Mohammed Dabo Lere
Mohammed Dabo Lere | |
---|---|
Governor of Kaduna State | |
In office 2 January 1992 – November 1993 | |
Preceded by | Tanko Ayuba |
Succeeded by | Lawal Jafaru Isa |
Personal details | |
Born |
1940 Lere LGA, Kaduna State, Nigeria |
Died | 18 February 2002 |
Alhaji Mohammed Dabo Lere (born 1940) is a Nigerian politician who was elected Governor of Kaduna State, Nigeria between January 1992 and November 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic, leaving office after the military coup that brought General Sani Abacha to power.[1]
Dabo Lere was of Hausa-Fulani origin. He was born into the Lere royal family on March 15, 1940 in Lere town Lere Local Government Area in Kaduna State.
He was elected Governor of Kaduna State in December 1991 on the National Republican Convention (NRC) platform, with James Bawa Magaji as his running mate.[2] In February 1992 there was violence between the mainly Muslem Hausa and mainly Christian Kataf communities of the Zangon-Kataf Local Government Area, with over 60 people killed. What most people do not seem to understand about the conflict is question is that not all Hausa people are Muslims, likewise the Kataf ethnicity has a tiny fraction that belongs to the Islam. One has to be very careful before one points accusing finger on one religion regarding religious conflicts entirely in Nigeria.
Instead, the one factor to blame is nothing other than ignorance and unemployment in Nigeria.
Dabo Lere set up a 7-person judicial committee to investigate the crisis, but neither side was satisfied.[3] On 15 May 1992 there was a further outbreak of violence in Zangon-Kataf, and after news spread to Kaduna there was further violence in reprisal from both sides. It is embarrassing that rich people from both parties assisted their youths with weapons in order to fight the people they refer as enemies. Dabo Lere eventually made a broadcast at 7 p.m. on 17 May, calling for a curfew, which was ignored.[4] After four days, calm returned when President Ibrahim Babangida ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew and rushed in army troops and riot police from other states.[5]
In 2001, Dabo Lere led the supporters of Ibrahim Babangida in the North.[6]
Dabo Lere died of a stroke in Abuja on 18 February 2002, aged 64.[7]
References
- ↑ "Nigerian States". WorldStatesmen. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ↑ "Why Kaduna State Should Be Split - Ex-Deputy Gov". Daily Trust. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ↑ Nereus Nwosu (October 1996). "Religion and the Crisis of National Unity in Nigeria" (PDF). University on Ilorin. p. 146. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ↑ Toyin Falola (2001). Violence in Nigeria: The Crisis of Religious Politics and Secular Ideologies. University Rochester Press. p. 217ff. ISBN 1-58046-052-6.
- ↑ "Nigeria Fighting Kills 300 Ethnic Tensions Threaten Election". The Washington Post. May 20, 1992. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ↑ "Cold Calculations for Power". ThisDay. 2001-04-14. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
- ↑ Suleiman Mohammed (19 February 2002). "Dabo Lere is Dead". Daily Trust. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
It should be noted that most crises in Nigeria have little to do with religion. The fact is that journalists as well as other writers insert propagandas. In other words, the real causes behind religious and ethnic conflicts in Nigeria are unemployment and severe poverty that stricken most youths in the Federal republic of Nigeria.
Religious leaders from all sides also have a role to play in terms of the issue of violence in Nigeria.