Jos: Living in Conflicts and Crisis for a Quarter of a Century; Where Peace Became a Paranormal Stranger (1)

By: Balami Lazarus

Imagine a child born in Jos 25 years ago is today an adult by all standards, probably married with a child. And certainly the young man has passed through tense moments, conflicts, and crises that came with hatred, destruction, and killings among the citizens of the state where the lives of the young and the old were not spared.

Looking back with nostalgia when my peers and I were young secondary students in Plato College Sharam, peace was a permanent resident, residing in quietness and recollection when Jos was a melting point of coexistence among the inhabitants in both public and social life. What happened to the question tag?

The Jos conflicts/crisis has suffocated the metropolitan environment over time and space, pollinated by suspicion of ethno-religious and extremist teachings of ideologies in cells carried out by some elements that have created hatred and fear among the people.

Of late, this crisis has turned into terrorist and bandit attacks, claiming more lives than before. And for some residents, including this writer, it is no longer strange nor an item of public discussion in the affairs of some citizens. Because it has been with the people as a paranormal mystery for a quarter of a century (25 years).

However, the loss of lives is the most disturbing central theme in this crisis and/or attacks. Political and economic progress are stagnated; businesses are backstage affairs conducted with fear in a helter-skelter fashion in exchange for goods and services.

The hatchlings of these bloody conflicts and crises have manifested in no-go areas with devastating effects on the intra-micro commercial/corporate business transactions. Rebellion subjects, enemies of peace, have long polarized the city of Jos into ethno-religious and political divides.

The year 2001 was the beginning of Jos’s crisis that has become cyclical these several seasons within the Jos and Bukuru metropolises.

The attitudes of the affected and concerned citizens have illuminated the depths of their feelings, revealing a kaleidoscope of doubts as Nigerians. The Ungwan Rukuba killing spree and the decades of unrest in Jos have raised motions for the identity and reconstruction of the Nigerian state.

To be continued.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist. 08036779290

Jos: Living in Conflicts and Crisis for a Quarter of a Century; Where Peace Became a Paranormal Stranger (1)

Descendants of Yamtra-Wala: Surfing in the Comfort of the Bura Ethnic Tribe/Cultural Identity

By: Balami Lazarus

I have spoken and written articles on the Bura-Pabir, where I was called names with insults of convex images. I am here once again with nearly the same subject on ethnic tribe/cultural identity: the dilemma of the Pabir group of people who are standing poised between being Pabir or Babur.

The Bura people are an independent ethnic nation historically, geographically, and politically within the Biu territory long before Yamtra-Wala. Is it then wrong for anyone to think and say that the Pabir group of people are the same as the Bura from an ethnic-tribe/historically cultural perspective? What made them the same? How and when did they become the same? Are the Bura people descendants of Yamtra-Wala?

Historically, the Pabir are an extraction of Kanuri/Kanembu through the bloodline of a disgruntled prince, Abdulla, from the Kanem-Borno Empire, who, with his band of 70 men, founded the Biu kingdom and her royal dynasty in or about 1535.

In this work, I will write using Pabir, their original name given to them by the Bura people. I will also raise some thought-provoking questions with the uffti of truth in the space of ethnic tribe/cultural identity.

In history, I was taught to always take note of historical facts and figures and be objective in analyzing historical events/source materials with a sense of reasoning because many histories were falsified through irrational narratives/oral history from one generation to the other.

What is then the rationale behind the Pabir people addressing themselves as Babur? I believed answers to this are rooted in ethno-religious sentiments capped with an inferiority complex in the claws of

Babur. Why are they now forcing themselves on the Bura people’s cultural identity considering the recent development on the yearly Bura Cultural Festival at Marama? And this is the same ethnic tribe many Pabir scorned with contempt.

I was privileged to ask some few individuals from both divides, and what they said on this matter was the plain truth. “The Bura people are the first inhabitants of this territory, people with unique culture, traditions, and customs.” One individual said, “We have to be part of them (Bura) because we are a minority with no ethnic/cultural identity, nor are we an ethnic tribe/nation… They gave us the collective name “Pabir,” not “Babur,” as we are being called and addressed wrongly today.

The distant and recent events have not been in favor of the Bura people. Proponents of the Babur conspiracy theory presumably thought that by being addressed as Babur, they would be given ethnic tribe and cultural identity garments. But has it?

In the context of history, if and when one is speaking or writing for the purpose of ethnic tribe/cultural identity of the Bura people, I believe that such

Submissions shall probably be in favor of the Bura as an independent ethnic nation, unlike the Pabir, who are direct descendants (Yamara-Wala) of Prince Abdulla from Birni Ngarzargamu in the Kanem-Borno Empire.

“I am a Pabir man. Can you point at any cultural source material or genre tied to us as our cultural heritage? And neither are we of common ancestry or lineage with the Bura.”

Let us rewind back, taking into consideration the name Yamtra-Wala, the founder of the royal dynasty of Biu. In the Bura dialect, it is pronounced and spelled as “Yamta Ola.” However, you may wish to know that it has its roots in the Arabic language.

But in an attempt to improvise and starve the term “Pabir,” choking it with “Babur” has further perpetuated historical miscarriage, a clear distortion of history.

What was the position of the Pabir in the ethnic/cultural unity of the Bura people of the Biu territory? Where were they when they had the Bura Almanac of the 1950s, 60s, and 70s titled Bura Community in the following towns and cities like Kaduna, Lagos, Kano, Jos, Enugu, Ibadan, Zaria, and other locations within Nigeria? It is on record that there was absolutely no mention of Pabir in unity with Bura combined as a united community in such places. How then did Pabir get into the ethnic tribe/cultural identity of the Bura people, considering the recent development on the yearly Bura Cultural Festival? Note that these are the same people the Pabir scorned with sentiments of “mission.” However, it still remains the healthy stock where many have reached the sun.

Be as it may, probably they are afraid to be left out individually or collectively in the ethnic identity provided by the Bura people. And to also bask in the comfort of Bura cultural identity and heritage.

Historically, before 1535, there was no such group of people in the Biu territory. Therefore, the band of the 70 led by Prince Abdullah of Birni Ngazargamu in Kanem-Borno does not add up to give the Yamtra descendants the permit to claim ethnic tribe and cultural identity of the Bura people. Archaeological sources around the greater Biu territory like the ancient abandoned settlement sites such as Kumba in old Bwala village. Ghenchabiri in Kwajaffa, among many others in the Hawul Local Government Area, is evidence of the presence of the Bura people before c.1535.

I hereby tie myself with roots of history to say that the Pabir people, who are the descendants of Yamtra-Wala, will find it difficult to disengage and/or isolate themselves from the beautiful Bura ethnic tribe and cultural identity despite sentiments of “mission” because Yamtra-Wala came without cultural identity. For this reason, Pabir or Babur are offshoots of the Bura ethnic tribe and cultural identity because they have an identity of their own.

Similarly, the Bura are the lighthouse of the Biu territory because they are found all over, contributing their quota to nation-building. They also made up the greater part of the Biu territory’s population.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist 08036779290

Descendants of Yamtra-Wala: Surfing in the Comfort of the Bura Ethnic Tribe/Cultural Identity

IBUAM: 5 Years Comprehensive Academic and Practical Training For Borno Indigenes Courtesy of Babagana Zulum’s Administration

By: Balami Lazarus

Let me use this space and opportunity to make it clear that News Net Global Limited (NEWSng) Abuja and I are not media consultants to Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Lagos (IBUAM). I have to bring this to the fore because some persons are presenting us as her media officers.

I was in Maiduguri recently on assignment for my firm, and during the course of the assignment, I decided to make time to do some independent investigations on the ₦12.9 billion scholarship offered to 54 students, indigenes of Borno State, courtesy of the state government, under the leadership of Governor Babagana Zulum, who believed in the progress and future of Borno State through Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management, Oshodi-Lagos (IBUAM).

The scholarship is meant to educate and empower young students of Borno who meet the necessary requirements to study and be trained both intellectually and practically at IBUAM in various fields of aeronautics engineering and management as future pilots, aircraft/aerospace engineers, and aviation management experts to become future global leaders in the international aviation space (industry) equipped with comprehensive knowledge in modern aviation arts and techniques for the growth and development of Nigeria.

The Zulum administration has thought it wise to give young citizens of Borno State origin these golden opportunities through the State Scholarship Board.

This initiative, however, did not go well with some indigenes of Borno. Reliable sources based on my findings revealed that some members of the state executive council, Borno elders’ forum, among others, were not happy with the scholarship program meant for the 54 IBAUM students of Borno. In fact, before now it was a tug of war that generated a storm of bitter sentiments in a teacup greater than a mug.

In a brief chat with Engr. Isaac Balami, he informed this writer that he appreciates with gratitude the Borno State Government under the able leadership of Governor Babagana Zulum for believing in IBAUM to train its indigenes in the fields of aeronautics engineering and aviation management for the growth and development of the aviation industry in Nigeria and beyond. “IBUAM and I are grateful to my governor, Engr. Babagana Zulum, and those that have contributed to the realization of the scholarship program.”

Let me also state here categorically that scholarship programs are always provided under terms and conditions that are formulated by the offerer, like the case in question. But some individuals in government and other bodies are cogs in the wheel of such progress.

Are you aware that there are characteristics and physical differences between Engr. Isaac David Balami, an individual, and Isaac Balami University of Aeronautics and Management (IBUAM)? In a nutshell, herein are two entities—individual and institutional. But here are some citizens poised and wrapped in ignorance, raising eyebrows on collective future benefits.

The $12.9 billion doled out by the Borno State Government was not given to Engr. Isaac David Balami and shall never be his personal money from this day forward. I believed if and when anyone were to ask about the said money, that individual should go and ask IBUAM, not Engr. Isaac David Balami.

Balami, Publisher/Columnist. 08036779390

IBUAM: 5 Years Comprehensive Academic and Practical Training For Borno Indigenes Courtesy of Babagana Zulum’s Administration