PDP flays Governor Lalong over President’s visit to Plateau State

The Plateau Central Zone of the State People’s Democratic Party (PDP) Elders’ Forum has expressed dissatisfaction over the recent visit of President Muhammadu Buhari.According to the body, it was angered that the state government did not seize the opportunity to redefine and reposition their aspirations and consolidate their heritage.

The chairman of the forum, Chief John Mankilik, at a news conference yesterday in Jos, noted: “It was a moment much desired to re-assert our identity, re-enact our struggle, make bold statement about our focus and originality as well as reject the servitude and threats from a malicious hegemony.

“ It was also an opportunity to restate the resolve of our people to hold their own against the menace of external aggression, armed evasion and orchestration of policies of economic exploitation, spearheaded by an army of occupation to decimate and replace us in our land.”

He went on: “It was a moment like no other for our government and elders to echo our age-long cries and fulfill our dreams and hopes to be the custodians of our own destiny and run our society according to the dictates of our cultural values, norms and belief system that define and shape the riches of our history and predicate our uniqueness, cause and special place in the national scheme of things.”

Mankilik noted that the government’s apathy during the visit was a very painful and an unimaginable miscarriage of bountiful season bearing a sumptuous moment.He added; “It is sad and heart-rending that our people in Plateau State, with all our troubles and challenges, in spite of the trauma and tremor that have characterised our recent experiences as a people with all the bloodshed, ravaged homes, displaced people and unprecedented human capital decimation, it took the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government of Simon Lalong to mismanage the huge opportunity of the President’s visit, trivialising its original and unmistakable potential and unfortunately turning it to a salt-testing community feast, in which frolic and tuft-hunting were even restricted to some chorister undertakers.”