The leaders and people of Butura in Bokkos Local Government Area of Plateau state have commended the Rt. Hon. Dr. Simon Bako Lalong, KSGG, Governor of Plateau State and chairman of Northern Governors Forum over the recent creation of Butura District.
The Secretary-General Butura Development Association Mr Thomas Maren Madong in a press statement issued in Jos described the State Governor as a man who will not be forgotten for his good gesture and a leader per-excellence who listens to the cry of his people as God has used him to answer the prayers of many communities who have been yearning for decades to have their chiefdom, district or village area.
“Butura Nation as a mark of respect, honor and wish to thank His Excellency, the Rescue Team Leader and Governor of Plateau State, Rt. Hon. Simon Bako Lalong for the creation of the district and gazetting same according to the laws of the land PLSN No6 of 2022.
“The good people of Butura see you as God sent as you have done what they have been longing fordecades. The good people of Butura are not unmindful of the fact that, though the district was created by previous administrations twice and aborted, will ever remain grateful to Governor, Lalong for creating the district which we believe will stand the test of time.”
Maren said that the struggle for the creation Butura District started in the pre-colonial days of the First Republic as such the coming of Governor Lalong as a true rescuer of the people is worth mentioning because he did not only liberate Butura people but also executed many projects in Butura land which includes but not limited to the improvement in the state university which domiciled in the area. The Lalong Legacy project and appointment of many sons and daughters of Butura land in his administration.
He further mentioned that based on the creation of the district and the wide acceptance by the good people of Butura, sons and daughters of the district at a meeting in Butura Wur, the Headquarters of the district agreed that a reception be held on 13th May, 2023 to appreciate God and the Rescue Team Leaders for meeting their people’s lifelong aspiration which has lingered for over a century.
Butura is a community of over 200,000 people chiefly found in the west of the Bokkos Local Government Area — 40miles south of Jos. It shares boundaries with the Monguna people to the West, Berom to the North, Muruwi to the East and Mbar to the South.
The village is home to the Plateau State University, and the only functioning fertilizer blending plant in the central region and a 2000-year-old stone causeway in that was declared a UNESCO heritage site under the Antiquities Act between 1956 and 1967.
This was a result of its historical value as a likely proof of African civilization long before the coming of the West.
“Tash”, meaning “bridge” in the Butura people’s Ron language, is the popular name of the elevated stonework, reportedly used as a pedestrian bridge for centuries, in the small community ages before Western civilization.
The bridge, one of only three of its kind in Nigeria according to UNESCO has a pavement with giant pillars, made of finely carved and arranged slabs of rocks. Without rods, cement, sand or any reinforcements, the bridge was designed to allow water to flow underneath, and for centuries, it was used by humans and animals without falling off.
