Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Middle Belt Defined
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Middle Belt is a human geographical term designating the region of central Nigeria populated largely by minority ethnic groups and stretching across the country longitudinally. The Middle Belt is indeterminate in that it lacks designated "borders" and is charactized by a heterogeneity and diversity of peoples and cultures. The eminence of manifold minority groups to some degree constitutes an ethno-linguistic barrier in the country, drawing a separation between the principally Islamic North and the more secular, Christian/animist south. The region is a convergence of these cultural domains and maintains a tremendous degree of ethno-linguistic diversity, with languages of the Afro-Asiatic, Nilo-Saharan, and Niger–Congo families, three of the primary African language groups, all being spoken.
Minorities in Nigeria tend to be dominated by the three largest ethnic groups, the Hausa of North and the Igbo and Yoruba of the South; the result in the Middle Belt is occasional political unity and solidarity amongst these highly differentiated peoples, an example being the United Middle Belt Congress that emerged following Nigeria's independence from Britain in 1960.
Middle belt & Power Devolution
by Tony Agbali, utexas.edu
Mine is not a direct response to Bolaji Aluko or Ebere Onwudiwe's. Rather it is on something different but related to the issue of the North vs. South dialogue. It is interesting that these articulations hardly talk on an essential part that lies in the intercept between North and South. This is what some people call Central Nigeria or the Middle Belt. Why is it that any power equation does not take into cognizance the injustice done to this area in terms of leadership opportunity in Nigeria at the Federal level? This area is largely marginalized economically and politically, and at all stages they have been significant in gluing Nigerian together, and have sacrificed themselves at each turn for the survival of the Nigerian project.
Many from this area suffer indignity either in the North or South. Their folks died fighting to keep Nigeria one during the civil war (1966-1969), and its spatial area was crucial in letting in the Federal troops into Biafran territory, especially at the Nsukka and Afikpo fronts. Border towns in these areas, Okene, Ibaji area of Igala land, Idoma area (around Afikpo and Abakiliki) such as Orokam, Owukpa, Utonkon, were terrorized by Biafran renegades, with lives and sources of sustenance undermined.
Therefore, it interesting that while historians reckon the Biafran take over of Midwest, especially Benin, they are mutedly silent about the intrusion of these same forces in the Auchi-Okene area, that sent shock and terror into these populations. Federal troops brought Nsukka into submission using Idah, Adoru, and the Igala areas near Nsukka to ensure their entrance into that flank. Many from central Nigeria were maimed and killed in the process, and it was a given that the Middle Belt was the recruiting ground into the military, at a time that many majority ethnics shunned or looked down on the military, prior to the war, but also became intense during the war.
Unfortunately, in spite of such magnanimity of sacrifice and interest in protecting Nigeria, there are few military installations, industries, and economic institutions of note in the area, except for Jos, where most of the industrial complexes are privately owned (NASCO, Jos International Brewery) and its rapid development was undertaken by the late Governor J.D. Gomwalk, and specifically during the Gowon era. Thus, it was an area that rose from its abysmal mining urban definition into a modern town, until the recent spate of religious riots that have defaced its spatial beauty.
In addition to this, many from this area have given their lives for Nigeria in real and imagined and false allegations of coups. Among these are Col. Dimka, Police Commissioner and Governor J. D. Gomwalk, Air Commander Ben Ekele, Col. Gideon Orkar, Gen.Mamman Vatsa, among many others. Others were simply eliminated for fear of their ability and influence, or died in mysterious and suspicious circumstances, like the amiable, late Brigadier General Anaja and General Tunde Idiagbon.
Now, when it comes to power devolution this section is eclipsed. Yet, interestingly, this area continues to offer their support for different geo-political regions, through different forms of alliances, such as those with the South-South, the South-East, that replicates the earlier alliances with the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) of Joseph Shaahu Tarka with the NCNC and later with the Action Group of Awolowo, the defender of the Middle Belt's right to self-determination.
Having noted this one consideration of interest is that most middle belt political interests when it comes to power determination often tilts interestingly. During the run-up to the Democratic Party primary in Jos in 1992 many Middle Belt party followers- the Governors of Benue (the late Rev. Fr. Moses Orshio Adasu), Taraba (Rev. Jolly Nyame), and Plateau (Mr. Fidelis Tapgun) vetted the Presidential ambitions of the erstwhile party chair, Baba Gana Kingibe, only Adamawa championed the aspirations of Abubakar Atiku of the Yar'Adua group. Kingibe, in spite of such monumental mega-support lost because Shehu Yar'Adua was embittered about Kingibe's (sai Baba) alleged covet role in ensuring his elimination, after earlier primaries were invalidated by then Military despot, President Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida.
However, when it became clear that Kingibe was not going to make the ticket, they gave their rounding support to the eventual winner of the 1993 Presidential election, President-elect, Moshood Kashimawo Abiola, the carrier of the party's mandate. Thus, in spite of Kingibe's being a Northern Moslem, when Abiola, a Southern Moslem, picked him as his running mate, these Middle Belt governors helped to douse the ill-perceived tension, that was surprising given the recent increase in interactional tensions among adherents of Christianity and Islam, and the not-so-far memory of Nigeria's alleged smuggled membership into the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC), under Babangida, which Abiola endorsed, and which ripple effect decimated the fortune of his National Concord newspaper, that until then was Nigeria's primal daily newspaper, when it was sanctioned and boycotted by Nigerian Christians under orders from the Christian Association of Nigeria.
What is easily interesting is that anytime that the power devolution is being discussed Middle Belt politicians are often amenable to shifts, depending on where they perceive the scale of power. Tarka did this in 1978 joining the National Party of Nigeria (NPN), a reincarnation of the former Nigerian People's Congress (NPC), his former political enemies in the First Republic (1960-1966). Often, they aligned with either the Northern or Southern political elites and interests, in spite of their frequent talk about forging their own political identity as a self-determining geo-political bloc of reckon.
Thus, Dr. Audu Ogbeh and Sunday Awoniyi (Sardauna Kekere) this week have shown where they stand. In spite of the Kwara Yoruba agitation and political wiring of history to indicate that Ilorin is an OPC state (or NADECO). Or the Okun or Ijumu Yoruba attempts to forge a common linearity with their Yoruba kin in Nigeria's West, which was actually opined during the 1950 Richard's Constitution and the Minority Commission (Willink's Commission).
In the NADECO days, they first aligned with the rhetoric, "June 12th is a watershed", until the be-spectacled General made aligning with the Northern interest convenient, and many switched this time toward validating the ‘One North, One people’ ideology. Any surprise that Chief Solomon Lar served Abacha deservedly, until he was jailed for tampering with the elections that the Langtang mafia were arranging, as endorsed by the "arrangee Langtang Generals, to suit Abacha's party, the Nigerian Peoples Democratic Congress? Chief Barnabas Gemade, a Tiv from Benue, was then busy trying to position himself with Abacha, calling for his self-perpetuation in power. Later, Chief Lar, with the G-18, G-34, as they evolved would find himself, with former political foes like Chief Alex Ekwueme, trying to retrieve Nigeria's soul from Abacha. Strange bed fellows!
Now, the bargain is up and we are seeing the political scale swinging again and we wonder where the Middle Belt politicians would stand this time around, would they stand firm or would they waiver.
It is therefore ironic that the Nigerian middle belt has been sidelined in the power aspirations of the North and South, when in reality Nigerian cannot exist without this geographic and political bloc.
The Middle Belt: History & Politics
By Haruna Izah
Where is the middle Belt? Those who support this idea or concept define it to include eight states of the federation, namely Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory. Southern Kaduna, Borno and Gombe are also regarded as part of it. In trying to re-assert itself as an independent entity, the place has for long become an alluring bride for many suitors; conscious of the strategic part it plays in deciding the outcome of an election.
Straddling the middle of Nigeria, the middle Belt is a relatively big complex multi-ethnic, multi-religious geographical area, where unlike the Hausa-Fulani and the Kanuris of the far north, is populated largely by minority ethnic groups. Its politics is no complex, swinging between an uneasy attachment to the far north and sometimes an open or cautious solidarity and alliance with southern-based parties. No wonder it has since the pre-independence days been a fertile fishing water pond for the big three ethnic groups in the country in their quest for political dominance.
The middle belt however is much more than an attractive bride waiting to be plucked by the lucky suitor. It has other attributes. Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, a prominent advocate of this cause thinks he knows the true significance of the area in Nigeria. A middle Belt conference he convened in August 1998, the first civilian governor of the old Plateau state and one-time National chairman of thePpeoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated that "because the Middle Belt is located in central Nigeria, which comprise the people of southern and northern Nigeria, it is always in the best position to interpret the north to the south and the south to the north. Not only do we serve as the glue for the country, our privileged location enables us to best measure the temperature of the nation. This role places enormous responsibility on our shoulders, and also requires that both the north and the south must listen carefully to us anytime we speak on contentious issues".
This is chief Lar's understanding and the place of the middle Belt in the corporate entity called Nigeria. Indeed even before the emergences of the Lars on the political scene, the area had been under going some kind of rethinking on its place in Nigeria and its politics. The birth of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) in the late 1940's was the culmination of such rethinking and the search by the area for relevance in national politics. The founding fathers of the UMBC such as the late Rwang Pam, Yonah Asadugu, Bello Jacob Ijumu, Pastor David Lot, among many others invested enormous amount of their time and resources to see to the realization of the goals of the area.
How did the United Middle Belt Congress fare in meeting the objectives of the area as set out by the founding fathers? In electoral term, the UMBC did very well. According to Jonah Asadugu in an interview he granted to a magazine called "Northern Nigeria in perspective"(NNIP) in February, 1992, the party won 35 out of the $45 seats allocated to the area during the 1954 federal and regional elections. It was however not so lucky with other goals, such that the demand for a Middle Belt region as the willink commission of Inquiry set up by the colonial government in the fifties to look into grievances of minority groups in the country rejected the request. British colonialists and powerful conservative northern interests may have been responsible for the rejection , though it appeared the idea never disappeared from the minds of some here.
It is understood by some people that part of the history of the middle Belt is the history of control and domination by its big neighbours. Some were able to resist the domination, some did not, thus losing their independence and the ability to chart a different course of existence. The voting pattern here is therefore usually informed by how the political parties relate to such history. This may explain why the United Middle Congress was able to sweep the polls in a large part of the area in the pre-and may also be post -independent periods. It may also be the likely reason why south-based parties like the NCNC and the Action Group were able to establish or form good working alliances with the UMBC. On the other hand, the failure of the defunct Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) to make significant inroads here may be due to the fact that the people here may have perceived it as the political organ used to dominate and marginalise them.
The second republic displayed a mixed grill of the voting patterns reinforcing the issue of the diversity of the area.
Perception of the past did count, but not everywhere. Old Plateau state, perhaps the strongest and most steadfast defender of the middle Belt identity went to zik's led Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). It was a clear vote against the more conservative far north-led National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Former Gongola state, now made up of Adamawa and Taraba was swept by the Great Nigeria peoples Party (GNPP), a party that had some roots in the old Borno Youth Movement (BYM), an ally of the United Middle Belt Congress. Benue state, a hot-bed of minority revolt and identity, however to the surprise of many, laid out the welcoming mat for the conservative NPN.
Kwara and Niger states took the same route as Benue. In the second term in 1983, only chief Solomon Lar's Plateau, then made up of the present Plateau and Nasarawa states held its ground against the mighty onslaught of the NPN. Lar won his re-election on the same NPP platform. Kwara state exchanged suitors, ditching the NPN and tying the nuptial knots with chief Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).
The NPN also retained Benue and Niger states, in addition to adding Gongola.
During the short-lived third republic, the social Democratic Party (SDP), which was regarded as the party closer to the area's interest found formidable challenge from the more conservative National Republic convention (NRC). In the end the two parties divided the area almost equally during the governorship elections. Plateau, Benue, Kwara and Taraba went to the SDP, while the NRC took Niger, Kogi and Adamawa states.
During the presidential elections however the SDP polled substantially more votes than the NRC. As a matter of fact the SDP presidential candidate, chief M.K.O Abiola got the second highest block votes in the whole country from the area. Only the south west gave Abiola more votes.
Today in the present political dispensation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in control of all the eight states here. Does this mean the PDP is closer to the aspirations of the area than the rival All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)? Hard to say, since in today's Nigerian politics, it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what the parties stand for or where they originated from. However Middle Belters may have been looking for a bigger tent, in order to enjoy a bigger slice of the federal largess and found in the big PDP the perfect tent. Having watched from the sidelines during the NPC and NPN days, eras that consigned then to the political wilderness with all the attendant material drought, for once going mainstream with the PDP was a chance the area did not want to miss.
There are of course people who do not believe in the middle Belt even as a concept, let alone a reality. Those who hold such a view believe that the north is one, united indivisible entity, stretching from Kwara to Katsina and Sokoto to borno. It has no separate part, nor would any part be allowed to go its separate way. Not infrequently agitators, for a separate Middle Belt area out of the north are regarded or described as either few ethnic or religious sentimentalists, who out of pure mischief want to break up the north on the lame excuse that they are being unfairly treated to achieve their separalist goal or stooges of a south bent on slicing off a large chunck of the electoral votes of the north so as to cripple the region politically. Perhaps more than anyone, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the NPC made sure a middle Belt region did not materialize. Today his main followers are still keeping the flames of a united north and the anti-middle Belt stance alive.
Do those who deny the existence of a middle Belt have a point? Yes, they do to the extent that while there was an agitation for the region, the effort was never successful. So legally speaking, there was never a middle Belt region, if the argument is about what was in existence rather than what the people wanted but failed to get . The anti-middle group may have another point if those promoting the cause of a separate identity of area give the impression that the issue is more about religion than geographcal, historical circumstances and genuine minorities fears. Nothing gives those who do not like the idea of a middle Belt better amunition than the impression that it is about religious exclusivity for one religious group. And yet religion, in this case, Christianity, can not be promoted as the binding factor since to do so would exclude Moslems who however happen to form a significant percentage of the population. Christians may be in the majority, but and a quest for this identity has to have the ability of carrying along everyone, irrespective of faith or ethnicity.
However geography and history are more plausible factors the agitators of middle Belt cause can advance? Geographically, the area straddle the middle of the country, giving some of the people here an outlook and orientation that some places are quite different and distinct from the upper north. A large number of the ethnic groups here also share a common history of occupation and domination by the bigger groups in the far north. Common and shared historical experience has become for such groups a rallying factor for identity and unity. The fact that most of the groups are minorities in the midst of the dominant Hausa-Fulani and Kanuris has to some extent helped to instill a sense of solidarity to enhance their ability to ward-off domination, real or imagined.
All these are factors behind which a case for the middle Belt can be built. They are issues that cut across the whole area and not limited to a part of it or some group. On the other hand while some may feel religion is not insignificant, the fact still remains that its elevation will divide rather than unite the area, an outcome those who truly desire a united middle Belt cannot hope for.
So then, do the two sides have valid cases? It may seem so. Those who reject or do not believe in the middle Belt may have legality on their side. On the other hand, geography and history seem to support the cause of the advocates of the middle Belt. In the final analysis though, it may be history, perception, a sense of identity among the people and the nature of the state that will define the reality of the middle Belt rather than what the political elite from both the anti and pro group say, do or want.
Monday, November 29, 2004
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