The Plateau community has been without a multipurpose gathering space for three decades, leaving the youth and older populace facing difficulties and frustrations when organising events.
Every community dreams of a standard hall where events can be held. These events serve as unifying factors for members of the society.
They include birth ceremonies, deaths, weddings, town hall meetings, etc. People meet, mingle, network, and reminisce over old times at these halls.
However, this is not the case for Rayfield Community in Jos, Plateau State as the absence of a community town hall has posed a significant challenge in the area.
The community has been without a multipurpose gathering space for three decades, leaving the youth and older populace facing difficulties and frustrations when organising events.
The lack of available land and financing has made acquiring a town hall a daunting task for the Rayfield community.
The youth of Rayfield, therefore, resorted to using a cramped secondary school classroom only on holidays, which often leads to overcrowding during their meetings. Alternatively, they use the Rayfield Resort, an open-air space prone to disruptions caused by adverse weather conditions and interference from other recreational activities.
Holding meetings in these cramped classrooms or very expensive privately owned event spaces often leaves the organisers super drained. In the makeshift spaces, participants may be drenched in the rain, burned by the scorching sun, or have valuables stolen, and the event centres can't truly account for the safety of properties and lives of attendees.
John Choji, a former leader of the Rayfield community, expressed disappointment, stating: "We made efforts to secure land and build our hall, but financial constraints prevented us from achieving our goal. However, there was a glimmer of hope when our senator, Istifanus I.D Gyang, who also resides in Rayfield, promised to address the longstanding issue of our community hall."
In 2021, the community received news that approximately N40 million had been allocated for constructing a community hall in Rayfield as part of the 2021 federal constituency project.
This announcement brought immense joy to the people of Rayfield, as it was expected to be the first project commissioned in the area after years of waiting.
However, their hopes were dashed when they learned that the project had been relocated to another community within the Zawan district.
According to a District Head in Rayfield who wants to be anonymous, "I was among those called upon by the senator to identify possible land for our hall, but we were not consulted nor informed when the decision was made to move the project elsewhere."
He continued: "Our joy was cut off when we heard that our project had been moved to another community under the Zawan district. A few months back, our senator summoned our district heads, youth leaders, and community chairman, informing us to go get land for our community hall which should be on the roadside. We were still in the negotiating part, as getting land in Rayfield along the roadside was quite difficult; that was when the news reached us.
"All effort to meet the senator at that time was abortive until we had a general meeting. We had the opportunity of meeting the senator who confirmed that the information we heard was true and was a collective agreement of the Jos South PDP Stakeholders."
A community leader in Rayfield field who also chose anonymity said: "I was in the initial plan for the downhill bid but when the decision of moving the project to another community came, nobody sought my consent or that of the Rayfield Chairman".
He added, "The youth of Rayfield are not upset with the people of Zaramaganda; they are disappointed with the senator for disregarding their input. This lack of consultation also played a role in his loss during the primaries for his second-term bid.
"We just pray that the incoming senator would make the Rayfield community smile again".
Residents of Rayfield further expressed their hope that the incoming Senator will prioritise their community's needs and bring smiles back to their faces.
Zaramaganda
The Zaramaganda Diye Youth Center Hall, located in the Jos metropolis, is the largest town hall in the area, with a seating capacity of approximately 5,000.
Initially conceived in the late 1800s, the hall was intended to serve as a national gathering place for all Berom individuals within and outside the country. Despite the long period of inactivity on the project, some philanthropists and politicians contributed to reaching the foundation level.
In 2022, a budget of N50 million was allocated to complete the youth centre at Diye Zaramaganda.
Additionally, an FOI request revealed that N40 million was invested in the hall in 2021.
The establishment of the youth centre hall at Diye has been hailed as a significant achievement by Onesimus Datuhung, Vice President of the National Berom Association.
The vice president told UDEME that the youth centre hall at Diye is like a dream come true for the entire Berom Nation, as "our forefathers during the 80s wanted this reality during their own time, but they couldn't achieve it due to lack of finance. But today, through the help of some Berom sons and daughters at home and abroad, including our Senator I. D, great achievements have been made.
"In 2020, when the building was at the foundation level, with the support from other Berom sons and daughters, we met with our senator, and he promised to make the hall a federal project, which he fulfilled, the hall is raised and plastered to lintel level. However, in 2021, we overheard the Rayfield community claiming that their project was brought to our community, this is a false claim. No Rayfield project was moved to Diye."
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Senator reacts
Mr Gyang told UDEME that the project was originally for the Rayfield community.
"After research was done, I was told there was no land for the hall. If I invest N40 million just for the purchase of land, it might take a long time to complete the hall.
"I had a meeting with the leadership of Jos south stakeholders and some of the Dung leadership, I told them the current situation, how I placed a demand for land at Rayfield, and if I don't meet up with the lifecycle of the project, the money would return to the Federal Government. It was a consensus by the stakeholders to move the project to Zarmaganda Diye."
He added, "I know a lot of things are being said about this project, but the most important thing is that there's evidence; I feel for Rayfield but there's nothing I can do at the moment, I believe one day Rayfield community would have their hall, but they have first to get land to make that possible."
