The furnace on the Plateau has extinguished for over two years now. The more than a decade of ethnic tensions and the herders/farmers crisis resulting in loss of lives and the destruction of properties have all vanished.

Nigerians know the extent Plateau boiled. The state has gone through terrible times. It has seen the worst of times with the herders and famers’ crisis. It got to a point they could no longer even bury the dead as armed herders could violently invade and kill mourners at interment ceremonies. Prior to now, every day in Plateau was either for killings, or burial of victims of communal and ethnic crisis.

Senator Gyang Dantong and the Majority Leader of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Gyang Fulani are the painfully memories of the uncontrollable violence on the Plateau. They were coldly murdered by suspected herders at the scene of a mass burial for victims at Maseh village in Riyom LGA. That was the extent of the restiveness on Plateau. Insecurity reigned supreme before Governor Simon Bako Lalong, a man of peace and with panacea for peace was elected Governor of the state.

He applied the soothing balm and durable peace has not only returned to the Plateau, but it is savoured by everyone. Hardly does Plateau explode in guns and flames again under the political leadership of Governor Lalong. The cries of yesterday have been replaced with the peace and happiness of today under Lalong.

He is a Governor who has been able to pull out his state from the vicious grip of violent herders or communal conflicts so dexterously that no interest has been bruised. He has succeeded in getting herders’ ranch their cows without a law and a protest. Nigerian leaders have a lot to learn from his tricks and approaches.

Therefore, when he declared that he advised Benue state Governor Samuel Ortom against the anti-open grazing bill, he spoke both from experience and as a leader who has mastered the game. He told Ortom about the anti-open grazing law, “… why don’t you tread softly, just be careful, take other steps before you start implementation.” This counsel flowed from a concerned soul and genuine conviction that Governor Ortom left too many loopholes, which needed to be closed first before activating the law.

But unfortunately, Governor Lalong is unnecessarily vilified by those who have misconstrued the statement. They have attached diabolical meanings to his innocent counsel or remarks to Governor Ortom and have continued to release verbal missiles against the Governor. But Ortom has a lot to learn from the approaches of Lalong on how he to descended peace on the Plateau, since both Benue and Plateau have similar political and socio-economic problems.

Firstly, Governor Lalong realized quite early in the day, the prime status of peace and security in the development of his state. Peace on the Plateau was punctured by several forces. So he initiated strategies that berthed peace on the Plateau, by dedicatedly implementing the peace initiatives.

From the outset, Governor Lalong domesticated equality and fairness to the disparate components in Plateau state, which was the remote cause of the crisis. Plateau is a much, more pluralized society than Benue and the consistent ethnic tensions shattered peace. But he dismantled the artificial barriers on equity and the aura of superiority certain groups attached to themselves.

Lalong lifted the glories of the state and delivered it back to the people. Politics was a virile source of tensions and violence in the state. Therefore, he overlooked the shortcomings and blunders of his predecessor, former Governor Jonah Jang. It was an open secret in Plateau that Jang opposed Lalong’s governorship ambition. But the Governor refused to make it an issue in the governance of the state when he eventually won. He refused to be consumed by the fury of vengeance.

He made it a sacred policy never to pursue political rivals or antagonists. He started the political journey in the state where he met it and on his own strength and fresh initiatives. But on the contrary, in Benue state, Governor Ortom devotes more energy chasing his predecessor, former Governor Gabriel Suswam than he expends on issues of development. He has been tutored not only to sustain old foes, but has created fresh political enemies. A state under such influence is unlikely to enjoy peace.

Lalong sang a dirge for the majority/minority tribe dichotomy which was elevated to statecraft and destructive limits. Presently under Governor Lalong, no tribe on the Plateau can hold claims to dominance, as he gives premium to all and evenly. But the air of majority and minority tribes still permeates the Benue landscape under Governor Ortom. It reflects in his appointments and sharing of state resources.

Plateau is enjoying massive infrastructural development. There are multiple schemes initiated by government to empower and employ idle youths. Youths who would ordinarily be restive on the streets are now into various gainful employments and living a life of dignity. They abhor arms and violence.

But in Benue state, Governor Ortom insults the sensibilities of the people and the youths. No conscious efforts at youth empowerment and he is a leader still haunted by the myth of “wheelbarrow empowerment.” For nearly three years, Governor Ortom has not commissioned any project.

Governor Lalong has invited President Muhammedu Buhari to his state for official visit in February 2018 for the commissioning of projects, but his Benue counterpart has no such idea, because there is nothing to commission. The disillusionment on the land is visible and these are silent factors that instigate violence and unrest among the people.

In Plateau state, Governor Lalong inherited about 11 months of unpaid workers’ salaries, thrice higher than what Governor Ortom inherited in 2015. But the Governor consciously worked out ways to clear the backlog. Today, Plateau has exited all salary, allowances and pension debts and paying state workers promptly. He has graduated to the stage of payment of gratuities’ of retired civil servants.

Smiles from the people beam or assail him everywhere he appears. He does not order civil servants to go to farms on Fridays, after working for government before they could put on food on the family table like Ortom does in Benue state.

Governor Ortom does not need a soothsayer to know that a hungry man is an angry man and an angry man is the devil’s workshop. Therefore, handling issues of public governance, in a style that does not protect the interest of the people, as currently obtainable in Benue is a sure recipe social disorderliness and could indeed, lead to unexpected violent eruptions.

Criticisms are very cheap in Nigeria and often times, critics miss very vital points in anchoring the criticisms. That Governor Lalong advised Governor Ortom on anti-grazing law should not have led to unnecessary brouhaha. He was attempting to let the Benue Governor into his alternative initiatives that arrested the herders violence on the Plateau without initiating any fresh law.

And most importantly, Lalong peacefully and noiselessly disarmed all ethnic militia in his state. He has not created new ones in the mould of the likes of Livestock Guards or the Civilian JTF as the Benue experience has shown under Ortom. Leaders hardly learn from history.

But every reasonable or foresighted leader in Nigeria should have understood that the ethnic militia sponsored by the Borno State Government in 2003 when Senator Ali Modu Sheriff was Governor of the state morphed into the widespread , bile and deadly extremist religious sect, the Boko Haram terrorists. Nigerians suffered gravely in their hands until yesterday that the military succeeded in defeating insurgency.

It is sad that Governor Ortom should be mindless about these facts or flaunts the incapacity to navigate the future about the danger of such wrong steps. And so, he has proceeded to arm locals he brands as Livestock Guards. Only God knows the extent of what they do with the arms and ammunitions at their disposal. But expectedly, Benue has ended up with crisis, and the shadows of these ethnic militias have been figured as partly responsible.

Precisely, the capacity to proffer solutions to conflicts comes from wisdom, which is not a gift to every leader as Governor Ortom has demonstrated. But there is nothing wrong in learning or tapping from the wisdom of others. Governor Lalong meant no harm or intended to hurt anybody. He was just saying, there are better more peaceful alternatives than the options adopted by Ortom.

Governor Ortom is urged to reflect on Lalong’s advice in his quiet moments. He is sure to get something worthwhile from it and could even extend a “thank you,” to Governor Lalong.

Itodo PhD is Secretary General, Middle Belt Conscience Guard, Abuja.

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Benue: Just before we crucify Governor Lalong by Paul Itodo