Governor Caleb Mutfwang of Plateau State has blamed Nigeria’s enduring security crisis on the nation’s elite, accusing them of fuelling communal division and hate for political and personal gain.

Speaking at a stakeholder meeting on Wednesday themed “Dialogue on Community Policing as a Panacea for Insecurity in Nigeria: The Case of Plateau State”, Mutfwang said the elite have the capacity to end the crisis if they genuinely choose to lead responsibly.

“My theory is that the insecurity in Nigeria is more of an elite-created problem than anything else,” Mutfwang said. “When the elite conspire to lead the people in the wrong direction, we continue to suffer perennial crises.”

He lamented that many times, hatred and mistrust start at the community level but are sustained and amplified when elites fail to intervene or, worse, stoke the tensions.

“When poisoning of the mind begins in communities, if the elite take leadership and insist it must stop, they can end it. But when they fan the embers of hate, push biased narratives, and manipulate public opinion, then the crisis becomes entrenched,” he stated.

Mutfwang urged Nigeria’s elite to become agents of peace and promote narratives that foster unity and peaceful coexistence. He emphasized the urgent need to dismantle “artificial barriers of faith and ethnicity” that continue to divide the people of Plateau and Nigeria at large.

Reaffirming his administration’s commitment to restoring peace, the governor said no administration since 1999 has done more to bridge religious and ethnic divides in Plateau than his.

“As I stand before you today, I reiterate that I came into government determined to restore lasting peace. I have deliberately worked to bridge the divides created by religion and ethnicity,” he said.

“Even as recently as yesterday, I was labelled in certain influential circles. Still, I beat my chest to say that I’ve done more than any Plateau governor since 1999 in building peace and unity.”