How Bukola Saraki made Kwara a model for national unity in Nigeria

Since the emergence of Nigeria fledgling democracy in 1999, Northern Nigeria has become a permanent flashpoint of violent conflict. As political and ethnic conflict has been a major threat to national unity in Nigeria.

Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Bauchi, Borno, Plateau State are notorious as flashpoint states in Nigeria and hotspot for numerous conflicts, since the return of civilian rule in 1999. These intractable conflicts include ethnic, religious, political, sectarian, communal, settlers-natives and pastoralist-farmers dimensions. Political and ethnic tensions have been a major feature of Nigeria political history.

Why the unending conflict across Northern Nigeria?

Many observers of Nigeria political history have asked why conflicts keep reoccurring between different communities across the Northern region? It is significant to note the influence of politicization of ethnicity, selective injustice and elite manipulation has made crisis possible across Northern Nigeria. Ethno-political conflicts in Nigeria are fundamentally influenced by bad politics, bad governance and poor conflict management. Therefore its management has become a mirage in spite of series of interventions to put the conflicts to an end.

Today, the herdsmen are on rampage across Nigeria and Boko Haram is still holding sway across the north eastern states. But in all of this crisis and conflict that has engulfed different states across Nigeria, Kwara state has stood out in the way it has maintained peace and harmony with the different ethnic groups living in Kwara.

As Nigeria is engulfed in crisis and seeks for leadership that can bridge the ethnic divide and unite Nigeria as one, the time is ripe to adopt the Kwara model of peace and harmony in uniting Nigeria as one.

Kwara state as a model for harmony and national unity

Since 1999, many northern states in Nigeria have witnessed endless political and religious killings, today states across the middle belt region is under the constant threat of crisis. This crisis is a result of failure in leadership, where the political class have failed to manage the different ethnic groups and provide the needed leadership. Many of the leaders across the conflict prone state in Northern Nigeria benefit from the crisis and are not willing to embark on actions that will yield peace and harmony across their various states.

Kwara state is known as ‘The State of Harmony’ on account of the peaceful relations that exist among its multicultural and diverse population of about 2.5 million people. Where the major religious communities have good relations with one another.

The principal groups residing in Kwara state are the Yoruba, Nupe, Bariba and Fulani. Despite having diverse groups living together, Kwara state has witnessed a purposeful leadership that has done well in solidifying their differences and made sure that Kwara remain in a state of harmony.

The African report in 2010 reported on how a lot of displaced people in the Nigerian North had to move to Kwara state “The Harmony State”, known for its political peace as tens of thousands of Nigerians from troubled regions and other central and northern states have sought shelter in Ilorin and its environs.

http://www.theafricareport.com/News-Analysis/nigeria-fixing-the-middle-belt.html

Bukola Saraki was the governor of Kwara state from 2003 – 2011. Between this period that he was the governor of Kwara state, many northern states were engulfed in different political and religious conflicts. The last recorded crisis in Kwara happened on the 20th of December 1999. Muslim fundamentalists attacked and destroyed over 14 churches in Ilorin. Properties worth several millions of naira were destroyed and an unspecified casualty reported. It happened under the leadership of Governor Ahmed Lawal and these problems led to his outster.

After the exit of Lawal, came Bukola Saraki the unifier, a leader who understands that you cannot make any meaningful progress or build any key infrastructure without peace and harmony in your state. Under his 8 years as governor of Kwara state, he calmed the nerves and worked with all the tribes to bring equitable justice and peace into the state. There was no recorded political or religious conflict and he managed the state as one. He is a unifier.

After Dr Saraki’s tenure, Kwara recorded the lowest poverty rate for any state in the Nigerian north, and up until today, this record stands 8 years after he left the helm of affairs of the state. Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki’s handling of the intertribal crisis in the North Central despite the volatility of the region is a good benchmark for future governors and presidents in Nigeria, his method of bringing everyone to the table to be able to ensure equity has turned Kwara into a peaceful state in between a volatile region.

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Source: Naija.ng