ISAAC SHOBAYO writes on the reports of marginalisation and calls for separate identity by the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) in Nigeria.
The crave for separate identity for the states in the Middle Belt geopolitical zone as a result of marginalisation by the core north has been an age long struggle dated to the First Republic. The struggle has become a recurring decimal and keeps resurfacing virtually in all dispensations. It became more pronounced at the inception of this dispensation as a result of perceived marginalisation of states classified as middle belt in terms of political appointments.
General impression among the people of middle belt is that the word monolithic North is a fad and deceit. Former Secretary General of the Middle Belt Forum Chief George Ohemu once declared thus:” If the far North wants number to win election, we are all classified as one North, but as soon as the election is over, the middle belt is never put into consideration in terms of appointment”.
The agitation was further fuelled recently with spate of crises in the predominantly middle belt states of Benue, Plateau and Taraba occasioned by frequent clashes between the farmers and herdsmen which had claimed thousands of lives. The sustained attack by Fulani herdsmen on the Middle Belt has continued to have negative effects on the relationship between the far North and the people of the Middle Belt.
Recently, the apex body of various pressure groups in the middle belt, the Middle Belt Forum organised a leaders conference and as well, inaugurated a new executive council of the MBF. The conference, which had in attendance prominent indigenes of middle belt from Adamawa, Bauchi, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Southern Borno, FCT, Kogi, Kaduna, Kwara, Gombe and Southern Yobe brainstormed on wide range of issues affecting the progress of the geopolitical zone.
The new President of the MBF, Dr. Bala Takaya, gave an acceptance speech which was a historical voyage and a projection into the future of the people of the Middle Belt in the federation of Nigeria. He regretted that despite the earlier stated strengths and advantages of the Middle Belt, the region is lagging behind in both economic and political spheres.
Farmers and herdsmen clashes
One of the issues discussed at the conference was the frequent attack on the Middle Belt by those suspected to be Fulani herdsmen. Most states in the geopolitical zone, especially, Plateau, Benue and Taraba have been under the siege of herdsmen for quite some time leading to wanton destruction of lives and properties. This has also crippled the economy of most states in the middle belt.
Participants at the conference strongly condemned the attack alleged to be carried by the herdsmen with sophisticated weapons. They noted the sustained attacks on the entire middle belt region by Fulani herdsmen and expressed grave concern that these sustained attacks have continued for close to a decade and have worsened in the last few years making agricultural activities and travels within the region extremely dangerous with reports of kidnappings, rapes and murders being received on a daily basis.
The concern in some quarters was that why the persistent attack and why has it been difficult for the security agencies to arrest the situation and bring to book those behind the acts. There are also instances where these attacks were carried out with security agents nearby. A typical example was the attack on the natives in Miango in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State. The natives had got wind of an attack and took cover at the security post of the men of Operation Safe Haven, but 25 of them were brutally killed at the post without any arrest of the assailants.
The conference was extremely unhappy that the responses by security agencies to the cry of communities under attacks have always been largely ignored as recently voiced out by Architect Darius Ishaku, Governor of Taraba State and His Majesty, the Hamman Bachama, among others.
It has always been a blame game between the natives and the Fulani, the parent body of the herdsmen, the Miyetti Cattle Breeders Association often exonerate its members from the act. On several occasions, it has alleged that the attacks were often carried out by the foreign herdsmen. The conference strongly rejected the ‘Foreign Fulani Herdsmen” explanation given by leaders in order to evade blame about the nonchalance of Hausa-Fulani leaders for not bringing the mass killers to book and beggars the question: why are these herdsmen attacking only non-Hausa/Fulani communities?
Plateau State
The conference acknowledged and appreciated Governor Samuel Ortom, the government of Benue State and Governor Darius Ishaku and the government of Taraba State for the passage of the anti-open grazing laws in their various states. It identified the prohibition of open grazing as the solution to the frequent clashes between the herdsmen and farmers in the Middle Belt and therefore encouraged all the states of the Middle Belt to expeditiously prohibit, by law, open grazing and abolish grazing reserves while replacing pastoralism with ranching.
Restructuring
From all indications, Middle Belt Forum and other similar pressure groups in the Middle Belt have been on the forefront of agitation for the restructuring of the country in line with the recommendations of the 2014 conference report. While the core North is tactically against restructuring, the MBF and others perceived it as the solution to the perceived marginalisation of the Middle Belt among other issues.
The conference expressed sadness that the Middle Belt autochthonous nations were not part of the negotiations since 1953, leading to federalism in 1954 and the ones resulting in state creations in 1967, 1976, 1987, 1991 and 1996, saddling Nigeria with 36 gerrymandered ‘states’ and a Federal Capital Territory.
Participants to the conference posited that the current agitation for restructuring should not be subsumed under the historical trend of North versus South games of outwitting each other saying what is needed is an organic nation, not a market place for deal-making bargains by elite participants close to governments of the day and devoid of popular inputs. It therefore resolved in this regard to mandate the leadership of the MBF to continue to remind the nation that the Northern and Southern protectorates, as far back as 1914, were married into one country regardless of the feelings, let alone participation of the autochthonous peoples of the middle belt.
The forum therefore called on the government to immediately commence the restructuring of the nation by implementing the report of the 2014 conference, adding that implementation of the 2014 national conference will address some of the serious concerns of the peoples of the Middle Belt who feel that they have been unjustly treated in the Nigerian project.
Abduction of under-age girls/forceful marriage
Abduction of underage girls and forceful marriage is gradually gaining ground, the average girl-child is no longer safe, and especially in the Middle Belt young girls are being abducted and forced into marriage with their religion changed without their parents’ consent. This ugly development has been generating controversy and creating tension especially in the Northern part of the country.
It would be recalled that a 14-years-old girl, Lucy Ejeh was abducted and forced into marriage in Zamfara State, there was also the case of a man, Paul Adaji who recently came out to reveal how his daughter Patience was abducted and forced into marriage. There are several others instances of this development.
Piqued by this unhealthy development, the Conference of Middle Belt Forum strongly condemned the act, it posited that the practice is gaining in notoriety and expressed disappointment that the kidnap and forceful marriage of Christian girls are done with the connivance of some traditional rulers and law enforcement agencies, sadly with a pretentious look of helplessness by federal and state governments, adding that the incidents are stoppable if there are no ulterior political motives behind them.
It called on the government and the security agencies to bring to book individuals accused of kidnapping, forceful conversion and marriage of Christian girls in the Middle Belt, be they traditional rulers or other individuals.
2019 presidential election
With the current political permutation in the leading political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party and All Progressives Congress, it is glaring that the two parties have zoned the presidency to the North come 2019. And most of those angling to contest at present including the incumbent are from the North, precisely from the North West and North East.
As the nation approaches 2019, various interest and pressure groups in the middle belt, espercially in the North Central have been advocating for macro zoning of the presidential ticket to the North-Central. The Association of the Middle Belt Ethnic Nationalities (ASOMBEN) and Middle Belt Youth Forum recently accused the far North of North West and North East of monopolising the seat anytime it is zoned to the North including other appointments and therefore wants a change.
One of the complaints of the middle belt fueling the agitation for separate identity is marginalisation especially from the core north. In its recent conference, the MBF advocated that the next President from the former Northern region must be of Middle Belt extraction and that the Middle Belt Forum will continue to be non-partisan but will remain passionately political with focus on the defense of the interests of the peoples of the region.
On hate appellation, the MBF said derogatory words in reference to non-Hausa-Fulani of the North, like ‘arna’, ‘ya’yan arna”, “kafirai”, etc even when referring to Christians (Ahl-ul kitab) or even to native Middle Belters who are Muslims which hate words are sparingly used, if at all, against business partners from the South that are non-Muslims saying that the forum has come to the conclusion that the terms are deliberately encouraged to categorise others for easy attacks and killings without conscience or consequences.
As part of its resolutions, the conference tasked the government to immediately make changes in the nation’s security architecture that has created a feeling of alienation by the peoples of the middle belt as these security agencies have failed, refused or neglected to respond to distress calls of middle belt communities when they are under attack by Fulani herdsmen.
It also called on the government at all levels to maintain and defend in practice, the constitutional provisions on the secular status of Nigeria and insist on the non-establishment of state religion; as well as guaranteeing religious freedom and the right to change one’s religion.
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