Toto: Egbura welcomes Al-Makura’s meeting with Bassa stakeholders

The Egbura ethnic group has welcomed the meeting between Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura of Nasarawa state and stakeholders of Bassa ethnic group last week in Abuja.
Speaking through its umbrella socio-cultural group, Egbura National Development Association (ENDA) in a statement in Abuja by its President, Prof.
Ibrahim Aguye, the community further commended the governor for the message of hope for peace he reportedly carried to the meeting with Bassas.
It said, while it had never opposed the quest for chiefdom for Bassas, it however, called on the governor to involve genuine stakeholders from both sides to ensure the right thing was done so as to engender a lasting solution.
“Since creation of chiefdom all over the world is rooted in history and tradition, the governor in his quest to bring a lasting solution to the seemingly intractable situation is hereby called upon to be guided by the history and tradition of the land.
“This can only be achieved when the governor involves genuine stakeholders from both sides in the process leading to such weighty decision.
It is in this light that we further welcome the idea of a tripartite meeting proposed by His Excellency.
“It is also noteworthy to point out at this juncture that chiefdoms are never really created or formulated but only get recognised and upgraded, based on ancestral heritage.
Suffice it to say that any artificial creation will only be a contraption that may be difficult to stand,’ it stressed.
It, therefore, called on government to ensure that genuine stakeholders with verifiable claims to state indigeneship are invited to the proposed meeting, explaining that most of those who spoke for Bassa ethnic group at the meeting were not bona fide indigenes of the state, hence, may not have been able to speak from informed position.
The group further noted that for a lasting solution, there was need for the government to get to the root of the crisis, especially the recent one, with a view to putting the blame where it belongs.
“What we find hard to understand is that why would an ethnic group take up arms and against its neighbour just because history has not favoured them traditionally on chieftaincy matters? How does taking up arms against the Egburas recompense for circumstances established by history? “History has created certain circumstances such as traditional settlements, chiefdoms, traditional leadership and so on.
To create a big change in this circumstances may create big upheavals.
But, minor insertions may be tolerated by great and accommodating minds like that of the Egbura people who initially welcomed a major displaced population into their land.” It said it was a bit disappointed at the failure of government to condemn “acts of aggression and attacks unleashed on Egburas by Bassas since April this year for no just cause.”

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