NSCIA rejects siting of chiefdom headquarters by Bauchi governor

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has advised the Governor of Bauchi State, Bala Muhammad, to shelve his plan to site the headquarters of a proposed chiefdom for the Sayawa people in Tafawa Balewa town.

There has been a long-standing dispute among the various ethnic and religious groups over the creation of the chiefdom and the seat of its traditional ruler.

Governor Muhammad had at a stakeholders meeting held at the Banquet Hall of the Government House, announced that the headquarters would be in Tafawa Balewa, a town claimed by other groups.

He said communities not of Sayawa extraction are free to decide whether to remain in the proposed chiefdom or to be moved elsewhere.

He stated their choices would be determined through a referendum to be conducted by the Bauchi State Independent Electoral Commission (BASIEC) within the stipulated period.

Mr Mohammad said the state government would appoint a paramount ruler for the chiefdom, to be known as the “Gunn Zaar,” with his seat in Tafawa Balewa.

However, the highest Islamic organisation in Nigeria urged the governor to reconsider the plan.

The NSCIA in a statement signed by its Secretary-General, Is-haq Oloyede, a professor, warned that the move risks threatening the peace of the area.

Below is the full statement of the NSCIA on the matter

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The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto, has been following matters and issues concerning Tafawa- Balewa since 1991 when the first ethno-religious disturbance occurred. Since then, there had been intermittent clashes and conflicts in the town and its environs.

Previous and incumbent governors in the State have made efforts at restoring peace and ensuring harmonious co-existence. These efforts have been responsible for the relative peace that has been enjoyed in the area, though it is in a way, peace of the grave yard since Muslims have been completely displaced from the town for about 14 years now.

The Council can state on authority that one matter that has remained intractable in the Tafawa-Balewa crises is the issue of the Sayawa Chiefdom. Again, the bone of contention has been the issue of the siting of the headquarters of the Chiefdom.

It is pertinent to state HERE that the Bauchi Emirate Council and the Muslim Community of Tafawa-Balewa have both conceded to the creation of the Chiefdom in the interest of peace. Both have also unequivocally rejected the siting of its headquarters in Tafawa-Balewa.

All Committees appointed by successive regimes in the State consistently recommended the siting of the Chiefdom in Bogoro. The administration of His Excellency, Governor Isa Yuguda, even went to the extent of sending a bill to the State House of Assembly in 2014 on the Chiefdom, clearly stating Bogoro as the headquarters of the Chiefdom.

The matter could have been concluded but for the objection of the Sayawa people who would not accept the Chiefdom as long as Tafawa-Balewa is not its headquarters.

Strikingly also, even the Committee appointed by His Excellency, Governor Bala AbdulKadir Muhammad, under the chairmanship of His Excellency, Ambassador Chinade did not recommend the siting of the Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa.

It is instructive to state here that, there are several reasons that prevented all the committees from recommending the siting of the headquarters of the Chiefdom at Tafawa-Balewa. These include historical, moral political and demographic reasons.

Historically, the town was founded and named by the Fulanis and had existed for more than four centuries before the first Sayawa man settled in the town in the 1960s. Morally, after perpetrating series of aggression against Muslims and killing hundreds of them in the town, nobody in his right conscience would think of offering it to them as the headquarters of their Chiefdom.

Demographically and politically, the Sayawa people for whom the Chiefdom would be purportedly created are more predominant in Bogoro L.G.A. than in Tafawa-Balewa L.G.A. where they have only two wards out of sixteen and Tafawa-Balewa is located within a Village Area that is religiously and ethnically heterogenous.

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The Council, like many other peace-loving individuals and groups, has advised the Governor against this plan.

For all the reasons stated above it is very clear that the planned siting of the headquarters of the Sayawa Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa by the Governor is not in the interest of peace, nor is it in consonance with principle of justice and moral rectitude. It is on this note that we hereby call on the Governor to change his plan and explore options that are more attuned to justice and equity as well as enduring peaceful, harmonious co-existence in the Area.

Finally, the Council unequivocally rejects the plan of the governor to site the headquarters of the Sayawa Chiefdom in Tafawa-Balewa because it is a recipe for ethno-religious conflicts.

Signed.

Professor Is-haq Oloyede, CON, FNAL
Secretary-General
For and on behalf of the NSCIA