Controversy as Plateau Group Declares Dalung Persona Non Grata

Chinedu Eze
The Plateau State Government support group, Plateau Initiative for Peace, has stirred controversy by declaring the Minister of Sports, Solomon Dalung, persona non grata along with one of his aides, Maiwada Dammallam.

In statement signed by the President of the organisation, Bulus Zet, and made available to THISDAY, the body alleged that the minister has caused disaffection in the state by constantly attacking the government of Simon Lalong, using his aide, Dammallam.

The statement said Dalung and his aide have been inciting the youths of the state to violence by discrediting the government of the state by “reducing its worth in the eyes of the public.”
The Plateau Peace Initiative also alleged that Dammallam has been throwing false allegations to the public with the aim to unsettle the peace in the state and stirred the youths to violence, especially as the election in 2019 draws nearer.

“The question is, what is the interest of this man (Dalung) that he wants to provoke crisis on the Plateau? This is because we have checked and we have not seen anywhere where he had in the past, even when the state was dangling on the precipice, issued any statement on behalf of the good people of Plateau. So what is his interest now since his supposed intervention on Plateau affairs has no records but is coming at this time when the state is enjoying peace?,” the statement stated.

In a reference to Dalung’s aide, Dammallam, the statement alleged that he does not have good interest of Plateau people at heart and noted that if he has any good plan for youths he should have started from his state in Katsina, instead of inciting violence in Plateau State.

“It is said that charity begins at home; if this man’s insults on the people and government of Plateau is borne out of patriotism then what has he said about the government of his home state of Katsina both now and in the past which have been in the news for the wrong reasons?” the statement said.

The group recalled that last month, President Muhammad Buhari launched the peace road map which is an intellectual guide to achieving sustainable peace in the state and noted that the people of Plateau would therefore not sit down and allow a nobody, “who does not know how this peace was wrought to try and cause disaffection to the people of the state.”