An Amazing Peace Effort in Bukuru
By Dr. Danny McCain1
Rev. Yakubu Pam called me on last Thursday
morning. (The name is pronounced like the
“palm” tree, not like the woman’s name.) He is
the chairman of the North-Central zone of CAN
(Christian Association of Nigeria, the umbrella
organization of all Christian denominations in
Nigeria). He is also the person who arranged the
amazing meeting between the Christian and
Muslim youth in the Kwarafa Cinema earlier that
week.
Pam had a very excited tone in his voice. He said,
“Did you hear about Bukuru yesterday? There
were more problems there.” I groaned a little bit
when I heard it. The crisis in January had started
on a Sunday. By Tuesday, it had spread to
Bukuru, about ten miles south of Jos. The losses
there were incredible. The main market that
contained hundreds of shops was completely
destroyed. In addition, I would guess that
hundreds of homes and businesses were
destroyed and dozens of people were killed.
People who had lived side by side for decades
were now turning against each other and
burning one another’s homes and killing each
other. And as the violence spread out to some of
the villages near Bukuru over the next few weeks,
the area experienced almost genocide-like
conditions, in which whole villages were
destroyed and hundreds of men, women and
children were killed.
1
Professor of Religious Studies, University of Jos,
Nigeria.
A Pastor’s Response
Still on the phone, Pam told me this story.
Apparently, there was some kind of flare up in
Bukuru associated with a soccer match. A person
from the “other side” stopped to watch and
some youths there attacked him and would have
killed him if not for the intervention of soldiers
who were there. Things turned very ugly. Several
people were injured and there is a rumor that at
least one person was killed, though this has not
been confirmed. Pam was in Abuja at the time,
but he received a phone call from Gideon Para-
Mallam, who told him that there was fighting in
Bukuru and tension in his own village, Gel, which
is right outside Bukuru. Pam quickly called the
leader of the Christian youth in Bukuru. He had
just met with the leader the previous week and
had urged him and his followers to follow the
path of peace and not violence.
When the youth leader answered the phone,
Pam asked him about the tension. The youth
leader confirmed the tense situation and said
that the Christian boys were already assembled
and preparing to go fight the Muslim youth.
Pam told him that he should tell the boys to go
back home. The youth leader argued with him
for a bit. Pam told him, “You should know that
there are already soldiers in Bukuru and they will
just kill you if you go in there planning to fight.
The lives of your boys will just be wasted. You
do not want to waste the lives of these youth.”
The youth leader finally agreed that he would
tell the boys to go back.
Pam then called the Muslim youth leader. This
young man told Pam that he was in Kano but
was aware of the problems in Bukuru. Pam told
him that he had to call his boys and tell them to
go back home. There must be no fighting. The
Muslim leader eventually agreed to do so.
However, he called Pam back in a few minutes
and said that his boys were afraid that if they
disbanded the Christian youth would come and
kill them. Pam told him that the Christian boys
had already disbanded and promised the youth
leader there would be no problem.
The Muslim leader eventually called Pam back
and said that the Muslim youth had followed his
instructions and dispersed.
Pam was elated while telling me about this and I
was just as happy to receive this information. A
serious battle was averted by the actions of a
committed Christian pastor who had taken some
initiative to build peace. And who knows what
else his decisive action may have stopped? Had
this battle reopened in Bukuru, the knowledge
would have quickly spread by cell phones and
text messages to other parts of the state, and
violence could have exploded all over the state
and been worse than January.
The next day, the Christian and the Muslim
leaders both called Pam to thank him for his
intervention. Apparently, they realized there
would have been serious casualties if they had
continued the way they were going. Both of
them also agreed to participate in any peace
initiative that Pam would create.
Lunch with Pam
The next day, Friday, 26 March, Rev. Pam filled
me in on a few more details while we had lunch
together. He said that one of the things that had
helped spur this project forward was that around
last Christmas he had met and provided some
training for 24 Muslim youths who live near his
church.
The church is located directly across the street
from the Kwarafa Cinema, in the heart of the
Muslim area in Jos. During the crisis, some
Muslim youth came to burn his church. However,
these 24 Muslim youth protected his church and
arrested one of the boys. After beating him very
well, they turned him over to the police. This
event encouraged Pam to do more. It also
encouraged some of the people who were
helping Pam that perhaps some of his strategies
might work.
Pam was very happy with the Kwarafa meeting
and with the good coverage that the media gave
it. It was not only on local news but made
national news as well. He said that he had tried
to give the soldiers a little token financial
appreciation gift for helping provide security but
they had refused. This, too, was an
encouragement to him. Police and soldiers
seldom turn down financial gifts.
Pam’s team had obviously learned some things
from that event which they planned to include in
the next meeting. He had been very pleased
with the participation of the director general of
NIPSS, who is a Hausa Fulani Muslim. He knew
the language of the majority of those boys and
really communicated well with them. Pam was
also kind enough to say that he felt that my brief
little speech really connected with the boys.
Origins of this peacemaking effort
I asked Pam how all of this had started and he
told me his own story. He was the Plateau State
chairman of CAN in 2001 when President
Obasanjo made a trip to Jos, shortly after our
first major crisis in Jos. Apparently during their
meeting with the president, Pam said something
that the president did not like and the president
publicly rebuked him and called him an “idiot.”
That obviously was a great embarrassment to
him but it also made him a hero in the eyes of
other people.
Whether because of this incident or not, some
people from the United Nations came to see
him and asked him if he would be willing to
attend a peace course in New York. Pam agreed
and attended the course.
The course changed his life. He told me during
our lunch that before he went to New York he
thought the only thing that could change the
minds of “these Muslims” was violence. He
believed what many express here in Jos and that
is “the only language they understand is force.”
However, his course in New York and a
subsequent follow up course convinced him that
something should be done and that Muslims
were indeed capable of and interested in peace.
Rev. Pam came back to Nigeria and started
working to put together an organization called
“Young Ambassadors for Community Peace and
Inter-Faith Foundation.” He got Solomon Lar,
former governor of Plateau State, Professor
Danjuma, the director general of NIPSS (Nigeria
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies) and the
former governor of Kaduna State to become
trustees of his peace organization.
These are obviously well-placed men who had
some financial resources to help him start
working to register the organization. They had
been working to get their official registration
complete and only the day before our lunch
they had gotten word that the certificate was
out. The first official activity of this body was the
event that they sponsored at the Kwarafa
Cinema in Jos on Tuesday, 23 March 2010 that
Katrina and I participated in.
More Contact with the Youth
Leaders
While we were eating lunch, Pam’s phone rang.
He looked at his phone and smiled and said,
“This is Magaji, the Muslim youth leader in
Bukuru.” I encouraged him to answer the call.
They talked in Hausa and afterward he told me
with a big smile on his face that Magaji had
come back from Kano a day early because of
this peace initiative.
Magaji had gone around all over Bukuru and
met with about thirty other Muslim youth
leaders who were under his leadership. He had
told them about a meeting that Pam had
promised to have at the Bukuru cinema with the
Christian youth. He was very happy about this
meeting and was giving it his full attention. He
said that he wanted Pam to come to Bukuru that
afternoon and go around and meet these youth
leaders. Pam agreed that he would do so as
soon as he finished lunch.
Pam called me about 5:30 PM that same evening. At our lunch on Friday, I had suggested to Pam
He had gone down to Bukuru and met Magaji, that we would be happy to put together a little
the Muslim youth leader, who was apparently certificate for the Christian and Muslim youth
very happy to see him. There was even a little leaders that could be given to them publicly on
cheer that went up when he arrived, as if a real the day of the meeting. Pam was happy about
celebrity had come. that and later forwarded the names of the
recipients to me. Mary put the certificate
Magaji then took Pam to several of the Muslim
together and we printed it on very nice paper
areas in Bukuru so he could meet with the
we reserve for special occasions.
various youth leaders. At the present time,
Christians are not going into certain Muslim The Bukuru Meeting
areas because of the possibility of secret killings.
I had to teach an 8 AM class on that Thursday
However, Magaji took him to all those “off limits”
morning. Also, I had a 9:00 AM class with my
areas to show him that nothing would happen
HIV/AIDS students. However, I had arranged to
to him.
have a guest speaker so it worked out well for
Pam had originally told me that the earliest they me to get away by 9:45 or so. I stopped by the
could have a public meeting in Bukuru was on house and picked up Katrina and we headed to
the Wednesday after Easter. That would be Bukuru.
almost two weeks away. I urged him to try to
We missed the proper turn the first time but
find a day that would be closer. He consulted his
eventually found the cinema. It was right next
calendar and thought that they might be able to
door to the Division B police headquarters which
do something on Thursday before Easter. When
was encouraging. It was also within a block or so
he called me late that afternoon, he confirmed
of the market that had been totally destroyed. I
that they had set up a meeting for Thursday at
was happy to note that there was a small,
the cinema in Bukuru. He spent all day Saturday
rubber-wheeled armored personnel carrier out
going around to the Christian groups to get
front with several soldiers in their desert
their support for the meeting. He had already
camouflage uniforms standing around holding
talked to them on the phone and they agreed to
their AK-47’s.
come to the meeting.
Pam was smiling very widely when he met us. He
Pam and I were in contact several times during
took us immediately into the Cinema. This
the week. He confessed, “This peace work is very
building was not quite as big as the Kwarafa
hard work.” He also said that he was having
Cinema but perhaps two-thirds the size. It was a
more trouble with the “Christian youth” than
very old building, at least 50 and perhaps 75
with the Muslims. He asked me if I would be the
years old. The lower part of the building was
“guest speaker” for the occasion. I was more
painted green and the upper part was painted
than happy to do accept his invitation.
orange. The very high ceiling was made of
asbestos sheets, several of which had pulled
loose on one end and were hanging down.
Small fans near the ceiling were pulling the hot
air out of the building. A gigantic screen painted
on the front wall was probably 100 feet wide
and perhaps 30 feet high. There were two
sections of 15 seats across and I would guess
that there were at least 35 to 40 seats deep.
About 150 people were sitting around when we
arrived. That was a good start, certainly enough
to have the program for, but would there be
more? The Kwarafa event had raised our
expectations.
The atmosphere was relaxed. We went up front
and sat down a minute or two. Then I got up
and moved down the front row greeting the
people in Hausa. One of them teased me about
being a Fulani man. I said, “What is it that makes
me look like a Fulani man?” He said, “It is the
thin nose.” I said, “But what about this hair?”
They all laughed.
I walked over to the other side and started
greeting the people on the other side. They
refused to speak to me in Hausa and insisted on
speaking in Berom. I had heard that there were
some of the local tribes who were refusing to
speak Hausa because of this conflict with the
Hausas. However, everyone seemed to be
friendly enough.
The program was supposed to start at 11:00. By
11:30, the people were still coming. I would
guess that there must have been 300 to 400 by
that time. That was good. The program finally
started about noon. The MC got everyone’s
attention, then introduced the people at the
head table. After that, a Muslim and a Christian
were called to pray. That was civil enough.
The first substantive item on the agenda was a
general overview by Rev. Yakubu Pam, the
program's founder and executive director. He
spoke in English and explained what this
program was trying to accomplish. After this, a
young man named Ahmed gave a quite
excellent presentation on the history of Islam.
He explained that when Mohammed was being
persecuted by the pagans it was the Christians
who had received them in Abyssinia. It was a
very forceful and dynamic presentation calling
on Christians and Muslims to come together and
stop the fighting. At one time, Ahmed even got
down on his knees and begged the warring
parties to stop the fighting.
Next it was my turn to speak ...
Keynote Address by Professor
Danny McCain
Greetings to all of you. I am happy to see so
many people gathered together for peace. I
have lived in your country since 1988 and have
lived in Jos since 1991. I have raised my family
here and have been here so long I have decided
to apply for an indigeneship certificate (a little
attempt at a joke since being recognized as an
indigene, or official local resident, is one of the
sticky issues in this conflict between the Hausas
and the Beroms).
I am a professor in the Department of Religious
Studies so I would like to start my remarks by
telling two stories from our respective religions.
In fact, these are two stories from the two
founders of our religions, Christianity and Islam.
I believe that these stories have a bearing on the
purpose for our meeting today.
A Story about Jesus
Today is Thursday of the Passion Week. On this
day of the Passion Week, the day before Jesus
was crucified on the cross, Jesus and his
disciples were praying very late in the evening in
the Garden of Gethsemane. A group of soldiers
from the Temple came to arrest Jesus. Peter
pulled out his sword and took a swing at the
closest man to him, who happened to be
Malchus, a servant of the high priest. Apparently
Malchus saw the sword coming so he ducked.
However, he did not duck quite fast enough and
the sword caught off his ear.
If I had been there, I am not sure what I would
have done. Perhaps I would have been happy to
see my enemy suffer. Perhaps I would have put
my foot on the severed ear and twisted it in the
ground. However, that is not what Jesus did. He
did two things.
First, he rebuked Peter, saying, “Put your sword
back in its place” (Matthew 26:52). And then
Jesus said to his other disciples, “No more of this”
(Luke 22:51). Jesus did not want any of his
followers using violence.
Then Jesus did something else. He reached
down, took the ear and put it back on the man's
head of the man. Instantly, the ear was
completely healed.
This was the first physical violence that Jesus
experienced in his ministry as for as we know.
What did he do when he experienced violence?
He corrected his disciples who wanted to
respond to violence with violence. In addition,
he used his supernatural ability to touch this
wounded person who had come to arrest him.
That tells you something about the attitude of
Jesus toward violence and retaliation. When he
began to experience the violence that would
eventually kill him, his thought was on how he
could help one of his “enemies” who had come
to arrest him.
A Story about Mohammed
I have worked in the same department of
religious studies at the University of Jos with my
Muslim colleague, Professor M. T. Yahya, for the
last 18 years. In addition, for the last ten years
we have been going to various places doing
HIV/AIDS workshops together. I have heard
Professor Yahya tell this story many times. I ask
my Muslim friends to please forgive me if I do
not get the details exactly right.
One day Mohammed had left his house and was
going to the mosque. At one point, he passed a
man who started abusing him and even
throwing rubbish at him. However, the prophet
did not harm him or even speak harshly to him.
The next day, the prophet passed the same
place and the man continued to abuse him and
shout insults at him. This continued every day
for months and perhaps even years.
One day, the prophet passed through that same
area but the man was not there to shout at him.
Mohammed inquired about the man. His
companions said, “Have you not heard? The
man is very sick.” The prophet stopped his trip
to the mosque and said. “We must go and greet
him.” Mohammed then went immediately to the
man’s house where he met him in the bed and
prayed for him. The man was very ashamed that
the prophet who he had abused so many times
had come to see him. But this act of kindness for
the abuse he had done to him for so many years
so impressed him that he turned from his pagan
ways and was converted to Islam.
Two Lessons
There are two lessons I would like to point out
that come from these stories from the founders
of Christianity and Islam. Both stories teach us a
lesson about peace.
We must forgive if we are to have peace.
All of life is filled with one disagreement or
another.
• You disagree with your relatives including
your husband or wife and brothers.
• You disagree with your friends and mates.
• You will obviously disagree with your
neighbors at times.
• You will disagree with the people in the
market and those sitting next to you on
public transportation.
• You will certainly disagree with those who
are different from you—those from a
different ethnic group, those from a different
political party, those from a different religion
and even those who like a different sports
team.
There is no perfect human being. We all make
mistakes and we often offend one another,
either knowingly or unknowingly. Therefore the
only way to have peace is to simply forgive.
What does that mean today?
Has someone burned down your house? You
can go burn his house—that might give you
some temporary sense of satisfaction but it will
not bring about peace. Unfortunately, it will
bring about retaliation and revenge from the
other side. Or, you can choose to forgive. It takes
a bigger man to forgive than to retaliate.
Retaliation is a human response but forgiveness
is a divine response.
Has someone killed one of your relatives? This is
a very painful thing. However, even when Jesus
was hanging on the cross and the Romans were
killing him, Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for
they do not know what they are doing.” Again,
you can hate that person and look for an
opportunity to kill him or his brother, but when
you do that his brother will seek revenge that
will cause even more problems. Or, you can
choose to forgive and stop the cycle of violence.
Are you willing to have that same attitude that
Jesus and Mohammed had, an attitude of
forgiveness? I assure you that if you forgive
another person, God will give you peace in your
heart and you will have peace with that other
person. And if you can have peace with those
who have abused and offended you and your
family, you can have peace in Bukuru. And if we
can have peace in Bukuru, we can have peace in
Jos. And if we can have peace in Jos, we can
have peace in Nigeria.
A part of forgiveness is to look for good things
to do to those who abuse us.
It is one thing to say “I forgive you.” It is another
thing to do something good for someone who
has treated you badly. When Jesus experience
violence, he first thought about the welfare of
the other person. When Mohammed
experienced violence he first thought about the
health of the man who had been abusing him.
The way that we demonstrate our forgiveness is
by doing deeds of goodness and kindness to
those who have injured you or abused you.
About five years ago, I visited Sudan at the
invitation of the former president of Sudan,
President Nimiri, who is now an old man. I was
met at the airport by a man who took care of
the various protocols and then took me to the
hotel. He continued to be with me and our
group the whole time I was there. I visited Sudan
a second time and this same man continued to
be with us on that trip as well. Someone finally
told me his story.
When Nimiri was head of state, this man, named
Mutalib, was a soldier in the army. Several army
officers decided to assassinate President Nimiri
and stage a coup. Mutalib was part of the
assassination team. The team attempted the
killing but it failed. Some plotters were shot and
others captured. Mutalib was thrown in prison
and condemned to die. However, shortly before
he was to be executed, President Nimiri called
Mutalib into his office and said, “Young man, I
am going to forgive you for what you tried to do
to me. I am releasing you unconditionally. You
are free to go.”
Mutalib was shocked. He was happy for his
freedom but after thinking about it for a while,
he went back to Nimiri and said to him, “Sir, I
deserve to die. You have spared my life which
means I owe the rest of my life to you. Therefore,
I am surrendering my life to you as your servant.
The rest of my life is at your disposal. I will do
anything you ask me to do.” That was almost 30
years ago. This man has been serving Nimiri
almost like a slave for the last 30 years. Even
after he ceased being president, Mutalib has
continued to do anything the man has asked.
Now here is the question: Would Nimiri have
been better off enjoying the little bit of
satisfaction knowing that his assassin had been
killed or did he get more benefit from forgiving
this man who tried to kill him? The answer is
very obvious.
I challenge you to look for a way to do
demonstrate your forgiveness by doing
something good for the person or group who
has caused you great harm? If you do that, you
will be demonstrating the characteristics of the
founders of your religions. And you will be
doing what is ultimately the best for you, your
family and your community.
Peace
As I suggested earlier, forgiveness leads to
peace. And peace is what we desperately need.
We must have peace on the plateau. I want to
have peace and I am sure that you also want to
have peace. Peace has so many benefits.
• Peace will give you a chance for education.
• Peace will give you a chance to get a job.
• Peace will give you a chance to make more
friends.
• Peace will give you a chance for a life—to
get married and have a family.
• Peace will give you a chance to do
everything you have always wanted to do in
life.
However, fighting and killing and burning will
take away everything you have wanted to do.
• It will rob you of an education and a job and
a family and friends.
• It will rob you of sleep at night and a com-
fortable life
• It may even rob your of your life.
Your Turn
For reasons I do not fully understand, God
Almighty has chosen your generation to deal
with this huge problem. In your grandfather’s
generation, there was peace on the plateau. No
one cared whether a person was a Christian or a
Muslim, a Hausa or Berom or Afirzere or Nara-
guta or Yoruba or Igbo or an Oyebo (white
man). That was when Plateau State was known
as the home of peace and tourism. However,
something has disturbed our peace.
Your parents’ generation spoiled things. Either
because of their greed or their ignorance or
something else, they lost the peace this city
once enjoyed. And do you know what else they
have done? Many of them are using you to fight
their battles for them. You know better than I
that often the manya manya [big] people get
the little people like you to fight their battles for
them. And you are the ones who suffer.
It is time for the youth to say “It is enough. We
are no longer going to fight the battles for the
older generation.” In fact, I am convinced that
God Almighty allowed these problems to
develop on the plateau at this time because God
Almighty knew that you would be the best
generation to know how to solve them. To be
honest, I do not know the best way to solve
these problems. However, I believe that God
Almighty is going to give you the answers on
how to solve these problems of violence and
loss of peace. The question is, will you rise to the
challenge and reject the violence that is trying to
destroy you; will you work hard for peace?
I challenge you to leave a legacy to your
children and grandchildren that it was this
generation that solved the violence problems on
the plateau.
The Voices
Before I conclude, I want to tell you about some
voice that I am hearing now. Do you hear those
voices? I hear voices. Whose are those voices?
They are voices of children. In fact, they are the
voices of your children—your future children—
speaking to me and to you. Do you know what
they are saying? They are saying, “Tell our future
parents not to participate in violence.”
Did you hear that? They said, “Tell our future
parents not to participate in violence because if
they participate in violence, they may be killed.
And if they are killed, they will never be able to
get married and if they do not get married, they
will never be able to give birth to us.” Therefore,
on behalf of your future children, I am pleading
with you not to engage in violence.
I know that some of you have probably said in
the past, “Well, I don’t care what happens to me,
whether I live or die. I am just going to deal with
those people.” That is a nice pious-sounding
statement which even sounds selfless on the
surface. However, remember that if you die
while participating in some violent action, all of
the children that you would have given birth to
and all of the children that they would have
given birth to and all the subsequent
generations will never be born. Do not deny
your future children a chance to live by your
angry and violent retaliations today.
Conclusion
I am calling on each of you individually to
establish peace with your neighbor and with
those you have been battling with. Establish
peace well, that you can marry some day and
give birth to those children. Establish the kind of
peace that will last so that one day you can sit
under the mango tree with your friends, with
whom you used to fight, and tell your
grandchildren and his grandchildren that there
was a time that you fought each other but that
you learned that peace is better than war. You
learned that love is stronger than hate. You
learned that forgiveness is better than retaliation.
You learned that rejecting violence
embracing peace was what gave you a life that
you lived until old age.
Reaction to My Address
Although everyone had spoken only in English
up to that point, when I started speaking,
Ahmed, the previous speaker, came up beside
me and started translating into Hausa. He was
very good. As I was speaking, I thought, “I think
this is the first time I have ever preached a
sermon with a Muslim interpreter.”
I was pleased with the presentation. By the time
I started speaking, the hall appeared to be
packed. I would guess that there
somewhere between 800 and 1200 there at that
time.
I am not sure if it was something that I said or
not, but at one point, about 50 or 60 people got
up and walked out. It was about the time that I
was talking about forgiveness and doing good
to those on the other side so I suspect the walk-
out was a statement by some of those who were
still feeling angry. My speaking was a very clear
call to lay down the sword and focus on peace
so if there were those who were not ready to do
that, my message would not have been what
they wanted to hear. However, as a general rule,
I think the presentation was well received.
There were about four elderly Muslim men
sitting on the front row. I was afraid they would
not understand my English. However, I could see
them nodding even before the Hausa translation
was done. They were vigorously nodding and
smiling when I was telling the story of
Mohammed.
and
Bukuru Youth Leader Presentations
Before the workshop, the organizers, hoping to
avoid the kind of confusion we had at the
previous event, had the youth identify the
individuals they wanted to speak. Therefore,
after I finished, they started giving the mic to
these youth leaders. Each was given three
minutes to speak. Most of these were “older
youth,” at least in their thirties. [In Nigeria,
people are generally considered youths until
they marry.]
The first speaker was a Muslim Hausa man
wearing a baseball cap; he appeared to be about
were 45. He started listing all the towns and villages in
the Jos South Local government area, probably
25 of them. Apparently these were all affected
by the crisis. When he started listing the villages
in the Riyom Local Government, there was a trouble.” This man spoke with such conviction
groundswell of impatient sounds. The man and passion, he almost appeared to weep at
finally concluded with a simple call to peace. times. I was very impressed with him. I would be
happy to have him speak at any of these kinds
The second speaker was the Igbo representative.
of events.
He was very articulate, stressing the importance
of employment for the youth and warning youth Next, a Rev. Choji spoke and then a Muslim man.
not to do the dirty work for the politicians. He After him the Christian Yoruba representative
encouraged the youth to take their lives into spoke. His main statement was “Let us respect
their own hands and not allow anyone to one another,” and he also said, “I want to say to
manipulate them. He concluded by saying, “We the government, we are not after relief. We are
must shed our swords and live.” after compensation. We want to rebuild our
houses and our lives.”
The next person to speak was the Commissioner
for Youth and Sports. He encouraged the A Muslim barrister named Ali spoke next. He
movement to make sure that it was more than spoke in Hausa but he talked a bit about justice.
just a “talk shop.” He promised that the state
Next, a Berom man spoke for only 62 seconds.
government would support all good initiatives
After he finished, the MC said that this man had
to bring about peace. The people were polite to
scored 100 percent on his SSE (standardized
him but many people are not very happy with
examination), something that is almost never
the government right now so he did not get an
done.
overwhelming vote of support.
The next person to speak was a former national
The next speaker was the Fulani representative
legislator from Gel. He rambled on and on but
who, of course, was a Muslim. He stood up and
finally made about seven specific points
shouted at the top of his voice, “Peace!” “Peace!”
including: 1) the need for jobs; 2) the youth
and then he said, “I have been hungry for this
need to engage the society and correct the
day for a long time.” He spoke in Hausa a bit
wrong things in it; 3) the foreign media should
and then said, “Enough is enough.” He spoke
report facts and not engage in inciting language;
passionately and eloquently against violence. He
4) religious leaders should stop saying inciting
said that his father died when he was young and
things; 5) we should do away with all of the
that he was trained by a pastor. He then said,
DVD’s, text messages and documents that were
“However, today I cannot even to go his house
floating around that were stirring up trouble; 6)
to greet him.”
we should stop provocative language; 7) we
The Fulani man continued, “We are good people. must stop breaking the law.
We are good Christians and we are good
A Yoruba Muslim urged that all people should
Muslims. Why are we killing ourselves?” He
be allowed to return to their normal lives and
encouraged them that “from this day there will
homes, regardless of what part of the city they
be no more fighting. Let us give alms, not
lived in. After this a Nigerian/American spoke for and pleaded with them to stay just a few more
about five minutes. He said that his father had minutes. Gradually everybody sat back down.
started the first Assemblies of God churches in
Pam then basically repeated the story I told at
the northern part of Nigeria. Unfortunately,
the beginning of this journal about how a
when he was ten years old, his father was killed
potential crisis was averted the previous week,
in the riots in Kano that eventually lead to the
but this time he spoke in Hausa. The fact that he
Nigerian civil war. He said that ever since he was
repeated all of this to the primary actors in the
ten years old, he had lived without a father. He
drama gave me confidence that what he had
did not want to see any other person ever have
told me was exactly as it had happened.
to experience that.
Pam then explained that the organization was
A man from Saudi Arabia who was allowed to
providing special recognition for the two people
speak. It turns out that he was actually a Hindu
who had helped to avert that serious crisis. He
from India but had live in Saudi for the past 25
then pulled out our certificates and called
years. He was a businessman and focused on the
Magaji Sule, the Muslim youth leader forward.
importance of jobs and also getting along with
Later, Ishaya Bot, the Christian leader came
people of other religions.
forward.
After the speeches, the chairman of the
The chairman presented the certificates to them
organization was introduced, Professor
with a strong exhortation to be peace makers.
Danfulani, the director general of the Nigeria
He then had them raise their right hands and
Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS).
repeat after him phrase by phrase a
He had had another engagement to attend that
spontaneous pledge that went something like
morning and came about an hour or so into the
this: “As a leader of the youth, I commit myself
program. He spoke almost exclusively in Hausa
to be a peace maker. I will not allow the peace
but I could understand enough to be impressed.
to be broken again. When I learn of trouble, I
He said all of the right things. He condemned
will go there and intervene. I will encourage
violence. He stressed the common roots of
others to be peace makers until peace is
Christianity and Islam. He even called a man
restored to Plateau. So help me God.” I shook
from the front row and said, “If this man goes to
hands with both of the recipients and then took
America and looks for a job, they will not ask
pictures with them afterward.
him if he is a Berom or a Hausa. They will simply
ask him is he qualified for the job.” He certainly One of the most moving moments of the whole
had the words and spirit of a peacemaker. event was when these two youth leaders came
together and embraced each other
Honoring the Peace Makers
enthusiastically, with big smiles on their faces.
That was the last speech but there was still one What a powerful statement that made to their
more part of the program. People started followers! Both were very happy—genuinely
getting up and leaving. However, Pam stood up
happy for the recognition and for the hope of
peace.
The crowd was happy as well. Before they had
hardly received the certificates, people were
already shouting, “Take care. You need to get
those laminated.” The certificate read: “The
Young Ambassadors for Community Peace And
Inter-Faith Foundation presents the Young
Ambassador Peace Award to Ishaya Bot for his
exemplary leadership in helping to maintain
peace in Bukuru During the Two Thousand and
Ten Crisis.”
This was just the ideal way to conclude the
meeting. We then had some final instructions
about future meetings and other good things
that were going to happen, like football matches
and T-shirts to be given out identifying the
wearers as peace makers. Then there was a
closing prayer and the program was over.
As soon as the program was over, there was a
surge toward the front. The little kids came and
cleaned up all of the bottles of water and juice
that was still on the tables. And there were
several people who wanted to have their picture
taken with me and some who wanted pictures
taken with Katrina. It was a very warm and
friendly atmosphere, totally devoid of any kind
of animosity or conflict. I felt very good as I
made my way out of the meeting.
Afterward
A couple of hours after I got home, I received a
phone call from Yakubu Pam profusely thanking
me for my part in the meeting. He was thrilled
with the outcome. While we were eating supper,
I got a phone call from Ahmed who was also
very generous in his praise for my role. He said
after the meeting and even after he left people
were calling him and saying, “Who is that white
man? We should have him come to all of our
future meetings.” He said that many of the
Muslims had commented how much they
appreciated my story about Mohammed and he
complemented me on the way the story was
told.
At 8:57 PM that evening, I got this text from Pam:
“To all our friends and Partners. The Young
Ambassadors for Community Peace and Inter-
Faith Foundation is saying a BIG THANK U. Rev
Pam.” I was very grateful that I could just be able
to attend this historic meeting. To be able to be
the main speaker was just more than I could
have ever asked for.
I am encouraged. Certainly we are not going to
solve all the problems that Bukuru and Jos
experienced with one three hour meeting.
However, this meeting was a very significant
step in the right direction. It is my prayer that
God will take our weak and imperfect efforts and
multiply them like the loaves and fish and that
we will see a return to the peace in Plateau that
we used to enjoy.
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