ANALYSIS: Nigeria-Security: Women, Children and the Upheavals in Jos
We are only 12 years old. We can't influence politics and the war, but we want to live! We wait for peace. Will we live to see it? -A class of school children. Those words convey the heartfelt hope of a group of African children who have seen first-hand the gory effects of wars and armed conflicts. Instead of hearing the singing of birds, they are used to the boom of guns and the weeping of children and women who have lost a breadwinner and companion.
Saying that women and children are the worst-hit in cases of conflicts is stating the obvious. Countless reports across the globe show that in cases of civil conflicts and upheavals, this group is deliberately targeted and suffer the most hurt. Indeed as United Nations' Graca Machel once noted, it is increasingly obvious that "children are targets, not incidental casualties of armed conflicts."
History is replete with cases of neighbour turning against neighbour. For example, in Rwanda, Hutu and Tutsi lived together, intermarrying, without a care who was Hutu or Tutsi. Then, says the New York Times, "something snapped and the killings begun". In Bosnia and Herzegovina (formerly part of Yugoslavia) many were forced out of their homes and thousands were killed. One young girl said of the perpetrators: 'they were our neighbours- we knew them'. In Israel, Jews and Arabs live side by side but hate each other.
Studies have shown that when neighbours hurt each other, the wounds fester and hardly ever heal. This in turn leads to reprisals and bitterness.
Jos, the Plateau state capital referred to as the home of peace and tourism used to be a melting pot of race, ethnicity and religion, thus its cosmopolitan nature. Some of the tribes in Plateau include the Birom, Ngas, Rukuba, Jasawa, Afizere and the Hausa-Fulani among others.
For a long time, the indigenes of Jos had been living in peace alongside others. The communal harmony has however been snapped as several inter-ethnic, religious and political upheavals have trailed this once serene mining town.
Ever since the first major crises in 2001, there have been cases of accusations and counter-accusations, palpable tensions, reprisal attacks and killings. While this article will take a cursory look at the possible causes of the unrest, its main thrust however lies in the effects of armed conflicts on defenceless women and children. It brings to light the attendant effects--psychological, physical, mental and emotional hurt that have trailed the recurrent upheavals in Jos. It also shows that if conditions continue unchecked, the state and indeed the entire country could reap a bumper harvest of hurts and regrets. Beyond that, it makes recommendations on how to address the heart of issues.
According to a December 2001 report by Human Rights Watch, the first major crises in 2001 was the result of a longstanding feud for control of political power and economic rivalry between different ethnic groups and between those tagged indigenes and settlers.
Since then a number of other conflicts have marred the peace of residents and visitors alike. Greed for power, claim to ownership of the land, feelings of marginalization, ethnicity, religious sentiments, purported violations of human rights and the ready availability of cheap but lethal weapons have been implicated among the factors responsible for the recurring violence.
A conflict may come and go but the hurt done to women and children is hardly ever fully redressed. Unless the tide of violence in Jos is stemmed, some of the bitter fruits that could be reaped include:
-Loss of fathers, husbands and breadwinners; Multiple Deprivations. In the wake of armed conflicts, food production is drastically reduced and medical services do not function optimally. These deprivations eventually lead to starvation and outbreak of diseases; Poisoned Minds.
When children are told that members of a certain religious inclination or ethnic group killed their parents or relatives, they grow up with deliberate malice and hate. They become ready to snap at the slightest provocation from the perceived enemy leading further to the next fruit, which is Social Disintegration; Economic Recession: When a woman is unhappy she hardly functions at her peak.
Most of the women in Jos are industrious business women and employees who contribute a large percentage to domestic food supply and the State workforce.
Some Birom women have been seen working in construction sites alongside their male folks, while some Hausa-Fulani women sell vegetables, fruit and milk to augment the family's income.
Where such contributions are not forth-coming, it represents a colossal loss to the economy of the town and by extension the state; Child Combatants: Even more disturbing is the real possibility of children being recruited as combatants, no thanks to the proliferation of light weapons and the international arms trade.
Thus at such a care-free age, the children acquire callous and desensitized consciences which is sure to lead to trauma in later years; Sexual Violence. Rape has been identified by experts as a deliberate military strategy aimed at creating panic and disrupting family ties. Left unchecked, the upheavals in Jos may recur and even spread leading to high incidences of violence against women.
The list of rotten fruitage that could be reaped is just endless. Recognizing the security situation in that town as an emergency, the governments as well as many concerned citizens have proffered solutions on how to halt the wave of violence.
After the 2001 upheavals, there have been reports and recommendations, committees and nongovernmental organizations set up to ensure and maintain peace in Jos. Nonetheless, pressuring opposing groups to sign a peace accord and providing peace-keeping forces to effect the agreement may just as well be treating the symptoms so long as people have the will and capacity to continue to fight.
Hatred and greed fan the flames of conflicts not bullets and riffles. Behavioural change experts recommend targeting attitudes instead of confronting behaviours.