Indigene/Settler Conflicts in Plateau North: It’s Implication, 2001-2015
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.67487/tjahs.v2i4.307Keywords:
conflict, indigene/settler, Indigenous groups, Hausa/Fulani, Plateau NorthAbstract
Conflict parties played a major role in prolonging the conflicts in Plateau North. While the indigenous ethnic groups relied on the indigeneship rights as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution, having been the first to inhabit the area, the Hausa hinged their argument on the citizenship rights of all Nigerians to reside anywhere within Nigeria and enjoy the rights and privileges that accrue to them as Nigerians. The Fulani pastoralists, on their part, relied on the grazing routes/rights arrangement by the colonialists to stake their claims in the communities of Plateau North. This paper examines the implication of perceptions in the indigene/settler conflict in the Northern Senatorial Zone of Plateau State, Nigeria. It argues that different perspectives by conflict parties, which made the conflict intractable, led to the distortions of the hitherto residential, educational, religious, and social arrangements in the zone, thereby turning Jos and its environs into a contested area. The paper blames this development on the indigene/settler syndrome, which heightened the tempo of conflict in the zone rather than assuaging it. It concludes that there was a need for the harmonization of the indigeneity and citizenship laws through legislative and judicial processes to ensure peaceful co-existence of Nigerians wherever they reside in the country.
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