School Shendam will be the school.for the Southern Zone. He also mentioned the intention of the government to restore the status of Government Science and Technical College Bukuru to effectively perform its function of teaching technical education.

Jang explained that as part of its service to the community, Oceanic Bank plc has taken the responsibility of renovating one of the four schools. In the same vein the Zenith Bank has agreed to carry out the renovation of the remaining three schools. This gesture according to the governor will enable his administration to save money that can be used to renovate the other schools.

Jang also talked about his government’s plan to build a permanent orientation camp for the National Youth Service Corps in Mangu to end the disruption of academic activities in schools were the corps members are camped as it has been in the past.

Health

Each of the seventeen local government areas in Plateau State is to have a sixty-bed hospital according to Jang. The aim, no doubt, is to address the rickety health care service, a general problem in the country.

Jang also spoke of plans by his administration to establish a truly specialist hospital in the state. The hospital will be equipped with all the necessary equipments to enable it meet up with the challenge. It will be located near the airport at Heipang in Barkin Ladi Local Government. The purpose is to make the services of the hospital available to people from other parts of the country that will inevitably require the services of the hospital. Jang explained that the government of Solomon Lar started the project at the same location but the project could not go beyond the foundation level.

Following the near completion of the permanent site of the Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH), it is hoped that the operations of the hospital will move to the permanent site leaving behind the old site. The school of nursing will use part of the facility for its laboratory demonstrations. The remaining parts of the structure will be converted to Jos North Cottage Hospital. In addition to the sixty bed hospitals Jos-north and Jos-south need cottage hospitals in view of the large population of people resident in those local governments.

Transport

Jang expressed his displeasure over the activities of commercial motorbikes. This according to him stems from the fact that people riding on okadas commit most criminal activities in Jos. Jang aware of the sensitivity of this angle of his plans for the state was cautious on the issue but said a clear decision on the plight of the okadas will depend on how events unfold in the transport sector as time goes on.

Jang stated that he is not against people using private vehicles for commercial transportation (kabu-kabu) after closing from work in the evening but that such vehicles must be properly registered with the Vehicles Inspection Officers, demonstrating that they will be used for such purposes. Jang stressed that Vehicle Inspection Officers who fail to live up to the agenda of the authorities in the transportation portfolio will be shown the way out.

Urban Development

A new master plan for the development of the Jos-Bukuru metropolis will be out in a few months time. This according to the Governor does not imply that the old master plan is headed for the trashcan. The new plan according to him will address only newly developing areas. He stressed that structures illegally constructed i.e. those not authorized by the Jos Metropolitan Development Board; the chief enforcer of any master plan for the state, will give way

The government is also experimenting on the feasibility or otherwise of having solar-powered streetlights. He said that if the solar means of energy turns out to be favourable, it would enable his administration to embark on installation of traffic lights at key junctions in the streets of Jos.

The urban development efforts of his administration will also involve naming and renaming of streets in addition to fresh house numbering for proper identification of street addresses.

Security

According to Jang since the restriction of the hours for the sale and consumption of liquor, there have been improvements in the security status of the state. He said that allowing the sale of alcohol to go on unrestricted nurtures crime since the perpetrators hang in the liquor houses till the critical hours they find convenient for their criminal operations. Jang said that this does not however imply that people cannot operate nightclubs in the state but that people wishing to operate nightclubs must apply to be given licenses such that nightclubs will be recognized and given security men to hang around them during operational hours.

Information

Jang also addressed the plight of the Nigerian Standard Newspapers that used to be the mouthpiece of the northern region of the country. He explained that his past experiences as a governor, albeit military, in the old Gongola and Benue States taught him that publishing is an industry that is better managed by the private organizations and as such his government is working on a possibility partnership with the private sector in the running of the Nigerian Standard to avoid the collapse of the organization as a result subsequent governments that may not be interested in financing it.

Commission of Enquiry

The Governor explained that the set up of a Commission Of Enquiry was not aimed at witch-hunting anybody. He noted that the commission is rather an avenue for concerned persons to come up and clear their names. He further explained that such commissions often come with new administrations and his cannot be different. Jang warned members of his administration to note that a similar commission will come after his administration and whoever threads wrongly would have himself to blame. He called on members of the public who are suspicious of any member of his cabinet to come up with the allegation and evidence supporting such allegation.

Woman Seeking Justice for Son's Life



Pam



As early as 0600 hours local time on the morning of July 2nd, the noisy engine of a vehicle awakened the Dung family of Rahol Kanang in Jos south Local Government Area. When madam Josephine Dung pulled out the covering of her window, she saw about eight gun-wielding men in mufti. Their mission was to arrest her son, Emmanuel Pam Dung.

Emmanuel’s room door, which overlooks the road, gave the men easy access. They banged the door with a horrifying viciousness and when the boy opened the door he was grabbed by the trousers and with all manner of cruelty his two hands were pulled backwards and held together with handcuffs. When madam Josephine tried to find out where her son was been taken to, one Haruna Dikko threatened her with a gun. That was how the men made away with her son.

The investigation of the whereabouts of her son led her to the Nassarawa Gwong Police Station the next day. She met Haruna Dikko who told her that her son was in detention and that she will have to come back the next day. The next day she sent her relations who went to the station but were told that no such case existed. The then contacted Haruna Dikko who denied knowledge of any such case despite the fact that he led the team that arrested her son. The turn of events led madam to consider checking the morgues in town and the search led her to the Jos University Teaching Hospital where, to her utter disbelief, she discovered the corpse of her son deposited two hours after he was arrested. The same Haruna Dikko who had arrested her son and who later denied knowledge of the case deposited the body. The boy was obviously shot from the back of the head at point blank with the bullet ripping through his head to pull off one of the eyeballs from its socket. Cause of death as documented by Dikko on the mortuary register says that the boy was a robbery suspect killed by the Police as he tried to escape from the crime scene at Babale along the road to Bauchi.

Following the extra-judicial manner in which her son was killed, Madame Josephine has vowed that justice has to be done and has thus subsequently approached the League For Human Rights, LHR, in Jos. Following Mrs. Dung's resolve to see that justice is done, some persons who claim to be members of the vigilante group from Nassarawa Gwong, the immediate jurisdiction of the police division whose men killed her son have threatened her life through texts messages. The same persons have also sent a letter to the head office of the Federal Road Safety Commission in Abuja where she works, telling the command that she is not worthy of wearing the uniforms of the command and should thus be fired. Against all these, madam says that her resolve to fight for justice has only been strengthened by such threats.

Extra-judicial killings by Policemen in Nigeria are recurrent and leave people wondering whether perpetrators ever face retribution. Shamaky Gad Peter, the Senior Programme Officer of LHR, said that his organization wrote the Plateau State Commissioner of Police (CP) on the 16th July and following the failure of the CP to respond; a second letter was written on August 4th. On the same day, the Homicide Department of the force was assigned the responsibility of investigating the case. The men were subsequently arrested but released later on. The explanation of the

Homicide Department was that the men have no case to answer since the boy was short death while attempting to escape. The LHR was not satisfied with the explanation since the boy was arrested and had his hands held behind by steel shackles. There was no way he would have escaped in that condition. The nature of the gunshot injury also revealed that he was shot at close range. While investigation was going on the Police also hastily buried the corpse.

The LHR sensing a deliberate lack of cooperation from the force has hence written the Inspector General (IP) of the Police, the Police Service Commission and the Attorney General of the Federation. The LHR believes some form of communication will be established with the office of the Inspector General. Should this fail however, the LHR has plan B which will involve suing the IG, the CP and all other parties that should be held responsible for their refusal to allow justice to take its course.

In December 2002 some youths: Silas Joseph, Emmanuel Kwaja, Samson Jacob, Laban Samaila and Edozie Okonji were arrested on suspicion of robbing a pastor of a branch of Church of Christ in Nigeria around of the sum of N75, 000. They were taken to the Katako Police station. While their hands were held together with steel handcuffs, a female police officer sprayed a concentrated form of tear gas directly into their eyes. Most of them suffered visual impairment for some time. The torture was meant to compel them to admitting guilt of the offenceOn the 9th November 2004, Mallam Shehu Mohammed was seriously beaten by one constable Ali on suspicion of being an armed robber. He later bled to death. On 14th May 2007, Ahmed Sadiq Mohammed, 24 and Aminu Musa, 23 were involved in an automobile accident with a vehicle belonging to their boss around Abattoir in Jos. Yusuf Dongonyaro, who was a Chief Superintendent of Police and who also, happened to be the Divisional Police Officer of Anglo-Jos Police Station was drinking at a near-by beer parlour. He came out with his gun and sent the two boys to hell instantly. According to Shamaky the mortuary register of JUTH showed that Haruna Dikko actually deposited two corpses on the 2nd of July at about 0830 local time. The corpses were those of Emmanuel Dung and one other unnamed victim.

Constable Ali and CSP Dogonyaro were dismissed from the force and charged to court. The LHR does not always carry on with the cases as it often relays it to the Federal Ministry of Justice. The Nigerian judicial process has been known for its sluggishness. Legal cases often drag for so years that the memory of the seriousness of the crime diminishes with time. Such lengthy legal process also wears out the bereaved that lose interest in pursuing the case. The trial will thus end up inconclusive and justice is never found. It is hoped that Emmanuel’s case will be different.

Political Retirement of Michael Botmang

For decades since Da Michael Botmang left the village, Zawan, in Jos South Local Government, he was never again resident there. What pulled Botmang from his village was to work for the Nigerian Tobacco Company, NTC. He worked for the company and rose to the pinnacle when he found his way into the top brass of the company that ran things across the nation.

In the late 90s he retired from the company to gamble into the Nigerian politics. When he returned to Plateau State he still did not settle at Zawan until the end of the second tenure of the Government in which he served as the sidekick to Joshua Dariye, and eventually Governor, when Dariye was impeached. Now that he is back in Zawan it epitomizes the end of the his active political journey. Da Michael Botmang is retired and perhaps tired.

Leaving a profession that provided you with all that you want in life, a profession that make others green with envy to join politics, the Nigerian type, was indeed a gamble in those days. It indeed worked negatively for him as the military struck again in 1993. This time around, the military blocked the little chance Ibrahim Babangida gave the politicians at the second and third tiers of government.

In a game you sometimes lose and at other times you win. When General Abdulsalam Abubakar restored full democracy Da Michael Botmang bounced back. This time he won the Jack-pot when he became Deputy to Chief Joshua Dariye and eventually Executive Governor, albeit briefly.

Da Michael Botmang says he will never be active in politics again. That is going to be the future direction of his politics, mentoring political protégés, pacifying and reconciling aggrieved parties. “At my age I should be seen playing the role of a father. The politics of Plateau State before May 2007 became very stormy creating multiple factions even within parties. Some people must be seen to heal these wounds. “People in my circumstance are just the right persons. As at 1982, I was diagnosed with diabetes. Since then I have taken regular medical attention, once every six months. When I became Governor, the nature of the work compelled me to stay for more than a year without receiving medical attention, the condition grew worse. Now doctors come to my house to administer dialysis twice a week. I am just striving to live a few more years”.

There is something about Botmang that makes him look old when he wants to and young and smart when he chooses to. One will not be surprised if the man, one day decides to unleash verbal missiles.