NSCIA rejects Tafawa Balewa town as Sayawa chiefdom headquarters, says it is “recipe for ethno-religious conflicts”

The Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has called on Governor Bala Muhammed of Bauchi State to change his plan and explore other options following the recent policy pronouncement to create a Sayawa Chiefdom with headquarters in Tafawa Balewa town.

The Council in a statement made available to AfriReporters stressed that the move was not in the interest of peace and did not comply with the principles of justice and moral rectitude.

It could be recalled that Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed announced the creation of Sayawa Chiefdom by his administration on Tuesday, December 9th, 2024. The administration resolved to site the headquarters of the proposed Sayawa chiefdom in Tafawa Balewa village under the Bauchi emirate.

Reacting to the move, the Council said it “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.”

The Statement reads in full:

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.

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