Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has described Nigeria’s lingering insecurity as a problem created and sustained by the country’s elite.
Speaking at a stakeholder meeting themed ‘Dialogue on Community Policing as a Panacea for Insecurity in Nigeria: The Case of Plateau State’, Mutfwang said the elite have contributed to deepening communal divisions and must take responsibility for reversing the trend.
“My theory is that, more than anybody else, the challenges of insecurity in Nigeria are an elite-created problem. When the elite conspires to lead the people in the wrong direction, we will continue to have this perennial crisis,” he said.
He noted that while the “poisoning of minds” may often start at the community level, the elite have the power to halt such narratives—if they choose to.
“Many a time, you’ll find that even when the poisoning of the mind begins in the community, when the elite take leadership and say it must stop, they’ll address it adequately and it will stop.
“But when the elite fan the embers of hate, they are the people that do their analysis, that begin to spew knowledge, information, and poison the minds of ordinary people—then it will be sustained,” he said.
Mutfwang urged Nigeria’s elite to take greater responsibility in promoting unity and peaceful coexistence.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to dismantling “artificial barriers of faith and ethnicity,” which he argued have long hindered development in Plateau.
“As I stand before you today, I want to reiterate that I came into government with a firm resolve to restore lasting peace to Plateau. That is why I have deliberately sought to bridge the divides we’ve built across religion and ethnicity,” he stated.
Reflecting on his efforts, the governor claimed no administration in Plateau since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999 had done more than his in fostering peace and unity.
“Yet, as recent as yesterday, I received reports of being labelled in certain influential circles. Still, I beat my chest and say, without fear of contradiction, that I have done more than any governor since 1999 in building peace and unity on the Plateau,” he added.
His remarks come amid heightened insecurity in Plateau, Benue, and other northern states in recent months.
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