Written by

CHOLLOM GYANG
SECRETARY-GENERAL
BEROM EDUCATIONAL AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION (BECO)

Our attention is again rudely distracted by an irrational, weird, unintelligent and highly incoherent comment, by one Alhaji Yahaya Kwande, a Jos-based resident-turned story teller, in a widely circulated interview, he granted the Daily Trust,(who else?) of Saturday, June 26, 2022.  The horrendous concoction, titled ‘REMNISCENCES’: WHAT IS NEEDED TO END THE JOS CRISES, which was meant to usher the elder statesman into his 90s, became an unhindered odyssey for crude rendition of fables and primitive cut and paste diatribes, involving the deployment of outright falsehood and deliberate distortion.  In his customary signature, Amb Kwande effortlessly spleened out his unmitigated hatred towards the natives of Jos, his decimal reference to the Berom ethnic nationality.
Ordinarily, we are very reluctant in joining issues, with a man who ought to easily pass for a grand ancestor, to many of the present generation of adults on the Plateau, but for a few important deliberate distortions, half-truths and downright falsehood, contained in the report in question. We thought the public need to be properly informed on the true picture of the events visited in the said interview. Those of us with a fair knowledge and experience of the active role Yahaya Kwande has consistently and mischievously, played in the inauguration and sustenance of communal distrust in Jos, and subsequently, transforming the peaceful city into a cesspool of bloodshed, are not taken aback at his deleterious outbursts. He has said even worse than this in the past, in keeping with his celebrated status of an irredentist conflict entrepreneur. We know Alhaji Yahaya Kwande better and well enough, to doubt whether the said comments were a true copy of his make-up and or, a certified reflection of his personality and character. He makes no mistakes in his queer utterances, especially on the Jos debacle. He is one who deliberately and predictively, initiates mischief to attract attention and sympathy from the northern oligarchy and in the process, obtains some cheap favor.
We have however, taken particular note of two aspects of the interview namely, his thoughts/recommendations on the unending Jos crises and the genesis of the title or designation of the Gbong Gwom Jos, allegedly coined and given out to us, by the Sardauna of Sokoto. Our response will be largely limited to this.  We begin with this interesting opening quotation, which states inter alia, ‘It is not deep in the heart of a Hausa man to hate….’ This statement, to us as well as many other readers of the interview, tells a lot on the true character of the Hausa man, as told by Alhaji Yahaya Kwande, for its relevance to the understanding of the sociological and psychological make of the Hausa man, at least the esoterically-loosed linguistic mix that goes by the name of Hausawan Jos.
This, simply put, is very instructive and noteworthy, as it completely nullified every other ‘damaging’ remarks or connotations Kwande made or attempted to, in attempt at haunting down the Berom and roundly classifying them as initiators of the Jos crises. If anything at all, the statement in question, in its simplicity and intent, says it all. By ordinary interpretation and implication, the Hausa man needs no provocation to hate, as hatred is personified in him and can be turned on, with little or no prompting at all. We are totally in agreement with that assertion and thank Amb Kwande for speaking some sense, for the very first time, though unwittingly.
The real Yahaya Kwande however, got demystified shortly, in the course of the interview,, when he went berserk asking why a Kanuri man is Emir of Lafia and perhaps, no Hausaman as an Emir in Jos too. Gratefully, and still unwittingly too, the Ambassador provided the answer, by acknowledging that it was through conquest in the Lafia scenario. He however failed woefully, to objectively link and constructively situate his comparison well, by reminding his northern paymasters what they already knew and had long accepted as fait accompli. They never conquered the Plateau and hence the allusion of the Kanuri and Lafia, not having any bearing on Jos. Similarly, the Fulani jihadists did not establish Emirates in Hausaland until they had successfully used Islam to lure and disarm them (Hausas), before slaughtering their Emirs and replacing them with their (Fulani) kith and kin. This did not happen in Jos.
 In case Yahaya Kwande may need reminded about or want to wish away the reality of the 1873 battle of Naraguta, where the Fulani jihadists were decisively and comprehensively defeated by the brave armies of the Jarawa, Amo, Anaguta, Berom and other indigenous ethnic nationalities of the present day Plateau North Senatorial District. How then could a Hausa Emir emerge in the same Jos they never conquered, nor have ancestry over? In answer to a question as to whether the Hausa community in Jos is to be blamed for causing the crises, he quickly responded to the negative, laying the blame wholly, on the doorsteps of the natives. Of course nothing can be further away from the truth than this. Contemporary security situation in Nigeria today has revealed the real motives of the ‘Jos crises’ to warrant any response here. We have long graduated from Jos to national security challenge, to waste any precious time on trading blames here.
According to him, ‘the natives are intolerant, always fighting me’ (Kwande). All we want to add here is to wonder which of the natives Yahaya Kwande is referring to here. It is surprising too, how he has lived all his life safely and peacefully, in the midst of the intolerant natives, out to always fight him. We are at a loss, at the identity of the intolerant natives, always fighting him. We are aware though, of an event way back in the 80s, where one Alhaji Yahaya Kwande, manipulated the traditional kingmakers and got selected into the throne of Kwande in Quan Pan LGA, his supposed place of ancestry.
On the eve of his ill-fated coronation, the entire northern oligarchy had already clustered in Jos, in high expectation and anticipation of a colourful coronation in Kwande, the following day. Some patriotic sons and daughters of Kwande had hitherto, approached the court, to resist the gross manipulation and desecration of their sacred stool (may God bless them). That evening, eve of Kwande’s well-planned and highly publicized coronation, the court delivered its judgment, nullifying his purported selection. Perhaps that is what he meant by the natives always fighting him. The natives of Jos couldn’t have infiltrated the rank and file of our brothers in Kwande, to so demonstrate their ’hatred’ for Yahaya Kwande. Or is the hatred towards him (Yahaya Kwande) across board and not limited to Jos? Was Yahaya Kwande, confusing the proud resistance by the sons and daughters of Kwande, against the adulteration of their sacred culture and tradition, to fighting him?
The funniest aspect of the ‘Tales by Moonlight’ sesame, Yahaya Kwande had with the Daily Trust, had it that it was the Sardauna of Sakkwato, who ‘created’ the Berom title of the Gbong Gwom Jos. Unfortunately the story teller, in his creative mendacity and open rascality, failed to mention who or which of the past occupants of the Gbong Gwom Jos stool, was the direct or immediate beneficiary and  the year this gift was generously handed out. If it is true that the Premier of the north initiated or authored the title of the Gbong Gwom Jos, then this must have been in the post independent era, coinciding with his reign as the Premier of the north. This may have coincided with the reign of Da Rwang Pam Boggom, the second Gbong Gwom.
 Incidentally, the Jos monarch at this point in time was not officially addressed as Gbong Gwom Jos, but instead his designation was Sarkin Jos. How come the ‘almighty’ Premier of Northern Region created a title, donated it to a recipient, but was neither officially gazetted nor used? Who then gave Da Dachung Gyang, the first Gbong Gwom (1935-1942), his title? Or rather, in what language was his title designated, since the Sardauna had not authored the translation into Berom at this point in time? There is no confusion about this, his designation was in Berom and was not coined by the Sardauna.
We are in no difficulty at all, in debunking the falsehood grossly bandied by Kwande here. This is because the North which vehemently, resisted the use of our traditional title in our mother tongue, in support of the Hausa adulterated version of Sarkin Jos, for decades, could not be the author of the same title in Berom. If anything at all, Da Dachung Gyang the first Gbong Gwom, would not have used an alien title or one coined in a strange langue, as he was never known to have displayed any proficiency in speaking Hausa language. It took the Colonial government a long time of serious persuasion, to convince the Berom and all the indigenous ethnic nationalities of the defunct Jos Division, who were part of the Gbong Duk Shot (Parliament), to relocate to Jos from Riyom. The reluctance was traced to their rejection of the use of Hausa as a language of communication, among many other considerations.
More fundamentally, is the fact that Ahmadu Bello, the Premier of the North, was an unknown quantity, with a normal background and, without any unusual influence, prior to his ascension into power and affluence, with independence. He started his working career as a Revenue collector, with the Sokoto Native Authority. As a young staff of the Native Authority, young Ahmadu was once jailed for six months, by the Colonial Area Court Sokoto, for stealing tax monies belonging to the Native Authority. This is to buttress the fact that until 1960, the Sardauna had no official source of power to declare a thing and bring, it to come into law. On the other hand, the stool of the Gbong Gwom Jos, had been in existence before independence. It was the movement of the seat into Jos that Fulani Divisional Officers, like Ibrahim Dasuki, used their influence, and altered the nomenclature of the title into Hausa.
As we wish to restrict ourselves strictly, to some of the misguided comments of Alhaji Yahaya Kwande, we want to state categorically that falsehood can never restore the lost glory and peace of Jos. Had ‘Hausa’ elders in Jos, like Alhaji Yahaya Kwande and his co-travelers, told the Hausa settlers of the town the truth ab initio, that they can never sustain any claims of ancestry on Jos, they would have accepted their fate and moved on with their lives. All other non-indigenous ethnic nationalities resident in Jos and indeed, other parts of the state, are happily going about their legitimate hustles and engagements, without let or hindrance. Those who have ventured into partisan politics have prospered in it, without any recourse to ancestry. Unfortunately, conflict merchants like Yahaya Kwande and the late Saleh Hassan, persistently, poisoned the minds of the Hausa youths in Jos, and indoctrinated them into the path of evil, for their selfish ends.
Today, the whole of Nigeria faces the Jos reality. The identity of the killers, kidnappers, land grabbers, have finally emerged and sadly, not Hausa but Fulani terrorists. The real Hausas are, today also victims like other Nigerians. The choice before the latter is to come out in their true ethnic identity and join hands with other victims of the Fulani terrorism, to fight the monster or perish perpetually and permanently, from the face of the earth, by living in self-denial.
CONCLUSION
Unsurprisingly, Ambassador Yahaya Kwande ended his ranting without advancing any prescription to end the Jos crises, other than manipulating ethnic and sectional sentiments, as usual. As a renowned conflict merchant, his relevance is embedded in the sustenance of the Jos crises. He stands to lose in terms of prestige and other sundry benefits his family reaps from the Hausawan Jos in  votes and related acts of thuggery, during elections. At the wider level the scourge of the Fulani terrorism is a national question today. Alleged intolerance by the Berom as a cause of the widespread killings across the bread and length of Nigeria of today is grossly untenable and cannot be sustained.
The entire African continent is long grappling with the menace of Fulani terrorism. The agenda for the invasions having become exposed, it behooves on the Hausas to emerge out boldly, and extricate themselves and their ethnic nationality from carrying the cost and consequences of Fulani terrorism. Finally it needs stating that the Sardauna of Sokoto, may have been imbued with unbelievable benevolence, across borders, it still remains a fact that he did not create the title of the Gbong Gwom Jos.