Following recent upheavals in parts of the Plateau, a group of friends under the aegis of the Ambassadors of the City of Jos (JTA) are working to bridge the religious and ethnic divide in Jos, the state capital.

The group members, most of whom were born and raised together in Jos, are committed to dealing with social issues such as sectarianism, ethno-religious violence, drug addiction and other vices that have plagued the city over the past 20 years.

The JTA made this promise at a conference organized for the youth of Jos, held at the Jos Nord secretariat.

Suleiman Umar, founding member of the group, said: “We are trying to bring back the best of what this city used to be. It was peaceful and beautiful where we interacted across religions and tribes.

“What we’re trying to do is bring that peace back because we know that the soul of the person Jos, the soul of the person from the Plateau is peaceful.

“We’re going to go to every neighborhood and find out what the root problem is and get disparate people to come and talk.

“The problem we have in this new Jos is that the different parties are not talking to each other. We have to start with this because the government is not doing enough,” he said.

According to Umar, their initiative is funded by members of the association but hoped to become a non-governmental organization in order to gain more support.