Abuja — Former Head of Interim National Government (ING), Chief Ernest Shonekan has said that the recurring violence in Jos in Plateau State was more economic in nature than the ethnic and religious reasons.

The reality on ground, according to Shonekan, is that governments at local, state and federal levels need to alleviate poverty among the masses to enable them have access to the basic necessities of life, adding that a hungry man is an angry man and when easily upset could quickly become willing tool in the hands of mischief makers.

The former leader who said this at the inaugural confidence-building conference titled "Peace In Jos: Arresting The Cycle of Violence", organised by the Institute of Governance and Social Research (IGSR), which took place at the Hill Station Hotel, Jos said the "recurring violence has left Jos, the beautiful town, a battered city, crying for help."

The conference which aims at finding ways and means of arresting the cycle of violence in the beautiful city of Jos and building people's confidence in the city again, according to Shonekan could not have come at a better than this because according to him Nigerians have been much traumatised and thrown into agony following the series of violence that occurred in the city in recent years.

Shonekan who went back memory lane, recalled that during the colonial period and even up to the late 1970s, the whole of the present Plateau State was the home of mining in the country. He said at that time, there was peace and harmony among the people living in Jos because there were employment opportunities for the people.

According to him, food was produced in large quantities then as the rich agricultural land of the Plateau and its environs provided good sources of employment for farmers and others.

He said also that Jos, the capital of Plateau State used to be one of the major industrial areas of the country where tourists from within and outside the country used to travel to see it, experience its good weather, its beautiful scenery, enjoyable night life and to relate their experience back home.

On a sad note, Shonekan said that industries, especially those based on mining activities have drastically reduced and many other industries also closed up thereby throwing thousands of people to the unemployment market.

He said over the years, there was population pressure on Jos which resulted in decline in agricultural output as a result of the oil boom, gradual closure of the mine fields, tin and columbite smelting factories, the commodity marketing boards and many other agricultural and commercial activities, resulting in a general decline in employment opportunities in Jos.

According to Shonekan, if the economy of Plateau State had remained buoyant over the years, the level of poverty among the people could have ameliorated adding that if there had also been opportunities for employment for the people, there would have been less conflict in the land.

"Today, many industrialists, big and small, including operators in the informal sector of the economy are running away from Jos because of the perceived lack of safety for their lives and property including the safety of their investments as a result of the incessant violence in the city and its environs.

"Without prejudice to what other speakers would say at this confidence- building conference, I believe that the recurring violence in Jos goes beyond ethnic and religious dimensions. To me, the underlying reasons for the recurring violence are more economic in nature than the ethnic and religious reasons. The reality on ground is that we need to alleviate poverty among the masses to enable them have access to the basic necessities of life. And, as we all know, a hungry man is an angry man. An angry man is easily upset and can quickly become willing tool in the hands of mischief makers. If there are employment opportunities and people are gainfully employed, they will hardly have time for trouble making and for religious clashes," Shonekan said.

With the present situation in Jos, Shonekan said that investors whether local or foreign would only invest their money in stable environments, where they can recoup their investments and not in a place that is prone to violence, lest they lose their investment.

To return Jos to its fomer status, Shonekan said that government would need to actively promote the establishment of farming and mining cooperatives, saying he idea is to provide people, especially the poor masses and those in the informal sector of the economy with job opportunities that would adequately engage them and provide them with good income such that they would not be willing tools in the hands of trouble makers.

At the local level, he said that every community would need to have its own community development association where people would dialogue with other residents in the community and together decide the progress of their communities. According to Shonekan, such regular dialogue among residents of each community would go a long way in building confidence in each other and in engendering peace and harmony among them.

"Going forward, I believe that the task of confidence - building to return Jos to its old state of a peaceful city with its people living together harmoniously is a task for every stakeholder in Plateau State and, indeed, the whole country. We need to accommodate ourselves and be determined to be our brothers' keepers. We also need to have liberal minds and open our minds to new reforms that would engender the transformation and modernisation of our communities, our cities and our state. We need to build trust and confidence in ourselves. In other words, you must trust me so that I too can trust you, no matter our religious faiths. Also, we need to assure those who fled the city and its environs in the heat of the latest round of violence that life has returned to normal in Jos and there is constant policing and monitoring of the flash points in the state to avoid any recurrence of violence in the state.

"Furthermore, there is a need for more co-operation between the state government and the various ethnic and religious leaders in the state. The co-operation could be in the form of regular consultative meetings with the police and other security agencies. This would help to nip any emerging violence in the bud.