By Israel Joel, Jos
Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, said the state has fallen behind its dark days characterised by violence and destruction and is now coasting to prosperity, unity and peaceful coexistence.
According to the governor, the’ feat’ is a result of the decisive actions taken by his administration to provide a platform for the citizens to drive the peace and reconciliation process.
Lalong, who spoke at an inter-denominational church service to commemorate the 2023 Plateau Day of Forgiveness and Reconciliation held at the St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Rantya, Jos, said the people had broken down the barriers to peaceful coexistence by engaging one another and uniting against crises merchants.
He said the commemoration of the Plateau Day of Forgiveness and Reconciliation was instituted as part of the Plateau State Roadmap to Peace in order to restore, strengthen and deepen the peace and security of the state, which was previously truncated before he came into office.
“The Day of Forgiveness which was unveiled and launched by Mr President in 2018 has since then been implemented by the Plateau Peace Building Agency which we established as the first in the country with the sole responsibility of coordinating and implementing all our efforts towards removing toxic narratives, crisis merchandising, violence and tackling root causes of disharmony and intolerance.
“As a government, we have been very conscious of the fact that the process of restoring peace and confidence among the people cannot succeed without forgiveness and reconciliation,” he said.
The governor added, “Gladly, we have succeeded in bringing people who were considered foes at one time or another to dialogue, engage, and confront their fears and anxieties in an atmosphere of love, rather than suspicion and accusations”.
Lalong explained that the Day of Forgiveness and Reconciliation, which coincides with the date Plateau State was created, is not meant to trivialise or gloss over the trauma, pain and agony that many people experienced on account of the various crises that took lives and properties in the State.
Rather, it is to appeal to their conscience and take people to the path of forgiving the past and looking ahead to the future that will be devoid of such ugly experiences.
He urged the leadership of the Church to continue to advocate for peace and tolerance which will help build a better society where people can freely exercise their freedoms including the right to worship.
Lalong said as a sign of his administration’s appreciation for the role that the Church in particular and faith-based organisations, in general, have continued to play in the development of Plateau State, he recently approved the return of 32 missionary schools to their original owners.
He used the opportunity to clarify the insinuation being made by some people that some villages have been taken over by herdsmen in the State and that the Government has not done anything about it.
He debunked the report and said that there is no report on his table that any village has been taken over.
