6 MOST PEACEFUL STATES IN NIGERIA

Although
Nigeria generally isn’t the most peaceful place in the world, there are some
states in Nigeria that out of providence or the effort of local authorities enjoy
relative peace within their borders. These states are not without any problem.
They still witness the terrorism, the jungle justice, and all the other
heart-wrenching social vices that have become normal of many Nigerian states,
but have managed to curtail them to a reasonable extent.
In case you
are looking for where to live in Nigeria and are very interested in choosing a
state where you are less likely to be caught in an ethnic, political, or
religious crisis, below, I present to you the 6 most peaceful states in
Nigeria.

1. Enugu

The south-east
state of Enugu has prospered with infinitesimal record of political, religious
or communal crisis, and this has been the case for years now. It also has
recorded fewer cases of gang wars compared to other states in the region, and
despite being a melting pot of almost every ethnic group in Nigeria,
disagreements rarely metarmorphose into full-blown conflict that propels the
warring sides into burning each other’s properties while baying for each other’s
blood.
Late last
year, the Nigerian police high command rated Enugu state as the safest state in
Nigeria. Commenting on the development, the state governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi
stated that the state was able to acheive the feat because “
we recognized that security is
the prime condition for stability, growth and development in any society and
that without it, engagement in meaningful social, political and economic
activity would be virtually impossible”.
Official
recognition aside, anybody walking on the street of Enugu who has at other
times experienced other states in the country can speak to the fact that it is one
of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. It’s roads and streets are free of
irate jungle judges who are always quick to set anyone accused of something as
petty as pilfering on fire, and there are no brainwashed teens with suicide
belts on their chests ghosting their way to an innocent crowd whom they can’t
wait to blissfully blast into Hell.
Local
authorities which include the state and the local government area
administrations, and security agencies have a big hand in this, but much praise
belongs to the state’s refined populace whose crisis resolution mechanism does
not involve setting the state aflame.
It seems
Enugu will remain one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria for years to come,
but that’s only if murderous Fulani herdsmen do not come marching down with
their cattle, trampling on every peace and tranquility on their way with eyes
on nothing but colonies for their four-legged friends.

2. Ebonyi

The fact
that Ebonyi state has slowly but steadily inched its way into the league of the
most peaceful states in Nigeria is unarguable.
From a
place where machetes and guns are favoured for resolving conflicts between
neighbours or communities that Ebonyi state was just about a decade ago, the
state has rapidly advanced to become a first class state where series of
meetings or rounds of diplomacy get most disagreements settled.
I’m not
saying that Ebonyi communities no longer fight each other. They still do, but
in most cases, these fights are resolved before they get out of hand.
And in as much
as cases of conflicts between communities are still recorded in Ebonyi state,
the state records one of the lowest cases of kidnapping, suicide bombing, rape,
cult killings, armed robbery and of course jungle justice in the country, and
these vices contribute the highest to cases of voilence and death in the
country.
Ebonyi
state also has recorded one of the lowest cases of ritual killings of all
states in the country. This means that you’re less likely to loose your head or
your ‘privates’ to heartless maniacs who would unabashedly market it for just a
few thousand naira.
The Ebonyi
state government and people are also some of the most accomodating of all the
state government or people in the country. This means that people from other
states can settle peacefully in Ebonyi without being confronted daily by
hostile locals who would in their faces remind them to “go back to their
villages” anytime they are perceived to be feeling at home in the state.

3. Sokoto

Sokoto state
in north-western Nigeria has over the years become somewhat of a veteran on
lists of the most peaceful states in Nigeria. It is situated in the midst of
some of the country’s violent hotspot, but has somehow remained unsoiled by the
red blood of violence.
Sokoto
state is free of terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and ritual killing. Armed
robbery is rampant, but this is mostly recorded far afield, very far from human
habitation, with cattle rather than human being the primary target.
Religious
intolerance is also a very big issue in Sokoto state, but this has somehow not
become a threat to social stability.
Sokoto
state is the centre of Islamic learning in Nigeria, and the fact that it has
refused to be infiltrated by murderous, Jihad-inspiring Islamic scholars who
lay bold claim at divine Islamic enlightenment is the state’s greatest asset
contributing the most to its general peace and tranquility.

4. Kebbi

Kebbi is
not only one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria, it’s also one of the
calmest. Political, religious, or ethnic noise from the state rarely make
national news headlines, and that’s become there is little to no political,
religious or ethnic noise coming from the state.
Kebbi has
little or no record of political, religious or ethnic conflicts; and there has
been little or no cases of marauding ritualists, terrorists or killer herdsmen
hacking people to death in their beds or farms.
Imo State
governor, Rochas Okorocha recently said of Kebbi as having a

track
record of being a peaceful state since its creation”
. His statement is testament to the fact that Kebbi state has remained
one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria in recent history, and save for
unforeseen drastic changes to its social system, it is bound to remain so for
years to come.
Sun, and I mean very
fiendish sunrays are the only threat to peace in this north-western state,
luckily this is a problem something as cheap as an umbrella can solve.

5. Akwa
Ibom

Beautiful, or
rather beach-full , Akwa Ibom state has been ranking high in almost every good
list about Nigerian states in recent time, and that now includes my list of the
most peaceful states in Nigeria. The state isn’t free from armed robbery,
cult-killings, or kidnapping for ransom, but records of these crimes have drastically
reduced in the state in recent years, and the state has notably taken the
position of its sister state of Cross River 
— where petty thieves are now burnt in the street almost every day, as
one of the most tolerant states in Nigeria.
Akwa Ibom
has relatively little record of any form of communal conflict.  The state has a very large population of
Christians, but news of a cartoon mocking Jesus Christ by a cartoonist in for
example Tanzania is less likely to incite the youth of the state into killing
and burning.
Akwa Ibom
state also has no gory political history. This does not mean that politicians
in the state don’t fight. They do fight like greedy beasts but recent history
suggest such fight hasn’t led to lethal or genocidal clashes.
Akwa Ibom
state has also been so welcoming of all the different tribes and religions in
the country, and this means that people from other states live peacefully among
the locals without worrying about being attacked. This clearly means enormous
peace and harmony.

6. FCT

The
territory of Nigeria’s capital city wouldn’t be safe if it wasn’t secured, but the
fact now is that the territory is heavily fortified and almost all threats to
her peace have been kept outside her borders.
These
threats to peace in Abuja and the FCT in general include Boko Haram suicide
bombers, armed robbers and kidnappers, and ritualists otherwise known as head hunters.
All of these band of criminals have failed to threaten the peace of the federal
capital territory in any serious way since the peak of Boko Haram insurgency in
2014, and it now remains fraudsters, pilferers and burglars — who arguably
aren’t a serious threat to public peace, conducting their crimes in the territory.
Satellite
towns like Gwagwalada, Kuje and even Kubwa still face serious challenges to
public peace; from murderous religous zealots going haywire to bottle smashing
gangsters going on a raping spree in the hood, but all-in-all, the federal
capital territory enjoys relative peace and is of course one of the most
peaceful places in Nigeria. If you doubt this, place the FCT alongside its
neighbouring states like Niger, Nasarawa and Kogi where political thugs and
religious zealots keep rioting, and killer herdsmen keep burning and killing,
while every other bad thing happening in the FCT are still happening, and come
back to me with your observation using the comment box below.

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