SCHOOL OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

BAUCHI STATE UNIVERSITY GADAU

DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL SCIENCE
FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES

BY:

NAFIU MUKAILA
SPGS/MPOL/ 22/0002

RESEARCH PROPOSAL:

BEING PRESENTED TO THE DEPARTMENT OF POLITICAL,

FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE.

EXAMINING THE RESOLUTION OF SECRETARIAT CRISES IN

PLATEAU STATE AND HOW TO FIND OUT A LASTING
SOLUTION TO THE PROLONG CONFLICTS.

MARCH 2024

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ABSTRACT
The persistent attacks by Fulani Herdsmen on the people in plateau state, Nigeria could be
traceable to a number of factors. The overall objective of this study is to explain these factors
and recommend how the identified factors could be managed. The methodology adopted for
this study is Survey research design which made use of Questionaire and Interview Guide to
generate and analyse data for the research. The educational system has suffered setback as a
result of struggles between individuals and groups seeking for political or religious
fulfillment. It was for this reason that prompted the researcher to investigate ‘the impacts of
Jos crisis on the implementation of Geography curriculum in Jos south LGA’. Two research
questions and two null hypothesis were formulated while a survey design was adopted for the
study where students of geography where sampled out from seven (7) Senior Secondary
Schools within Jos south Local Government Area. The major instrument used for the
collection of data was a structured questionnaire which was divided into part ‘A’ and ‘B’
respectively in order to answer the research questions. The questionnaires are made up of five
(5) point rating where the respondents indicate their response by ticking. Oral interview was
also conducted by the researcher and the result was compared with the responses in the
questionnaires. The statistical tool employed by researcher is the simple mean and Chi-square
in testing the two hypotheses. In the hypothesis testing, result showed that the first hypothesis
was accepted while the second hypothesis was rejected. Findings show that crises prevent
students from school, some mission schools were burnt down during the crises and
imposition of curfew by the government paralyzed school activities among others. Following
the findings therefore, the recommendations include; the government should do everything
possible to ensure peace reigns in the society and religious institutions should watch against
instigative activities as the structures of the society including education are at the receiving
end. It was therefore concluded that Jos crises had significant impact on the performance of
geography students in Jos south LGA but it had no significant impact on the implementation
of the geography curriculum based on this study.

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

The entire society is built on different functional structures which interdependent on one
another. These structures include the educational structure, economic structure, political
structure among others. Community settlement is essential for human survival and the
various interactions are bound to give rise to conflicts (Crises) because no group of
individuals or society is an island. Conflicts do occur for it is an inevitable aspect of life but it
needs to be controlled. Conflict can be seen as a violent situation in which groups of people
or states are involved in serious disagreement or argument due to opposing ideas, feelings,
opinions or wishes. In this regard therefore, when conflict occurs, it creates either positive or
negative results (impacts) on the structure of the society.

The Jos crisis dates back since 2001 where violence erupted in Jos city, the capital of Plateau
state in Nigeria’s middle Belt Region. The ostensible dispute is over the “right of the indigene
Berom/Anaguta/Afizere (BAA) group and the rival claims of the Hausa Fulani settlers to
land, power and resources because the settlers are almost entirely Muslims and the
indigenous people are predominantly Christians. Struggle over land ownership, economic
resources and political control tends to be expressed not just in ethnic but also religious terms

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and the dispute is compounded by the fact that among the settlers groups, only the
Hausa/Fulani claim proprietary of Jos. Since the end of 2010, security has further deteriorated
in Jos because of terror attacks and suicide bombing against churches and security targets by
suspected militants of Boko-Haram, the Islamic group and therefore, there have been
difficulties in the smooth running of schools. The school curriculum is simply seen as
“everything that happens in school including the subjects, content, methods, time and
evaluation among others. The curriculum needs to be implemented effectively as planned for
the realization of set objectives. Geography is one of the subjects in secondary schools in
which its multi-faceted areas are systematically planned for effective implementation by
subject teachers.

A student performance is determined by the level of achievement of the set objectives.

Student performance objective is a specific statement about what a student should be able to
do as a result instruction. In most cases, that would be a short period of instruction and would
involve student completing some simple task “correctly”. Whatever the task (as specified in
the objective) it must be something that must be evaluated by observing the student or having
the students respond to a test question. Students learn more quickly and more effectively
when they are told in advance exactly what they are expected to be able to do as a result of
instruction.

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The study is carried out in order to enable the researcher to achieve the following objectives
at the end of the study:

1. To ascertain the role of Jos crisis on SS3 students’ performance in geography with focus
on some selected schools in Jos south LGA, especially in senior secondary schools situated in
areas that were touched by the crises.

2. To find out the challenges encountered by students and teachers during or after the crisis
and how possibly, the challenges where remedied.

3. To find out whether curfew imposed by Government affected teachers and students and
the entire school activities in any way. This will also enable the researcher know if there was
any special consideration for teachers and students when the government imposed a Curfew.

4. To determine the level of coverage of geography curriculum during or after crises as well
as it’s consequence on students’ general performance in geography.

5. The study is carried out in order to enable the researcher to achieve the following
objectives at the end of the study:

SCOPE OF THE STUDY

1. The impacts of crises on teaching and learning of geography.

2. Implementation of the geography curriculum in Jos south.

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3. The consequences of crises on both teachers and students.

LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

The violence was widespread. Slums and rundown neighborhoods in the city centre were
worst hit (Krause Citation2011, 32). It is important to note that this is precisely the
predicament of segregated and territorialized neighborhoods, which trace their emergence to
the colonial policy on residential patterns. At the northern fringe of the city around the
University of Jos, stick-wielding students clashed with groups armed with guns and machetes
from the Muslim- dominated neighborhoods of Angwan Rogo and Angwan Rimi, allegedly
trying to invade the university premises. Further, in Angwan Rogo, many Christians,
including university students and staff, were killed and their property looted and destroyed.
Some motorists caught in the crossfire along Bauchi Road were hacked and burnt in their
vehicles (HRW Citation2001). At Congo- Russia junction, clashes resulted in several deaths,
along with burnt vehicles, homes and worship centres. Deeper into the Muslim settlements of
Gangare and Dilimi, Igbo motor parts dealers were caught in the whirlwind of violence.
Mostly Christian, some lost their lives and others their shops to looters. There are, however,
also tales of how Muslims helped some of the motor parts dealers to safety. Footnote10

SIGNIFICANT OF THE OF THE STUDY

This research work shall be useful to all that contributed and significant to stakeholders in
education. The study shall therefore, be useful to the followings;Educational administrators at
local state and Federal levels by revealing some major societal factors that affect effective
curriculum implementation which results to poor performance. Religious institutions shall see
this study as an eye opener to intensity efforts on peace advocacy instead of instigating crises
because the impact is directly on the society; Teachers, students, parents and curriculum
planners as it reveals the contribution of crises to the poor performance of students. The
general public will understand that societal conflicts (crisis) have direct negative
consequences on the education of their children in schools. The research work is also
significant to the Government to understand that crisis is one of the major causes of poor
curriculum implementation and poor performances of students. This will make the
government to do everything possible to ensure peaceful society.

Lastly, the research work can be useful to future researchers to conduct further investigations
on similar matters as they concern the educational sector and also come up with new findings.
Research can also be conducted in other parts of the state that had recently experienced such
unrest.

DEFINITION OF THE TERMS

CRISES: A violent situation in which groups of people or states are involved in a serious
disagreement or argument due to opposing ideas, feelings, opinions or wishes.

CURRICULUM: The planned experience or activities offered to the learner under the
guidance of the school
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ACHIEVEMENT: Level of performance in a given task on.

SOCIETY: An all-encompassing structure with several units such as the family, school,
church/mosque, markets among others.

IMPACT: Negative or positive effect (result) of an event, action or decision.

IMPLEMENTATION: The process of carrying out of a planned activity such as the

curriculum.

LEARNING: The process of acquiring knowledge

ENROLLMENT: Students enlisted to take some subjects in schools

PERFORMANCE: Accomplishment to set academic objectives

TENSION: Fear of the unknown as a possible threat to life in a violent s

LITERATURE REVIEW

More than 13,500 people have been killed in communal violence since Nigeria returned to
civilian rule in 1999 (HRW, 2010a). The ‘Middle Belt’ region, to which Plateau State
belongs, is one of the areas worst hit. The 2001 Jos riot claimed at least 1,000 lives (HRW,
2001). Subsequently, long-standing tensions within smaller towns and villages in Plateau
State escalated into violence. The city of Jos exploded into violent clashes on the afternoon of
7 September 2001. But in the weeks leading up, as would become clear, a chief objective of
the two fighting sides was to assert territorial dominance. This was crystallized when
Mukhtar Mohammed, a Hausa, was appointed coordinator of the Jos North chapter of the
National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP). Printed campaign materials by alleged
representatives of both the Hausa and the indigenes claimed they owned the city and would
prove it by physically eliminating the other group. The Justice Niki Tobi Commission of
Inquiry on Civil Disturbances in Jos reported that this literature flooded the city some weeks
before the outbreak of violence (PSG Citation2002) As already described in the explication
of dominance-ownership, there is an implicit belief that the more territories a group
dominates, the stronger its claim on ‘ownership’ of the city.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of all
the undergraduate Library and Information Science students in University of Jos which are
367 in number. The sample consists of 100 respondents selected via stratified random
sampling from 100 to 400 levels from Library and Information Science Unit to make up 100
% sample size. The instrument used for collection of data was questionnaire structured by the
researcher and titled Questionnaire on impact of Ethno Religious crisis on Library and
Information Science Students in University of Jos. The instrument was structured on a 4-
5
point scale to allow respondents express their opinion by indicating a tick against the most
appropriate option while on the other section the respondents were expected to express their
opinión freely on how to resolve issues of ethno religious crisis. The method adopted for data
collection was use of questionnaire which was distributed face to face to the respondents and
retrieved back by the researcher after responding. Data analysis used was simple percentage
method.

DATA PRESENTATION

Details of respondents as regards the effects of ethno-religious crisis on students’

socialization. reveals that, 22.7% of the respondents agreed that, ethno religious crisis limit
students’ socialization, does not affects their socialization and aid their socialization. 21.3%
also agreed while 32.3% disagreed and 23.7% strongly disagreed as well which mean that,
ethno religious crisis limits students’ socialization, affects their socialization process and also
does not aid their socialization in any way. Thus, it obvious that, ethno religious crisis affects
students in all sphere of social life.

RECOMMENDATION

This study reveals that Jos Plateau State has a long history of ethno-religious crisis. The
conditions created by theses reoccurring crises has a lot of negative impact on students.
Hence, the following recommendations are made:
- All religions in the country should exhibit the attitude of religious tolerance in dealing with
people of other religion. This is very necessary for achieving religious peace and harmony
university community and the state at large.
- The government should involve necessary legal and constitutional provisions to ensure
social security and stability reign supreme in the state.
- The university management should ensure safety of studnets within and outside the school
campuses as well as encourage interfaith activities.

- The government should alleviate poverty from Nigerian populace that is very necessary to
reduce tension and ensure violence free behavior among the citizens.
- Stakeholders in the business of education should create employment opportunity for the
teeming number of school leavers and graduates of tertiary institutions. This will go long way
in
reducing frustration and disillusionment which tend to breed tension and social instability
among the citizens in the country.
- Barriers of all forms, suspicion, misunderstanding or wilful misinterpretations of others
intention must give way for trust, frankness and fidelity in expressing the truth we know
about our own religions belief.
- The working people and youth should not allow religion and ethnicity to be used to divide
their ranks by deceitful and self-seeking members of the capitalist elites who are
masquerading as religious puritans or political liberations or both.
- The state government must carefully monitor events and situations to avert situations that
could lead to conflict through dialogue.
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- Employment should be given to citizens on the platform of meritocracy thereby crippling all
forms of God-fatherism that may lead to conflicts.

FINDING

The crisis in Plateau requires both national and local solutions. Nigeria’s current conception
and implementation of its citizenship question are inadequate and flawed. The way forward is
for the National Assembly, via a referendum or by itself, following its nationwide public
hearings, to replace the indigene principle with a more inclusive residency provision to fight
discrimination and inequalities between settler and indigenous communities.

CONCLUSION

Arising from the findings of this study, it can be concluded that interlocking factors pose
challenges to ethno-religious conflict management in Nigeria as a whole and especially in
Plateau State in the period under review, 2000-2010. These interlocking factors amongst
others are the character of competitive partisan politics, existence of huge pool or republic of
angry brigade of idle youths, weak capacity of the security institutions to bring perpetrators
of ethno-religious conflicts to face the wrath of the laws, and the non-reliance on problem
solving technology.

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Nigeria Tribute to 2002

HRW 2010

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