Jos

By Sumayyah Auwal Usman

A respected Islamic scholar, Sheikh Sa’eed Hassan Jingir has passed away on Thursday after a protrated illness.

The funeral prayer for Sheikh Sa’eed Jingir is scheduled to take place at 2:00 pm on Thursday at the Unguwar Rimi town in Jos, Plateau State.Late Sheikh Sa’eed was a prominent member of Jama’atu Izalatil Bidi’a Wa’ikamatis Sunnah (JIBWIS), Jos.

He earned deep respect within the Muslim community due to his contributions to the Islamic faith and his role as a spiritual leader.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini 

Plateau State Governor, Barr. Caleb Manasseh Mutfwang, has joined millions of well-wishers across the globe in celebrating the Gbong Gwom Jos and Chairman of the Plateau State Council of Chiefs, His Majesty, Da Jacob Gyang Buba, CON, on the joyous occasion of his birthday. 

In a heartfelt message, Governor Mutfwang described the Gbong Gwom Jos as an exemplary and distinguished traditional ruler whose wealth of experience, both in public service and traditional leadership, has left an indelible mark on Plateau State and Nigeria at large.  

The Governor noted that Da Jacob Gyang Buba’s life has been a source of profound inspiration, characterised by his unwavering dedication to service, humility, and a deep-seated passion for the welfare of his people.  

He commended the traditional ruler’s extraordinary contributions to the socio-economic transformation of the state, especially his leadership in fostering community-driven initiatives aimed at self-reliance and economic empowerment. 

Governor Mutfwang specifically praised the Gbong Gwom Jos for his tireless advocacy in combating drug abuse and his commitment to empowering the youth of Plateau State.

His Majesty’s vision of a future where the younger generation thrives through hard work and enterprise has positioned him as a beacon of hope for many. 

Governor Mutfwang lauded the Gbong Gwom’s compassion and his efforts in uplifting the less privileged.

His Majesty’s enduring legacy of fairness, justice, and empathy, particularly in promoting peaceful inter-community relations, has greatly contributed to strengthening unity, peace, and harmony across the Plateau and beyond. 

On behalf of his family, the government, and the people of Plateau State, Governor Mutfwang extended his warmest congratulations to His Majesty, praying that this special day brings abundant joy and cherished moments with his family, loved ones, and admirers.

By Abdullahi Mukhtar Algasgaini

The People’s Democratic party (PDP) chairmanship aspirant for Jos North, Hon. John Christopher Kyohroh has commended the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) for peaceful conduct of elections in Plateau State.

He made this statement at his polling unit -012, Area Directorate Office, Ministry of Education, Vanderpuye ward, in Jos North local Government Area of the state.

Kyohroh said although many hours were spent waiting for the voters verification system device to pick up but to no avail, the technical hitch should be expected because of the new technology introduced in the electoral process, saying it will be improved with time.

He described the effort of PLASIEC as a giant stride, adding that the process will be successful at the end of the day.

The chairmanship aspirant cast his vote using the manual process due to the hitches experienced on the voter verification system device.

He urged the people to come out and exercise their right by voting for the candidate of their choice.

By Uzair Adam Imam

A group of men apprehended an unidentified man attempting to detonate a bomb at a bank in Plateau State on Monday, May 13.

The incident occurred in Dadin Kowa town, Jos South.

Vigilante security at the bank thwarted the attack after noticing the suspect.

Enraged, a mob attacked the suspect, calling for his execution.

It remains unclear if the suspect is linked to any terrorist organization.

He has been handed over to the police for further investigation.

By Usman Muhammad Salihu

Jos, the capital city of Plateau State, has for long been grappling with the persistent issue of water scarcity, leaving residents to endure the consequences of insufficient water supply from the body responsible. The lack of functional boreholes and wells further compounds the challenge, painting a grim picture of daily life for the city’s inhabitants.

The city, despite being blessed with natural water sources, finds itself in the grip of a water crisis. Government efforts to address this issue have fallen short, with inadequate infrastructure and supply systems unable to meet the teeming demand.

To effectively bring an end to the menace, the government must prioritize infrastructure development, including the construction of water treatment plants and distribution networks, to ensure equitable access to clean water across the city.

Implementing and enforcing water management policies and regulations can help curb wastage and ensure responsible usage of available resources.

Engaging with local communities to understand their needs and involve them in decision-making processes can foster a sense of ownership and accountability in water management initiatives.

On the other hand, well-to-do individuals and private companies operating in Jos should integrate water provision mechanism and sustainability practices into their corporate social responsibility initiatives.

Collaborating with government agencies and NGOs can amplify the impact of private sector efforts, leveraging resources and expertise to address water scarcity more effectively.

Empowering residents with knowledge about water conservation and hygiene practices can promote responsible usage and reduce strain on limited water resources.

Supporting grassroots initiatives aimed at water conservation, such as community-led well drilling projects or water purification programs, can foster resilience and self-sufficiency within our neighborhoods.

By implementing comprehensive solutions that span governmental, private, and community sectors, the city can break free from the cycle of scarcity and ensure a sustainable water future for generations to come.

Usman Muhammad Salihu writes from Jos, Nigeria.
muhammadu5363@gmail.com

By Ukasha Rabiu Magama

The lives of the commuters passing through Jos-Bauchi road to other states in the Northeast and Northcentral regions are in precarious situations due to the gully erosion that washed away the road in Narabi, Toro local government of Bauchi state.

The affected area has already been declared dangerous by the residents. Though the site has been closed-off with stones and a red rope to serve as a warning signal to motorists, they are still managing to pass through at a low speed because there is no alternative.

Nonetheless, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency FERMA should hurriedly aid commuters by repairing the affected area before it is damaged entirely and cause havoc to motorists flying the roads daily.

It’s good for the FERMA to know that the way is the only way linking the entire north-central and northeast. Also, the Agency is aware that the road is among the busiest roads in Nigeria. Meanwhile, if FERMA refuses to fix up the ashed-away area hurriedly, it will affect and endanger the lives of thousands of commuters and stop motorists’ movement entirely. 

Similarly, it’s undoubtedly that the Bauchi-Jos road has become a dead zone for commuters because of the severe potholes along the road. This has been continuously claiming the lives of innocent commuters daily.

Annoyingly, the Bauchi-Jos highway is among the roads recording high rates of accidents in Nigeria. Given this, the federal government approved 348 billion in 2018 for the dualisation of the road from Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi to Gombe. This is to reduce the risk of accidents along the road, but more needs to be done on the ground to actualise the project.

Therefore, since the protection of the lives and property of every citizen is bestowed upon the government’s shoulders, it is significant for the FERMA to urgently intervene by repairing the washed-away area; this is to save innocent lives. Also, since the outgoing president cannot fulfil his promise, we are drawing the attention of the incoming president Ahmad Bola Tinubu to dualise the road; hence the need is to save lives and properties.

Meanwhile, we need FERMA’s urgent intervention before the new administration settles. If not, lives are at stake, and only God knows what will happen if the road is damaged completely.

Ukasha Rabiu Magama writes from Magama Toro, Bauchi state.

By Sani Mu’azu

Just like me, Saint Obi’s formative years in creativity as an actor started from NTA Jos in the late 1980s. He was then working with NIPOST as a staff in Jos, Plateau State, but even then, he had studied theatre arts at the University of Jos and his heart was always on the silver screen. And he sees me as an elder brother and a friend.

After a few stints in Jos, Obinna took the plunge and moved to Lagos where, with the advent of the home video phenomenon, he snowballed into national recorning and became Saint Obi – ‘the Saint Obi’. Jos became proud of him and his achievements as an A-list actor as his filmography credits continued to grow.

We had discussed working with Saint Obi on a national unity project I conceived in which he was to play the role of an Igbo engineer that speaks Hausa fluently. It was also an action package and Saint Obi loved action. The idea of delivering lines in Hausa excited him saying the North would see him in a different light. But the project was not to be. It was that project that kept us talking for a very long time until he disappeared into oblivion.

Saint Obi was a Jos boy and I was not surprised when I heard that he passed on quitely here in Jos. It was heartbreaking though to realise that he came back home but never got in touch with us, his hommies.

Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. We are definitely going to miss Saint Obi from the stage. The industry is going to miss him when it takes a retrospective look at the various movies he led and the various roles this great thespian played as an actor.

My sincere condolences to the industry, our colleagues in Jos but more specifically, to his immediate family for such a huge loss.

Sleep well brother. Sleep well.

By Usaini Abubakar

While travelling in some parts of the Plateau state, please be cautious and vigilant. It’s unfortunate that some blood-sucking people don’t know their enemy and enjoy attacking innocent travellers passing their towns, not knowing we are all victims of the same system. 

I don’t honestly know their aims. Do they want to turn every federal road that crosses their towns or within the state into gallows, a wasteland, battlefields, graveyards of multiple unknown bodies, or maybe something else of their making?

I nearly lost my life yesterday! Not only that, but I nearly lost my breath, lost the life beating inside me, but my strength and courage and determination and experience, like echoes of vigil nights, disappeared within seconds. Not only that, but I think casualties are not the death of those who started the war or those prowling grievance.

Not only that, but I believe casualties are those who keep quiet, who have the opportunity to talk but keep quiet, and those who smile every day when their next-door neighbours are in tears. But how can we together hold and retrieve ourselves back from this brainwashing?

So, I began to wonder what’s more important than human life. What’s more critical than togetherness, than friendships and relationships and progress? What’s more significant than peace, development, progress, success, love, respect, responsibility, and understanding? What’s peace if we can’t go anywhere inside our towns?

What friendship if we can’t befriend someone from another tribe, village, or country? What’s love if we can’t love and respect what others revere? What’s the progress if we can’t put one block over another? What’s progress if we can’t come together? What’s the responsibility if we can’t be accountable for our mistakes?

What’s faith? What’s a belief if we can’t respect other people’s choices and generational values? What’s up if there are no others? How can you, without reason, kill someone for someone’s sin or mistake? Why punish an innocent traveller for a sin they didn’t commit or knew nothing about?

Imagine we spent half our day alongside the road linking Mararraban Jama’a to Abuja, waiting for death, revenge, hatred, or the taste of human blood to leave people’s minds. We stayed as the only means of safety in our possession. We waited for God’s intervention, waiting and waiting, and I pray for no one to wait for this type of wait… waiting without knowing where death would come from.

Usaini Abubakar wrote from Jos, Plateau State. He can be reached via usainiabubakaradam5091@gmail.com.

By AbduIlslam, Abdulsalam, Rukaiyah, & Rabiatu

This year, Sentient Media reveals that every 60 seconds, one animal suffers abuse. One afternoon, I counted 483 drops of blood on the ground and lost counting to empathy of, what blood is it? But what really transpired?

A wounded cow (with blood flowclose to the eye) was being paraded to the slaughtering ground which is about a mile and half (sometimes farther) from the livestock’s market of ‘Yanshanu in Jos. Added to the feeble state of this animal was respiratory mucosa effect, yet a reckless herder (sometimes a guy/boy) hit the cow with a goad on the eye wound because at some point, the cow didn’t move or moved slowly (its front legs were tied together) –immediately the cow fell to the ground due to the brutal and merciless hitting. This was repeated until the destination was reached. Such oppression is irrefutably done daily. This is simply because it is an animal! What a pity.

This scenario conforms to the argument of Peter Singer, author of Animal Liberation that “it would first be necessary to transform people’s attitude towards animal” Over 40 years ago, animal abuse was referred to as intentional act which causes pain to the animals. It sometimes brings too much suffering and even death. It comes in behaviors like beating, starving, choking etc., however, these maltreatments are rationalized in the ill and senseless feeling of ‘they’re animals’. But those acts beat conscience.

Yanshanu Livestock Market is a place where buying/selling of livestock are made daily. However due to its commercial string, most of the activities of dealers inflict severe suffering on the animals. Malam Suleiman Ahmad, Chairman Conflict Resolution ‘Yanshanu Market defended tucking livestock in a crevice space all in the name of transportation from villages to the market or from market to some destinations “we’re here for profits, [so] creating such fantasized comfort for animals will cost much [and] I know people don’t want meat costly.”

And on the issue of market herders inflicting unnecessary pain on the livestock while parading them out to eat or when marching them to the slaughtering ground, Malam Suleiman agreed that the herders sometimes overdo-it “let me be clear on something, due to unrest in our villages, they [Fulanis] protect their animals with several traditional methods and these sometimes remain even after sale – that’s why we use leather [plastic] to choke them when they refuse to stand up. However, we caution our boys on mishandling the animals as it is even un-Islamic and we put them in check with sanctions, but don’t forget, animals don’t understand you, to the good ones, it is the only language they understand, plus there are stubborn ones amongst them.”   

Admittedly, the African methods of animal husbandry values the goad, but the question here is, is it the most effective means of communication to animals? The answer is a capital No! This powerful oppression surely affects the health conditions of the livestock, so Malam Alkasim Ishaq, a vetinary outside the ‘Yanshanu Market condemned the recklessness reflecting that those keeping pets starve, let them stray and the cruel soul even beat, not to even mention some of the heartless dealers. He opined; “these people [dealers] are just here for business and time is money for them. Often, we vets around condemn their cruelty towards animals but you know our society [you become a black sheep for trying to better the system]. However, those hard beating and unreasonable tying affect the overall psyche and health of the animals.”

Whilst the vet expressing his concern, an individual who identified himself as member of Nigeria Livestock Association, Plateau State branch, lamented about his plight on unreasonable tying of animals and torture, because it stops the blood flow which explains the animals’ awkward behaviors sometimes.

It’s expected that such vast cruelty by humans should’ve been curbed by the government, but Malam Suleiman lamented that bad practices should’ve checked with government and Non-governmental organizations’ intervention. “We have written letters to the government but no response, so we can only do what is within our reach. In serious nations, they have abattiors and pay workers, no reckless beating and rush to make much money as we do.” He lamented.

However, going by the global animal husbandry, the vet and his friend pointed out that reforms need to start from the ordinary (not learned) members that made up of the animals’ bodies and organizations. And Mustapha Suleiman, a Vetinary Medicine student of Usman Danfodio University said; denial to understand the psychological condition of these guys [as he preferred to call animals] is what brought about abuses in our localities. He believed that if we pay good attention, we wouldn’t need to inflict pain on the animals with our traditional techniques.

But, it’s worrisome what the harshness of the herders on the animals is costing the host community – ‘Yanshanu. The livestock market is located in full residential area. Often, the maltreatment gets the animals wild – they end up going chaotic for about for over half an hour, smashing and aiming at everyone.

This discriminating treatment persists because humans fail to realize other living things’ response to stimuli – sometimes they’re feeble, they like, dislike; they feel hunger, anger, sick, even want to rest, but only when all these are understood. We should know that it is wrong to inflict suffering on other beings, even if not our own species. But attractive legislation on the subject matter is a priority.

AbduIlslam Kamaldeen Muhammad writes from Bayero University, Kano, together with

Abdulsalam Zikirullahi (SS3 Class) Alhaqq Comprehensive Private School Jos,

Rukaiyah Muhammad (SS2 Class) Alhaqq Comprehensive Private School Jos,Rabiatu Abubakar (SS2 Class) Alhaqq Comprehensive Private School Jos.

By Sumayyah Auwal Ishaq

The Nigerian Correctional Service has, on Sunday, confirmed the attack of the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Jos, Plateau State.

The spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS), Controller of Corrections, Francis Enobore, confirmed the incident, saying “The Medium Security Custodial Centre in Jos, Plateau State came under attack by gunmen who reportedly stormed the facility in large number with sophisticated weapons”

He further stated that “although they gained entrance to the yard, they are however trapped within as men from sister security services were immediately mobilised to assist the armed guards to cordon the perimeter wall and the entire area”

The attack was said to have been carried out at about 5pm on Sunday, and sophisticated weapons were said to have been used by the attackers.