THE MIDDLE BELT

HERE IS AN ARTICLE FROM A MISGUIDED MIDDLE BELTAN WHO HAS BECOME A WILLING TOOL IN THE HANDS OF HIS OPPRESSORS. SEE THE TRUE DEFINITION OF THE MIDDLE BELT AT THE END OF HIS ARTICLE AND ALSO A 1952 WILLINK'S COMMISSION MAP SHOWING AREAS IN THIS DEFINITION.

What Manner of Middle Belt?

Allafrica.com, Mohammed Yunusa, 27 October 2011

The Middle Belt Forum or Middle Belt Dialogue as they variously regard themselves, as well as its youth wing are offshoot of the Middle Belt Democratic Front-a Christian minority organisation that sprang up due to the perceived fears of the minority being dominated by the Northern People's Congress (NPC) as well as the Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU). The Middle Belt Democratic Front was founded originally by twelve members out of whom nine were Christians.

Some among these nine members were reverend fathers, while some were pastors. And that is why the activities of the Middle Belt Forum as we have it today are being dominated by the agenda of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN).

Indeed, there is nothing like a neutral conception of a phenomenon. Every concept shapes and defines the direction of human thought and action. It is such direction of thought and action that inform the understanding of the North Central Muslims about the Middle Belt Forum, not as a socio-cultural organisation that incorporates and appreciates the ethnic and religious diversity of the North Central, instead, it is being correctly understood as a divisive and bias religious organisation that champions the bias orientation and affairs of its founding members.

Objectivity demands that we call spade by its name. The following rhetorical questions will prove that the activities of the Forum are devastating to the corporate and harmonious existence of the North Central and Nigeria at large. Our zone-the North Central- is very important because it performs neutralising functions in the sense that it provides an avenue for the far North and the South to interact and appreciate the cultural diversity of Nigeria and therefore building unity in diversity.

Now, we all know that the North Central is made up of six states: Kogi, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Kwara and Nasarawa. But why is it that the Middle Belt Forum always emphasises on the wellbeing of states like Borno, Kebbi, Adamawa and Bauchi, especially the Christians in that area? The leadership of the Middle Belt forum cannot debunk this fact, or can they? They should clarify whether this co-called socio-cultural organisation that is the MBF is a Northern Christian organisation or an organisation that represents the North Central states.

It is important therefore to call the attention of our Christian brothers in the North Central zone that their concept of the Middle Belt as sub-consciously and consciously handed over to them through careful orientation, as well as their activities amount to nothing but violent propaganda, the like of which has today culminated in the Jos crisis.

The intolerant views of the Middle Belt Forum is also reflected in its reaction to the appointment of Sheikh Ahmed Lemu-a Nupe man from Niger State ( North Central zone) as chairman of the committee on post-election violence. Sheikh Lemu is being labeled as an Islamic propagandist and a jihadist, while Prof. Jerry Gana, also a Nupe man and a Christain is being regarded as a top citizen of the Middle Belt. And the question is what is their criteria of defining who a Middle Belter is?

One reason why the Middle Belt Forum is generally regarded as a bias religious organisation is that only the minority Christian leaders and traditional rulers such as the Tor Tiv of Tiv land and Gbon Gwom of Jos are always selected and invited for MBF meetings and dialogue. And the question is why can't they include the Attah Igala, Etsu Nupe, Ohinoyi of Igbira, Emir of Lafia, Emir of Ilorin or the Etsu of Pategi in their list of invitees?

It is very unfortunate that those prominent members who should have diverted their energy towards nation building are wasting their energy on divisive activities. They cannot bring the North Central zone together unless they bury the religious bias brought into the conceptualisation and activities of the Middle Belt Forum.

Many of the North Central Christians who are using the Middle Belt Forum to seek for political offices through religious manipulations had in the past received the goodwill of such Northern leaders as Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto in form of scholarship and appointments and so they cannot dangerously manipulate religion to gain political office at the expense of the unity and corporate existence of the zone.

Yunusa sent in this piece from Lokoja, Kogi State

For Mohammed Yunusa's information:

TRUE DEFINITION OF THE MIDDLE BELT

All areas that were outside the sphere of authority of the Sokoto Caliphate and the Kanem Bornu Empire as at the time of the 1914 Amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates to form Nigeria. These areas include but are not restricted to:

a. The whole of the present day Niger State,

b. The whole of the present day Kwara State,

c. The whole of the present day Kogi State,

d. The whole of the present day Nassarawa State,

e. The whole of the present day Plateau State,

f. The whole of the present day Benue State,

g. The whole of the present day Adamawa State,

h. The whole of the present day Taraba State,

i. The Federal Capital Territory (FCT),

j. Southern Kaduna including the old Jema’a LGA, the old Saminaka LGA and the old Kachia LGA,

k. The following parts of the present day Bauchi State – the whole of Dass LGA, Tafawa LGA and Bogoro LGA and parts only of the present Toro LGA,

l. The following parts of the present day Gombe State – the old Tangale-Waja Division, old Yamaltu-Deba Division and present day Alkaleri LGA,

m. The following parts of present day Kebbi State – Yauri and Zuru, and

n. The Gwoza Chiefdom in the present day Bornu State.

CHRISTIANS FLEE JOS NORTH

Christians Flee Jos North

Allafrica.com, Raymond Gukas, 27 October 2011

A Pentecostal pastor , King James Dapar has raised the alarm that Christians residing in Jos North in Plateau State were deserting their homes for fear of being killed.

Dapar who is a pastor of the Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN), Chwalnyap (also known as Congo Russia) area of Jos metropolis called on security agents to quickly intervene to end the ugly trend .

. He disclosed this when The Middle Belt Dialogue (MBD), a non-governmental pressure group presented some relief materials (Clothing and cash) to the Church for distribution to members who had suffered losses from the persistent crisis in Jos.

The MBD delegation led by the Facilitator, Mr. Rima Shawulu lamented that the Chwalnyap community had been under constant attack by the Hausa Fulani aggressors at the slightest provocation.

The community is in the midst of the Hausas and according to the pastor, residents of the area have only one escape route in times of crisis.

He however expressed fears that this strategic route may soon be blocked as some of the Christians living along the route have since relocated and were planning to sell their houses to the Hausas.

According to him, once the houses are sold to the Hausas, there would be no escape route for Christians again anytime violence erupts and called on the state government and wealthy Christians to intervene by buying the houses rather than allowing those he called oppressors to buy them.

Dapar disclosed that the Plateau state government had earlier bought some of the houses that were destroyed by the Hausas with the intention of constructing a security outpost in the area, but up till now nothing has been done.

He lamented that as a result of the overwhelming forces of the Hausas on the community; people were relocating to safer zones and selling their houses to the Hausas.

He said "We are surrounded

by the Hausa people and they harass and intimidate us at will. At the slightest provocation, they will just start attacking us. But God has been helping us. Many people have relocated from Chwalnyap. Our people are relocating and selling their houses to the Hausa people.

"But our fear is that once the Hausa people buys the houses at the strategic route that is serving as escape route for us during crisis, we are finished" .

Dapar stressed that a security post in the area will checkmate the harassment of Christians in the area as well as ensure the security of lives and property in the area.

He added that residents of the area live in constant fear of attack in the midst of the Hausa settlers who have become a terror to them.

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The pastor thanked the MBD for the donations and for identifying with the church in its trying moment. While calling on the MBD to pray for the people of the area, he urged the group to help bring their plight to the attention of the authorities.

Responding, the Facilitator of the MBD, Mr. Shawulu said the group shares in the pains and travails of the community, hence the desire to assist with a token of gifts.

He said the group is made up of professionals from the Middle Belt with the

objective of contributing to the socio political wellbeing of the minority groups in the north.

Shawulu said the MBD will look into the challenges facing the community with a view of ensuring that they are addressed by the authorities.

COLLAPSE STATES BOUNDARIES, CREATE 6 REGIONS, DEVOLVE POWERS

The 36-State structure of Nigeria is clearly not going to take us far. Several issues can be cited in support of this assertion. The latest is the N18,000 minimum wage which many of our States cannot pay. Many of them have over bloated staff profiles which their State Governors find difficult to downsize. The recurrent expenditure of some of these States is already as high as 80%. Paying the new minimum wage would take this up to 100%, leaving not a kobo for development, a very sorry situation.

Many of our States are also not economically viable. They generate very little revenue internally and therefore depend heavily on Federal subventions. They have neglected revenue collection and the making of investments in commercial ventures because the Federal Government has become a Father Christmas doling out easy money regularly. The ‘black gold’ blessing has been turned into a curse by some State Governments.

The duplication of administrative structures 36 times is a most wasteful arrangement. Having 6 Regions will reduce the cost of running government to one sixth of what it is presently. Talk about taking government nearer to the people is mere talk which is never walked. It only succeeds in benefiting a few lucky government officials and their contractors.

The agitation for the creation of more State in the country is the most irrational demand any of us can make. It’s an ego trip not carefully thought out. I am always shocked when I see Senate President, David Mark, promising Nigerians that the National Assembly will create more States.

When General J. T. U. Ironsi abolished Regional Governments in 1967, his hope was to cage ethnicity, which was then tearing the country apart. The distrust between the four regions was palpable at the time. In the same flawed belief, General Gowon created 12 States in 1968 in attempt to bid farewell to the hydra-headed scourge of ethnicity and regionalism. Today, with the benefit of hind sight, we can say, how mistaken they were.

A close look at the voting pattern in the 2011 elections reveals that regionalism is alive and well in Nigeria. The East, the West and the North displayed block voting tendencies. The North showed a preference for the CPC, the West for the ACN and the East for APGA. This is not surprising because regionalism comes naturally to us. Our colonial master saw these preferred lines of cleavage and entrenched them in their administration up to 1960. The Mid-Western Region was added to the 3 existing Regions as a genuine and natural need of he people who were not comfortable in the West nor in the East.

There was nothing wrong with the 4-regional Federation except that the regions were very unbalanced in wealth, education and population. While the Northern Region had the largest population, it was the least in wealth and education, but has a lot of agricultural.. The West was the most advanced in commerce and education while the East was ahead of the other regions in entrepreneurship.

I see regional proclivity as a natural phenomenon to be encouraged and exploited to our common good rather attempting to kill it by artificial State boundaries that have lumped strange bed fellows together causing unnecessary internal acrimony. For example, I see no hegemony now or in the future between the people of Southern Kaduna and the rest of that State.

A ruling elite is slowly emerging in the country and it is working assiduously towards perpetuating itself in power. Wives, children, and contractors to those in power are the ones always propped forward in elections and for appointments.

Mentors and protégés are appearing on our political scene. This is what is referred to as god-fatherism. Oath-taking and fetish practices are used to bind members. The use of money is also rife in our politicking. New comers therefore have an uphill task trying to join the political process. This is most unhealthy for democracy.

We are supposed to be a federation, yet we are practicing unitarism by all definitions of the word. The Federal Government is too big, too strong and too rich, to the detriment of the federating units who are forced to crawl daily to the doorsteps of the Federal Government to beg for stipends in order to survive. In a true confederation, the federating units enjoy a high degree of autonomy as found in the USA. This ensures rapid infrastructural development.

In Nigeria, affinity, cohesion and integration is strongest at the regional level among peoples of similar culture, tradition, religion and language. Self determination is best defined in this context and not in a central federal government. The manner in which our 36 States boundaries have mutilated hitherto happily co-existing communities should be redressed.

With the emergence of Shariah as a State religion in some northern States, security, even development and egalitarian societies can no longer be more be guaranteed in such States. Those who belong to the State religion have an upper hand. Others in such States are minorities and highly disadvantaged. Such States should be allowed to form one regional government so as to achieve their aspirations. Why is the whole country thrown into a quarrel about Islamic Banking when such regions, if created, will be free and very happy with it? The demands of Boko Haram may be satisfied in a region that they dominate. The unitary government system has failed us and should therefore be abolished.

The agitations for and the proliferation of States may see no end. As at the last count towards the end of the life of the sixth NASS, there were 34 requests for the creation of new States across the country. I recall that when Gen. Murtala Mohammed created 7 more States atop Gowon’s 12, he said,” There should be no jubilation for or against the creation of any State and there should be not agitations for any more.” Subsequently, Obasanjo, Abacha and Babangida created more States, not because it was economical, but just to try and correct perceived imbalances in the number between the north and the south, the east and west, etc. Yet the problem has not been solved. The South East today is disadvantaged in that it has the fewest number of States in comparison to the other 5 geo-political zones. The North East has 7 States while the remaining 4 zones have 6 States each. Achieving a balance would require the creation of one State in the South East and abolishing one in the North East. Can anyone honestly see this happening?

The 774 Local Government areas in the country are also not equally distributed between the federating units. While some States have as many as 40, others have only 17. Remember that these numbers translate directly to the share of federally accruing revenues and the number of representatives in the House of Reps. How can we best achieve a balance in the number of LGAs across the country?

The revenue sharing formula enshrined in our laws has been challenged and it is still being challenged. Its basis is obscure. Were the percentages fixed as the revenue sharing formula arrived at on the basis on somebody’s selfish motives? Those whose regions generate the larger chunk of federal revenues feel they should receive a bigger share on the basis of derivation and they have a valid a point.

Security challenges can only get bigger in a centralized governmental structure as we are operating. The disadvantages of over-centralization of powers in the Nigeria Police are becoming apparent. That is why the States Governors are agitating for State Police to be allowed. As chief security officers in their States, the Governors do not command “even a fly” (in the words of Gov. Jang of Plateau State). Obviously, 36 State Police formations will amount to a colossal waste of resources and create party-loyal or Governor-loyal police outfits. If we operate a few regional governments, then regional police will become a workable, natural preference, thus freeing the central government to focus on the military and wading off external aggression. Just imagine has the Nigerian Army has been dragged into local politics and religion in Borno, Bauchi and Plateau States. An Army General is currently facing a Court Marshall in Maxwell Kobe Cantonment, Rukuba, for his alleged partisanship in the release of Boko Haram terrorists from Bauchi prison.

Many of our constitutional provisions and other statutes are obnoxious to the people of some parts of the country while highly welcome in otherst. For example, the Land Use Act provides for the allocation of grazing land to nomadic cattle rearers. Though this provision may be necessary in Adamawa State, of what value is it in Lagos State? The Constitution specifies 3 Senators per State irrespective of population. Why should Lagos State with 10 million registered voters produce the same number of senators as Bayelsa State with only 0.8 million voters? The Constitution has an Exclusive List reserved for federal legislation and a Concurrent list for both States and the Federal Governments. Labour matters are on the Exclusive List, so States cannot legislate on them. No wonder, the minimum wage issue is bound to create unnecessary acrimony. It’s unfair that the Federal Government should fix minimum wage while States pay it. I expect the Exclusive Legislative List to be very short and nothing like a Concurrent List.

The sum total of all these is that we are operating an unfair governmental structure which is stifling development, misallocating resources, dislocating communities, creating a ruling class, killing nationalism, promoting mediocrity, ethnicity and corruption. In order to free resources for appropriate allocation to ensure rapid economic development and grant political self-determination to all peoples in this country, I have the following suggestion to make. It is a three-pronged approach designed to be implemented simultaneously. My sincere belief is that, if implemented, it will substantially satisfy yearnings, aspirations and agitations by all Nigerians;

1. COLLAPSE STATE BOUNDARIES. By this I mean that all the 36 six State Governments should cease to exist while the 774 LGAs are retained.

2. CREATE 6 NEW REGIONS. These will immediately replace the 36 States. They should be called Regions (not States) so that we can mentally move away from the States structure and begin to imbibe regionalism which promotes greater patriotism in Nigerians leading to a reduction of corrupt tendencies. These regions should receive at least 50% of all centrally generated revenue while the LGs receive 25%. The Federal Government should be left with just 25% to take care of a vey lean Presidency.

3. DEVOLVE POWERS. A lot of the responsibilities currently placed on the Federal Government should be transferred to the 6 new regional Governments. For example, policing, education, agriculture, tourism and culture, etc. should be regional government affairs. All legislative functions should become part-time activities while the size of the legislature at all levels should be trimmed down to no more than 25% of its present size.

It goes without saying that these measures will necessitate the review of our Constitution and statutes. Regional groups freely formed should volunteer immediately to start the process of drafting their ideas of a new Constitution for their regional governments. A Constitutional Conference should convene to adopt a new Nigerian constitution which recognizes the new governmental structure for the country. The new constitution can then rightly start with the words, “We the people of Nigeria …”