Anguwan Rogo: Building bridges of peace

Written by Duncan Wednesday, 09 November 2011

It has been ten years since the 2001 Jos crisis,  and Anguwan Rogo, a contentious community in Jos North Local Government Area is facing population and development issues. In an attempt to attract peace and development, the community has extended an olive branch to its neighbour,  and is trying to actualise community development projects to cater for its teaming population.

Anyone who has not visited Anguwan Rogo, a suburb in Jos north Local Government Area of Plateau state since 2001, will now be amazed at the area’s expansion and dense population . The evenings in this community are characterised by rushing motorcycles, buses and taxes , with passengers plunging into the area, through the very popular Madara junction, once known as Burkutu junction. The chilly breeze of the evening harmattan keeps young men and women briskly in their jackets and shawls. The nurturing and soothing attributes of Mai kose (Beans cake seller)is also apparent as commercial motorcyclists and water vendors gather to eat their evening meal after the day’s work, while a chatty and cheerful Mai balangu and tsire, is surrounded by customers who point out their preferred sticks of scrumptious meat, as almajiri’s  lurk around with  eager  eyes hoping for a bite. You will also witness the expertise and charm of mai shayi (Tea seller), which leaves an indelible mark on one’s mind,  as youths gather for chitchats and to keep warm over cups of tea and noodles.

Anguwan Rogo has little to show for major developmental projects, but the community is a closely knit one. It has lived side by side with neighbouring Anguwan Rimi. But over the years the two communities have merged due to expansion and interrelationship, making it difficult to demarcate where one community ends and the other begins. Before 2001, a large number of students and staff of the University of Jos and  the Federal College of Forestry Jos, had lived and mingled with members of the community , due to its strategic proximity to the two tertiary institutions. The community’s hospitality to students’ and affordable house rent, had also made it popular among its neighbours then. But the 2001 crisis had severed these ties, and created fear and tension among Christian residents,  who have had to flee the area because it was Muslim dominated.

Ten years down the line, Anguwan Rogo is now congested. It is still experiencing an influx of people; mostly Muslims, emerging commercial activities and a  controversial reputation of hosting some of the most notorious youths in the city.  With a dense  population of about 30,000 registered eligible voters during the April 2011 polls, Anguwan Rogo is one of the largest   communities in Jos north Local Government Area.

But life in the community hasn’t been all rosy. According to Alhaji Yawale Mohammed, the youth leader of Anguwan Rogo/Rimi Development Association and the secretary, Petrol Tanker Drivers’ Association, Plateau state, “life is specifically difficult for the youths in the community. We have all kinds of youths in Anguwan Rogo, most of our graduates are looking for employment, while those who have completed secondary schools are now looking for admission into tertiary institutions. The University of Jos and the school of Forestry are our neighbours’,  yet a number of our youths are not considered for admission into the institutions. If you go to Samaru in Zaria, you will see that a very large number of members of the host community are being considered for admission,  but here it is a different story.”

The youth leader added that despite the hitches between Anguwan Rogo and the University community, which was due to the 2001 crisis, he is glad both communities are now making efforts to improve their relationship and ensure that the mayhem does not repeat itself. “Some departments within the school have started reaching out to us for partnership , and have even paid us a visit where we assured them that we are also interested in peace,” he said. The Councillor representing AnguwanRogo/Rimi ward, Abubakar Ishaq Dogara, also said “We have even written a letter to the Vice Chancellor of the University asking for a date, so that we can pay the school a courtesy visit, in order to discuss better relationship strategies”

Dogara explained that since the September 7,  2001 crisis in Jos, there has never been any violence involving Anguwan Rogo/Rimi or youths from the communities. He expressed annoyance over what he called the “mischievous” attempt to drag the community’s name in the mud anytime the city goes into turmoil.

Some of the first things you notice around Anguwan Rogo are signs of the community’s deplorable state of roads. Most of the houses are depleted, old and clustered , but there are also sights of beautifully fenced constructions,  to indicate that the owners may have moved to the area after 2001.

There are other problems bedeviling the community. For years, residents have depended on wells  as  their source of drinking water. As the situation persisted, the community had paid a visit to the Commissioner of Water Resources in 2009, to request that the problem of water  be settled once and for all. “The Commissioner told us that the state government was doing everything to provide sufficient water to the people. For us, the reason why we are very concerned  about the issue of water, is because of the number of people in our community. Lack of water leads to disease, and this can spread. We now rely on water vendors and boreholes from those who have the means.” Dogara said. The Councillor added that it has been two years since they approached the government on the issue of water,  and they are still waiting for a positive outcome.

Leaders of the community also say they are in need of more government schools to complement the Anguwan Rogo Primary and  Secondary School, popularly known as Shakura (due to the dusty area around the school) and additional health centres. The Anguwan Rogo primary school was established by the state government in 1979 , and by 1996, the state government had given an approval for the construction of Anguwan Rogo secondary school,  which was built within the primary school complex. There is also the adult education programme that makes use of the school premises for their evening classes. The adult programme was designed through the efforts of the Anguwan Rogo/Rimi Youth Development Association , to empower women who have dropped out of schools, due to personal or societal factors.

Through the Anguwan Rogo/Rimi Development Association, other meaningful community projects have been executed, such as building drainage systems for easy water passage around some of the major roads such as Madara junction and Kwanan mutuwa, and the purchase of a community ambulance van. Alhaji Mohammed explained that the Association is able to achieve these projects through financial and moral support from the community residents. According to him, “there was a time each house within the community contributed N100 so we could buy the ambulance. Those who could afford more than that did,  and with that we were able to construct and renovate drainage systems around Anguwan Rogo and Anguwan Rimi. Even passers-by  have assisted us financially during the execution of the drainage project.” This is not the first time the community has been involved in community development projects. In 1980, the community built a bridge linking it to Alikazaure, another neighbouring community in Jos. By 1984, another bridge was constructed by the community to link it to Seminary,  while the Katako bridge was completed in 2003.

Added to these achievements, youths in the community are always encouraged to be law abiding and positively productive to the society, “we tell those who have been pursued from other places and are forced to settle here, that they have to be law abiding, they should not think that losing their properties in other areas will justify them going to the roads and attacking passers-by,  who are not from the area. We want peace in this community,  and that is what we are working towards. Corroborating his point, Dogara added that “if you go through our mosque in the evenings, you will hear the preaching that nobody should attack anyone coming or passing through Anguwan Rogo, if you suspect anything, the police and members of the Special Task Force are there. They should be reported to.”

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