Members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) recently visited Plateau State and had an interface with Governor Caleb Mutfwang. MUSA PAM captures the interaction, during which the governor reiterated that peace and prosperity remain the twin pillars of his administration. He also speaks on other issues. Excerpts:

What are some of the key sectors you have worked on since your assumption of office?

On infrastructure, there is progress in all 17 local government areas, including 380 kilometres of rural roads under the World Bank-assisted RAMP project and the completed Utong-Kong flyover. We have made strategic investments in roads, markets, agriculture, and industry that will diversify Plateau’s economy beyond federal allocations.

The education sector is receiving special attention, with a 50 per cent tuition reduction for indigenes, a 300 per cent increase in scholarships, and interventions that rescued tertiary institutions from collapse, all aimed at preparing Plateau’s youth for global competitiveness.

On health care, we have upgrades at Plateau Specialist Hospital and the expansion of health insurance coverage from 93,000 to 208,000 enrollees in my determination to make Plateau a model of affordable and quality health services, while on agriculture, which is the backbone of my administration’s prosperity agenda, the sector is being revitalized through partnerships with IITA Ibadan, the revival of BARC Farms, improved livestock breeds, feed production, and plans for a modern abattoir with a 500-cattle daily capacity.

My administration has also renewed investor confidence in Plateau’s tourism and commerce sectors, with redevelopment efforts at Plateau Hotel, Hill Station Hotel, and Jos Wildlife Park. Through privatesector partnerships, tourism will once again be a pillar of the state’s economy.

You talked about over 100 communities being forcefully taken over, and the efforts to revive Operation Rainbow. Where are we now?

I can tell you that as at today, we are talking about over 148 communities. What I will tell you is that it’s been a mixed baggage in the sense that the situation on the Plateau is unlike what you have in the North West, or in the Borno area, where you have resident camps of bandits. The situation on the Plateau is that they come from outside, attack and go back.

We share boundaries with many states, so they come in from the Taraba end through the river Ibi, Karim Lamido. They use the river as a route for bringing in weapons. They come in from Nasarawa State, you know, through Wamba they attack. That’s what has been happening around the Bokkos, Mangu axis. They come in from Kaduna State, Southern Kaduna area, and they attack and run back.

That’s why the idea of saying it’s farmers/herders clash on the Plateau is nonsensical because a situation, where everybody has gone to bed in a community and some people pounce on them, can’t be described as a clash. I must admit that there have been a few reports of where the natives of some of those areas are accused of cattle rustling. That’s one narrative, but it’s over beaten.

And we’ve called some of the owners of cattle and said: Look, the cattle you are rearing anyways, you’re going to sell it. So, we can put a price tag on it, but you can’t put a price tag on human life.

So, there is no justification in claiming that cattle were rustled and you retaliate by killing human beings. It doesn’t make sense. You know, at the moment, I can tell you that situation is better than what it was before. Some of the intensity of the attacks, again, coincides with the commencement of the farming season.

And then there is a lull. Then it picks momentum at harvest. So, you can see a pattern. In certain instances, where they cannot stop people from farming, when the crops are still at the growing stage, they come in either with cattle, eat them up, or they use cutlass and cut them down. We can show you pictorial evidence; this is not hearsay.

So, this is the pattern that has been happening over the years. Now, we we’ve entered into dialogue, like I told you, even with some of the leaders of the cattle rearers. I said: Come let’s talk. What’s the problem? But I will tell you in all honesty that the worst moments we’ve had recently were the Bokkos massacre. Of course, about three months ago, it was quite intense in the Bokkos area, where the village of the former governor, Joshua Dariye was also affected. I think at the last count, not less than 12 communities in this area are empty today.

So, it has imposed on us a high toll of IDPs again. Let me mention that our plan was to hurriedly take back the IDPs, but we had to take a step backward, because this farming season, we sent a team of tractors with security personnel to go and cultivate a farmland in an abandoned community. The level of firepower that welcomed the tractors and the security personnel, they had to beat a retreat. So, we are having these pockets of bandits hiding in certain forests.

The idea of saying that it is farmers/ herders clash on the Plateau is nonsensical because a situation, where everybody has gone to bed in a community, and some people pounce on them, can’t be described as a clash

You know our topography; we have a lot of hills, we have a lot of valleys, and sometimes they come in the cover of darkness. Yes, we’ve deployed drones, and the drones have been very useful.

Sometimes they pick up images of these bandits, and we’re able to respond, particularly with the ground troops at our disposal, but we need some more response of air power, which sometimes is not readily available.

There is a shortage of manpower with the security forces. You know, part of the challenge we have, again, is that we have a lot of ungoverned spaces, and so getting the personnel to man those ungoverned spaces is challenging. That’s why, again, we’ve mobilized another team of about 1,450 people, which I hope by next week, we’re going to send them for training to add to the number of operatives under Operation Rainbow.

So, we are making progress. It is because of the efforts that we are making that people have hope and confidence that things are being done, and that’s why they can go about their duties with less fear. Of course, you know the other scourge that is all over the country, the scourge of kidnapping.

Like somebody said, that is the most thriving economy at the moment. There are reports where people use the proceeds of kidnapping, even to put themselves up for religious activities. It’s sad, but that is the reality we are living with today. I’m being told that the police are about to recruit another 30,000 Nigerians into the force.

That tells you that we have less boots on ground than we should have. But again, we need to reappraise our priorities and see how we can shut down some areas of conflict in order to make sure that security personnel are properly deployed. And I may use this opportunity to also reiterate my own personal call for state police.

I’m a firm believer in state police and I believe that those opposing it are benefiting from the lawlessness we have in this country today. You cannot establish command from a far distance, and the fear that it will be abused by politicians is a fear that can be mitigated. We have it operational in America and areas of authority are clearly demarcated between the FBI, between the county police and all of that in the US.

Why can’t we go that route? What it may mean, which is fearsome to some people, is that the revenue allocation formula may have to change. So, these are some of the issues that are constrained, but I’m glad that Mr. President has become a convert of state police, and I’m sure that with his leadership, we are going to be able to get there.

Given the large number of mining pits that have been left untreated, unattended to trapping those waters, what are you doing to ensure that they do not turn out to create health hazards to human beings and animals that may use them?

I can tell you that so many things are being revived. There’s an ongoing effort to revive the horticulture industry on the Plateau. Recently, we had the Coffee Festival. Yes, the coffee industry on the Plateau is on the rise. On fruits and vegetables, we were talking now about building storage capacity, and how we can be able to export some of them. When we are done with the special agro processing zone, we are going to move from production to processing.

That is our target. At the moment, our production levels are low. Even the fruits and veggies you saw on the road that are rotten; the truth is that we have a lot of harvest losses because of lack of storage capacity, not because our production levels are good. I just returned from a trip to the Netherlands where we went to study their potato industry, and the studies have shown that we produce about seven tons per hectare.

They are producing a minimum of 40 tons per hectare and they do only one farming cycle. We can do two or even more, but we need to change a lot of things. There is no sector that we are meeting local demand, not to talk of export. So, agriculture needs to move from where we are to where we should be.

There is an issue of illegal mining on the Plateau, which sometimes is somehow connected with the issues of land grabbing because of mineral resources. What are you doing about illegal mining that are taking place?

It’s a national scourge, and I can tell you that the cartels in the mining industry are not easy to fight. They have accumulated a lot of money.

Some of them are richer than the states, so you can’t just open your chest for a battle. This year, we suspended all mining activities in order for us to have a grip, but we came under intense pressure because there are lots of evils associated with mining, especially when unregulated. We have dropout of school children.

We have sexual offences, all those things, drugs, everything going on there apart from the safety issues, where people are dying in the mining pits. But we are doing our best. Mining is on the Exclusive Legislative List, so the states are hampered in many ways.

The only thing we are trying to do is that, since environmental issues are on the concurrent list, we hide under that platform. And then, given the fact that the Land Use Act gives the states, power over land, that’s the only way we’re using to reduce the impact of illegal mining.

Many of our own indigenous people who are the slaves in these mining camps; we’re trying to see how to organise them into cooperatives, so that they can have a better bargaining power. We are also insisting that the community host agreements should be honoured. Of course, you talked about the mining pits. We have over 4000 of them on the Plateau.

Remedying them is not easy. We need huge resources, which we don’t have. So, we are making contacts with all international organisations that have operated in that space and see where we can find help. But at the moment, it is not easy.

A lot of work has been done by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS). How are you relating with the organisation to address some of the problems in the State?

I can assure you that the relationship between NIPSS and Plateau is on the rise. We are doing a lot of collaboration. In fact, the current insecurity situation, they also did a study recently and turned in their report, which is also helping us, so that is on the rise.

How are women being carried along in your administration in terms of elected and appointed positions?

If we have all the commissioners here, the percentage should be about 40 to 60 per cent. The deputy governor is a woman; the commissioner of Finance is a woman. The Accountant General is a woman. The commissioners for Education, Information and Communication are also women.

Before now, all the deputy chairmen in the local governments we have were women except Langtang South that its chairperson was a female, so it was a male that was deputizing.

And in the local governments where we don’t have women deputising, they are given the slots of secretaries. So, we have a good representation of women. And it might also interest you to know that quite a couple of our permanent secretaries are women. We have been deliberate about women inclusion.

That’s why we even told our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that any level of authority that can accommodate women outside the traditional role of women leader, they will be rewarded, and some of them have complied. It’s a journey, and I am one of the advocates of giving women positions in the legislature. You know, with the campaign which started recently, I believe that we can harness a lot more from our women.

What are you doing about polarization of settlements in Jos city?

The issue of Angwan Rogo; the wall of Jericho is something I am concerned about. In those days, we used to go freely and come out. But in the last 20 years, I can tell you, things have changed. But what are we doing? For the first time in the history of this state, we conducted the most peaceful local government election in Jos North.

Dariye couldn’t do it. Jonah Jang tried; the state went up in flames. Simon Lalong couldn’t do it, but we came and did it. I think we had far better consensus in Jos North than many other local governments, because we’ve tried to ensure dialogue, understanding, and that’s what we are building on.

When I came in, some people, who particularly know my relationship with former Governor Jang, said that Jang didn’t like Muslims, which was a lie, and that I am also anti-Muslim, but I’m sure you can’t go to Jos North and abuse me and go free.

When you came into office, what were your plans, and how are you executing them?

If anybody tells you that he has a complete picture before coming into government, it’s a lie. It’s not possible. When you are outside and campaigning, you are like a man sitting on top of a hill or mountain and looking at people meandering below the mountain.

You’ll be wondering, why is this man cornering like this, why is he not going straight? Until you come down, then you will know that jungle is different. Certainly, we had many ideas, but we came in, we had to know the reality of the situation.

Even now, I can tell you that nobody knows all because the dynamics keep changing. You know, the dramatis persona at all levels of government determine sometimes what happens. So, sometimes you are like a football coach. You play according to the strength of your players, not according to the philosophy of your game. Let me leave it at that.

What are the efforts at tourism which Plateau has a natural advantage?

Tourism investment is something we are working on very strenuously. As a matter of fact, now we have an agreement with the UNDP to develop for us a tourism master plan. All that you’ll be hearing in tourism is haphazard. Now, we are trying to be more methodical, so that we can lay some basic rules of ground.

We know what the spaces for tourism are, but we are doing it alongside the tourism infrastructure. You can’t do tourism without hospitality. They go hand in hand, and so we’re trying to make sure that we do the much we can do before those plans come in.

Plateau has been identified as one of the most expensive states to live in; what are you doing about the cost of living on the Plateau?

I’m made to understand that houses in Jos are quite expensive. And honestly, we’re still cracking our heads on how to intervene, but it’s a function of demand and supply.

So, we are seeing where we’re going to be doing our best to see how we can throw more houses into the basket. Last week, I laid the foundation for a housing estate for civil servants. My commissioner of Housing told me we have other lands that have been cleared, so that we can begin developing housing estates.

Each political season comes with its own dynamics, so you have to measure your steps. I believe things will become clearer as the days go by, but for now, the worst fear people had about the PDP is gone

We hope that we would add more houses to the basket, within the next two years. But in the meantime, we’re still thinking of how to appeal to landlords and homeowners. Even Lagos that passed a law; it’s not working. It’s going to be very difficult, but we’ll continue to explore ways and means of reducing the burden on the people.

What are you doing to ensure a free media space for professionals to do their jobs without any fear of sanctions?

It will interest you to know that we are passionate about the freedom of the media. I don’t think there’s any media house on the Plateau that will say we have been hostile, or we have attempted to gag them or to determine the way they operate. We have always believed in the freedom of the press. We deliberately chose not to have skeletons in our cupboards.

But because government is a continuum, there are some things that come out today with which you can use to accuse government, but you go and find out that the roots of that problem were before we even came on the scene.

We believe that constructive criticism is not bad, when you do it with facts, not where you invent lies. You know the Plateau version of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is made up of many liars, and they will invent a lie, package it, then they ask you to defend. That is their modus operandi but we don’t come down to such level.

But when you bring out facts, if we are wrong, we’ll own up. There’s no big deal about owning up that you did wrong. There’s honour in it. When we had some issues about employments, we tried to correct them because there were lots of what I call mistakes. There was deliberate mischief in employment before the last government left, and we came in and found the situation.

We suspended all the employments in our bid to correct the mistakes. Some mistakes were made, and when the mistakes were pointed to us, we owned up and we corrected them. So, there’s no big deal about it. We will always encourage the media to do their job. But let me say this: The media has to sometimes weigh the reportage, the consequences of what they report.

For many years, we felt Plateau was being targeted by some sections of the media because I’ve seen ridiculous headlines where something happened 84 kilometres from Jos, yet the headline is ‘Jos boils again.’

We don’t believe in suppressing all the tragedies that have happened, but sometimes because of the reportage, if you go to the European embassies , many of them would warn their citizens against coming to Plateau.

What are the steps to mitigate land grabbing?

Like I said; it’s a dynamic thing you cannot proffer one solution, even if you make laws, implementing them is another ball game. There’s a lot but what I can tell you is that the plans we have put in place have worked, Plateau State today does not have one single local government that is a no go area.

That is the difference between us and some states. What the criminal elements do is that they come in, attack and flee. Our most vulnerable areas are the border villages.

And because of the nature of our terrain, sometimes before securities personnel react, the damage has been done. That’s why we’re trying to open up more access roads into the villages to see how our response time can be reduced greatly.

We’re doing a lot where we’re looking at other options, legislative options, judicial options, administrative options to be able to slow down or even arrest entirely, the issue of land grabbing. The report of Rogers committee, I can assure you, it will not gather dust. We are planning to even serialize some of the findings by God’s grace.

One thing that certainly will happen is that I will forward the report to Mr. President. I’ll also forward it to the heads of security agencies, so that, at least, we can begin to talk the same language and be on the same page.

What are the efforts to liaise with the Federal Government to repair inter-state roads, especially, the Akwanga-Jos road, and others?

This is one road that I have personally pursued with interest, and I’m glad to inform you that Mr. President ordered that it be included among his legacy projects.

The design has been completed. As a matter of fact, the contract for the road was awarded in 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari, but we came in we’ve had to review some of the designs. Initially, at some point in time, the Ministry of Works was talking about expanding it into six lanes and doing a concrete road project, but I think things have settled.

Now, we’re talking about four lanes and we’re talking about the usual asphalt. That is what I’m pursuing, and I hope to get the Federal Government to, at least, commit some money for the contractor to go to site.

In 2026, where will you be?

I have said that my politics has been dictated by God and the people, and I believe there’s an alignment between God and the people of Plateau State, and they spoke well in 2023 and what they said in 2023 has not changed, to the best of my knowledge.

So, I will always go with where God and the people want me to be. We’re in a season of anomie, where each political season comes with its own dynamics, so you have to measure your steps.

You have to look before you leap. I believe things will become clearer as the days go by, but for now, all said and done, the worst fear people had about the PDP is gone.

We got stuck at a point, but I think that PDP is back on its road. Where it will get to; only God knows. But for now, I think we’re in good place and let me leave it at that.