THE POLITICAL QUESTION OF THE MIDDLE BELT:
THE PLACE AND PLIGHT OF THE PRESENT CHRISTIAN-MUSLIM
MINORITIES (CMM)
OF THE NORTHERN STATES OF NIGERIA IN NIGERIAN
POLITICAL EQUATION
A MEMORANDUM
SUBMITTED BY PROFESSOR YUSUFU TURAKI*
TO THE NATIONAL CONFERENCE NOVEMBER 13, 2013
*Yusufu
Turaki is a Professor of Theology and Social Ethics. He obtained his Ph.D. in
Social Ethics from Boston University, USA in 1982. He has authored many books
and articles, among which are: The British Colonial Legacy in Northern
Nigeria: A Social Ethical Analysis of the Colonial and Post-Colonial Society
and Politics in Nigeria (1993); Tainted Legacy: Islam, Colonialism and Slavery
in Northern Nigeria (2010); “Historical
Roots of Ethno-Religious Crises and Conflicts in Northern Nigeria” (2013).
Mobile: +2348026268546
E-Mail: byturaki@yahoo.com
Address :
JETS, P.O. Box 5398, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria
I.
Purpose of this Memorandum
The
primary objective of this Memorandum is to present and state the political
question of the Middle Belt and as well as to define the place and plight of
the present Christian-Muslim Minorities (CMM) of the Northern States of Nigeria
in the Nigerian political question. The National Dialogue/Conference should
make this political issue a national priority. It has become the only political
issue remaining to be resolved as the only Regional Minority Groups that are yet
to be liberated and emancipated from the dominant yoke of the ideology and
idolatry of NORTH-ISM. The political, social, economic, cultural and religious problems
and issues of the peoples of the Middle Belt have remained unresolved because
of the intransigence of the dominant political class and elites of Northern Nigeria.
They and their ideology and idolatry of NORTH-ISM are strongly opposed to any
political liberation and emancipation of the peoples of the Middle Belt. This
domineering and hegemonic political culture and posture is being held
tenaciously and viciously in spite of the good historical examples from the
West and East of Nigeria.
The
Minorities of the then Western Nigeria were carved out in 1964 as Mid-West
Region by the First Republic. The Minorities of the then Eastern Region (Ogoja,
Calabar and Rivers [COR]) were carved out in 1967 as Cross Rivers and Rivers
States were created by the Military. Later in 1996 the Military merged Mid-West
and Cross Rivers and Rivers States to form South-South Zone. The creation of
the three Zones in the North, North-West, North-Central and North-East was a continuity
of the colonial political mathematics calculated solely to undermine the
political aspirations and self-determination of the peoples of the Middle Belt
from a complete domination and servitude to the political class and elites of
NORTH.
NORTH-ISM
is both an ideology and idolatry which the political class and elites of
Northern Nigeria worship. This is a doctrine which has been formulated and it seeks
to defend, project, promote and protect the imaginary interests of the NORTH.
In national politics, it knows no other thing or no one, except its god,
NORTH-ISM. The peoples of the Middle Belt, whether Christians or Muslims or
otherwise, have heard and had NORTH-ISM drummed into their ears and to many
this has numbed their hearts and seared their consciences and dulled their sense
of justice, equity, self-determination and freedom. The invoking of NORTH-ISM as
both ideology and idolatry upon the peoples of the Middle Belt is a
confirmation of their inferior status and socio-political role within the
political schemes and stratagems of NORTH-ISM. NORTH-ISM is a ruse for
deceiving political enemies and the peoples of the Middle Belt. In political
circles, one often hears that “There is nothing called Middle Belt.” But when
it comes to the distribution of political rewards, statuses, resources and
values, such are the exclusive reserves for the “Superior Northerners.” The
NORTH is ONE in all matters pertaining to anything that qualifies as North
versus South, but at home, the geo-political entity called NORTH, we Masters
and Servants, feudalistic and clientele system. Any human being who sincerely
fears God, his/her heart would be ruled by God’s eternal principles of justice,
righteousness, love, kindness and humility. But the historical and empirical
evidences show that the peoples of the Middle Belt have been subjugated,
subordinated and dominated by the Northern political class and elites. We, the
peoples of the Middle Belt, all that we see coming from them is the domineering
and disdainful spirit that bears the fruits of discrimination, prejudice,
preferential treatment, bias, stereo-typing and marginalization. As a whole,
this is what NORTH and NORTH-ISM means for the peoples of the Middle Belt. Based
upon this superior-inferior and dominance-subordination relationships, who is
that person(s) that is(are) so undemocratic and ungodly in their thinking as to
deny the peoples of the Middle Belt their quest for full political freedom and
rights. All these freedoms and rights are imbedded and rooted in their inalienable
ethnic nationality. Empire Builders of Northern Nigeria have over the decades
manipulated the ethnic nationality of the peoples of the Middle Belt as to give
advantage to one ethnic group over the other. For this reason, this Memorandum
calls for the liberation and emancipation of the peoples of the Middle Belt
through their inalienable ethnic nationalities. For this National Conference to
fulfill the aspirations of all well-meaning Nigerians, the ethnic nationalities
should be given the opportunity to tell Nigerians what the Empire Builders who created
Nigeria did to them historically, socially, religiously, economically and
culturally. The Northern political class and elites who have benefitted from this
artificial creation of Nigeria’s geo-political boundaries as done by the Empire
Builders would fight tooth and nail to scuttle such a thing as this National
Conference. Or, would want the ethnic nationality be stroke out of the National
Conference. This political and social variable cannot be set aside by any
elitist or hegemonic fear or anxiety. The National Conference would only be a
Referendum for the political class and elites, if the question of ethnic
nationalities should be kept aside as some of them are agitating and demanding.
We also
need to state our historical reason for this Memorandum. The British Colonial
Maters, the First Republican politicians and the Military Regimes and soldiers unfortunately
compromised, undermined and suppressed the political aspirations and self-determination
of the peoples of the Middle Belt. Can the present dispensation and the
National Conference be bold enough and be willing tools in the hands of God and
justice to liberate and emancipate the peoples of the Middle Belt. The
justification for this historical aspiration and quest is the glaring fact and
act of the continuity of the inherited unjust pre-colonial, colonial and
post-colonial structures of domination, subordination, subjugation and
discrimination against the peoples of the Middle Belt. The real issue is not
for anyone to seek to demand evidences of such, as they are very good
rationalization if issues and self-defense, but the act of a political will and
justice which grants political freedom to ethnic nationalities who demand them,
regardless. The political mathematics of ethnography, geography and population
in Zonal, State and Local Government creations has been the potent tool which
Empire Builders and the political class and elites have used to cage the
peoples of the Middle Belt and kept them perpetually in servitude to
“Monolithic North.” Under “Monolithic North” the peoples of the Middle Belt are
at best second class citizens or dhimmis within a clientele and masters-servants
relationships. Today, the peoples of the Middle Belt form the Christian-Muslim
Minorities of the Northern States of Nigeria. For this reason, their voices,
aspirations and self-determination should be heard by all Nigerians and not
that of their acclaimed surrogate voices that issue from the ideology and
idolatry of NORTH-ISM.
From
historical experience and reality, NORTH is not monolithic. The Middle Belt has
well over 250 ethnic groups, languages and their dialects. Therefore, NORTH is
multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-religious. We have the Core North
(Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri). Hausaland consists mainly of Hausa and Fulani. This
part of Nigeria can form a North-West Zone in the New Nigeria which should
consist of only the Hausa and the Fulani. The Kanuri and their related ethnic
groups can form the North-East Zone as well in the New Nigeria. Both the
North-West and the North-East should not have any ethnic nationality append or attach
to them. While the Middle Belt being the largest region with many ethnic
nationalities can be divided into Middle Belt-West and Middle Belt-East. As for
the ethnic nationalities, the ethnic boundaries of the peoples of the Middle
Belt were well defined by the British Colonial Maters and other anthropologists
and such ethnographic maps still exist. Each ethnic nationality can describe
its own ancestral land. The task for the National Conference is to demarcate justly
and make clear distinctions of both the ethnography and geography of the
peoples of the Middle Belt from that of North-West and North-East Zones as
defined above. Politics of freedom and self-expressions go hand-in-hand with
specific defined land and boundaries. As at present, the conglomerates of the
ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt do not have specific and defined ethnic
political boundaries. Without this being done, they remain politically weak and
it is on this grounds that the political class and elites of the Northern
Nigeria seek to extend and hold on to the land-mass of Northern Region. There
is no political power and control where there is not defined land-mass that
creates a geo-political entity. The Northern political class and elites claim
the geo-political land-mass of the peoples of the Middle Belt as theirs which
is politically wrong. Herein lies the political stronghold of the peoples of
the Middle Belt. The Sharia Debates are all about land. So also is the Boko
Haram insurgency. In politics what matters most is ethnicity (ethnography)
land (geography). The National Conference is the only best forum for the ethnic
minorities of the North to discuss the politics of ethnicity and land. Any
politics that for the Middle Belt that does include these two primordial social
factors is not real and genuine politics for them. The Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri
have had their ethnicity and land well defined and they do Nigerian politics
based upon their own self-understanding of who they are ethnically,
territorially, religiously and culturally. It is this primordial
self-understanding that they impose upon peoples of the Middle Belt. It is only
a fool who allows other to define who he/she is. The Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri
who come to the National Conference, he/she does so with his/her
self-understanding well rooted in primordial social factors of ethnicity,
territory, religion and culture. They stand upon this primordial social
foundations and call the peoples of the Middle Belt that they dare not bring
their own ethnicity, territory, religion and culture into national debate. This
is blatant political hypocrisy which the peoples of the Middle Belt should
never accept. Up to this moment, Nigerian politics has not given the ethnic
nationalities of the Middle Belt to define themselves ethnically,
territorially, religiously and culturally. This is blatant political injustice
and discrimination. All Nigerians know who is a Yoruba, Ibo, Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri,
Bini, Ijaw and all in terms of their ethnicity and ancestral land and
territory. But who is a Middle Belter? First his ethnicity is not defined by
Nigerian politics. Secondly, his ancestral land and territory are also not
defined by Nigerian politics. Similarly, he is never defined by religion or
culture, but seen as one who borrows religion and culture.
From the
foregoing, we can state that the many analyses of Northern Nigeria, whether of
its ethnicity, religion, culture, politics, economics, or geography, have
always failed to address the political question of the Middle Belt in Nigerian
politics. The Middle Belt of Nigeria today consists mainly of the
Christian-Muslim Minorities (CMM). The Empire Builders, the Sokoto Caliphate
and the Sultanate of Kanem-Borno and the British Colonial Administration have
all failed in creating a viable and conducive political and social environment
for the well-being of the CMM who reside in the Middle Belt of Nigeria. These
Empire Builders created artificial political, social, religious and economic
boundaries that grossly denied the CMM of the present Northern States of
Nigeria their political rights and freedoms. When the British gave all
Nigerians their political independence in 1960, in Northern Nigeria, the instruments
of political power fell on the shoulders and laps of the political class and
elites. The CMM of the Northern States of Nigeria have been kept under a
perpetual internal colonialism as the subordinate subjects of the ideology and
idolatry of NORTH-ISM. The time has come for all Nigerians to rise up and speak
with one voice for the liberation and emancipation of the peoples of the Middle
Belt of Nigeria. This is one of the major tasks that await this long awaited
National Conference.
The rest
of this Memorandum is an explanation of what the Empire Builders have done to
the peoples of the Middle Belt. We need to state very briefly how the Empire
Builders created the present Middle Belt problem and the plight of the CMM in
national politics. We also need to state how the political class and elites,
the politicians and the soldiers have treated the political question of the
Middle Belt and the plight of Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern
States of Nigeria.
II.
Historical Preamble and Answer
The
answer to the political question of the Middle Belt and the present plight of
the Christian-Muslim Minorities (CMM) of the Northern States of Nigeria is historical.
We have the responsibility to explain what happened to the peoples of the
Middle Belt historically. Something drastic really happened to them as the
circumstance of history and providence fell upon them.
A.
Empire Builders
The
Empire Builders that changed the destiny of the peoples of the Middle Belt
were:
1.
Islam: Sokoto Caliphate and the Sultanate of Kanem-Bornu;
2.
British Colonialists;
3.
Christianity (Missionaries);
4.
Politicians and Soldiers.
The
above Empire Builders institutionalized the inferior status and the
socio-political role of the peoples of the Middle Belt by using their primordial
social factors.
B.
African Traditional Society
The
African Traditional Society of the peoples of the Middle Belt received the
following external inputs and influences which changed and transform them into
what they are today as the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States
of Nigeria:
1.
Islam and its Legacy and Muslim
Rulers
2. British
Colonialism and its Legacy and the Colonialists
3. Christian
Missions and their Legacy and the Missionaries
4. Politics
and its Legacy and the Political Class and Elites
5. Military
Regimes and their Legacy and Soldiers
There were four fundamental primordial social factors
which the Empire Builders transformed and changed:
a.
Ethnography (ethnicity,
history and identity);
b.
Geography (land and
territory);
c.
Religion;
d.
Culture.
The historical formation of the political question of the
Middle Belt and the present plight of Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern Sates of Nigeria are rooted in the policies, administrative practices
and attitudes of the above mentioned Empire Builders which manipulated, transformed
and changed their primordial social factors (ethnography, geography, religion
and culture) of the peoples of the Middle Belt of Nigeria.
C. Muslim
Rulers and the Jihad
The Jihads of Sokoto Caliphate and Sultanate of
Kanem-Bornu extended the influence of Islam and Muslim Rulers to some parts of
the Middle Belt. This influence was basically carried out through trade in
commodities and the slave raiding and slave trade which was carried out by the
Muslim Jihad. There were no permanent boundaries created then as the
conquered could rebel at any time and change the political landscape. It was at
the arrival of the British Colonialists that colonial boundaries were drawn to
the advantage of the Muslim rulers. The Middle Belt areas then were considered
in Islam as the “Abode of War.” Jihad
was the most powerful instrument that Muslims rulers used to extend their
influence into some parts of the Middle Belt. This historical fact has
generated the latent hostility between the peoples of the Caliphate and
Sultanate and the peoples of the Middle Belt.
The Hausa and Fulani settled in some parts of the Middle
Belt as traders and pastoralists. The Hausa settlements were called zongos. The
Hausa and the Fulani did not integrate or assimilate with the aborigines of the
Middle Belt, but remained distinct and different. The British colonialists
created out of the Hausa zongos emirates and districts and subordinated the
aborigines to Muslims rulers of those enclaves or zongos. This was a
mode of internal colonialism under British rule, the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri
were allowed to colonize the peoples of the Middle Belt even beyond the Jihadic
borders and in consequence imposed their religion, culture and political
hegemony and dominance over the peoples of the Middle Belt. This historical
fact also has generated the latent hostility between the peoples of the
Caliphate and Sultanate and the peoples of the Middle Belt. Hence, the
necessity of the National Conference to redress this historical social and
political injustice meted by the Colonial System against the peoples of the
Middle Belt.
D. British
Colonialists and Indirect Rule
Within three years, between 1900 and 1903, the British
defeated the Sokoto Caliphate and the Sultanate of Kanem-Bornu and imposed
British rule over them. But it took the British many more years to pacify the
peoples of the Middle Belt. However, the British imposed Indirect Rule over the
entire Northern Protectorate of Nigeria and used Muslim rulers as their Junior
Partners to help them rule the non-Muslim groups that were brought under their
jurisdiction. In consequence, many ethnic nationalities were subordinated to
the rule of Muslim Rulers. The British institutionalized their inferior status
and socio-political role in the British Colonial North. The British used racial
and ethnic theories as means of classifying ethnic, cultural and religious
groups. As a result, British colonialism sowed the seeds of latent hostility
between the peoples of the Caliphate and the Sultanate, on the one hand and the
peoples of the Middle Belt, on the other. The major crises and conflicts in the
North are rooted in this unjust colonial arrangement. This historical fact has
generated latent hostility between the peoples of the Caliphate and Sultanate
and the peoples of the Middle Belt. The only cure of this and many more causes
of latent hostility between the peoples of the Middle Belt and the political
class and elites of Northern Nigeria is for the National Conference to hear the
cries of the ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt.
The British defeat of both the Caliphate and the
Sultanate historically meant that they have become defunct and extinct Empires.
On the First of October 1960, the British handed political freedom to all
Nigerians. For this reason, no Nigerian should be placed under any yoke of
colonialism or internal colonialism. No any ethnic nationality should be
subjected to any supposedly historical overlord. But the truth is that the
northern political class and elites have surreptitiously and through the
manipulations of the political systems, imposed themselves presently over the
Christian-Muslim Minorities through the ideology and idolatry of NORTH-ISM.
They invoke ONE NORTH and ISLAM as instruments of dominance, subjugation and
servitude over the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States of
Nigeria.
The British Colonial North was characterized by:
a. Pattern
of superiority-inferiority relationships between the North-West Zone (Hausa and
Fulani) and North-East Zone (Kanuri and related others), on the one hand and
the peoples of the Middle Belt, on the other;
b. Pattern
of dominance-subordination relationships between the two broad people groups
and regions;
c. Pattern
of politics of inequality, domination, discrimination and exclusion between two
broad people groups and regions;
d. Stratified
inequality and social hierarchy between the two broad people groups and regions.
These colonial inherited unjust political structures were
never corrected by the post-independence political class and elites and the
military, but became manipulative and calculative in entrenching their ethnic
nationality and religion. The plight of the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern States of Nigeria is rooted in those structural and stratified
inequalities of the Colonial System.
E. The
Political Class and Elites and NORTH-ISM
Under both Civilian and Military Regimes, the politicians
and the soldiers took advantage of the colonial geo-political boundaries and
used them unjustly to suppress, oppress and subjugate the peoples of the Middle
Belt to their overlords, the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri. They did that with
impunity under the cloak of ONE NORTH and ISLAM. They intimidate and infuriate
the peoples of the Middle Belt with the antics of NORTH-ISM. The whole concept
of NORTH is an artificial creation of the Empire Builders. It does not
represent the aspirations and self-determination of the peoples of the Middle
Belt. The political class and elites use the concept because it gives them a
wider land-mass and the population factor for political bargaining power and the
position of strength in Nigerian politics. NORTH-ISM stands for One Indivisible
North and Dominant Islam and for this reason, this political class would always
use political geography to advocate for Northern, religious, State and Local
Government representations. All along, they have manipulated the instruments of
Governments and the Military to keep North as One Indivisible Entity which
already has colonial contrived geo-political boundaries, bogus population and
numerous States and Local Governments to their advantage. They are vehemently
opposed to ethnic nationalities to be included in the National Conference. But
this is the only best way of liberating and emancipating the Christian-Muslim
Minorities of the Northern States of Nigeria from their political claws and
fangs. They cannot deny the peoples of the Middle Belt the necessity of
defining their ethnicity, ancestral lands, religions and cultures. NORTH-ISM is
both an ideology and idolatry that the Northern political class and elites
worship. This ideology and religious factor inflame a very strong sentiment and
resentment against any political move that would bring political liberation and
emancipation to the peoples of the Middle Belt. This is the political obstacle which
the National Conference should address as it is a very big barrier to national
unity, transformation and development.
F. The
Military and the Political Question of the Middle Belt
The Military Regimes that were dominated by Northerners
liberated some of the remaining Ethnic Minorities in the South, but refused to
liberate Christian and Muslim Minorities of the Northern States. In both State and Local Government creations,
they appended or annexed some Christian-Muslim Minorities to the peoples of the
North-West and North-East Zones. While in the Middle Belt areas, they ensure
that the peoples of the North-West and North-East were empowered to hold
political and economic powers even where they are a minority in the Middle
Belt. The Empire Builders, the politicians and the soldiers who controlled the
instruments of political and economic powers have the advantage of ensuring
that the peoples of the Middle Belt are not liberated or emancipated.
From the forgoing, it is therefore
incumbent for the National Conference to both know and understand the full
meaning of the primordial human values such as ethnicity, land, religion and
culture and how the Empire Builders used them to create conflict generating
structures and the attitudes of stereotypes, biases and prejudice that exist
between the peoples of the North-West and North-East (Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri)
and the peoples of the Middle Belt. The peoples of the Middle Belt under
NORTH-ISM have to contend, cope and tolerate the attitudes of discrimination,
preferential and differential treatment.
The National Conference needs to investigate
the historical activities of the Empire Builders as roots of the political
question of the Middle Belt and the plight of Christian-Muslim Minorities of
the Northern States of Nigeria. This includes using colonial maps and district.
There are cases of historical fraud and distortions and the writings of
pseudo-histories that generate conflicts, crises and mutual distrust that denied
or suppressed the authentic histories of the people of the Middle Belt. Such
fabricated histories, ethnographies, ethnic nationality boundaries and claimed
ownership of subjects and slaves should be investigated and true political and
religious freedom and rights be given to every ethnic group and Nigerian. No
Nigerian or an ethnic group should be made subject to any ethnic group or
Nigerian. Nigerians cannot use democratic instruments of politics to created
despotism and impunity as we have historically witnessed in the Middle Belt.
III.
The Aspirations and Demands of the Peoples of the Middle
Belt
The
aspirations and demands of the peoples of the Middle Belt in this current
dispensation are briefly stated as follows:
A.
The need to restore their political and cultural
independence;
B.
No ethnic nationality should be placed under any suzerain
based upon flimsy historical claims of masters-servants relationships either by
war or association;
C.
The need for each ethnic nationality to be given the opportunity
and freedom to define itself within the Nigerian politics;
D.
The need to free every person or ethnic nationality from
the nauseating, irritating and provocative ideology and idolatry of NORTH-ISM;
E.
The need for Nigerians to listen only to the leaders of the
peoples of the Middle Belt and not from their protagonists or distracters;
F.
The need for the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri not to speak on
what specifically affects the ethnicity, land, religion and culture of the
peoples of the Middle Belt;
G.
The need for full political participation of the ethnic
nationalities of the Middle Belt and not the continuity of colonial politics of
representation.
The
British colonized every ethnic nationality in Nigeria, first by conquering and
subduing them. This historical fact stands against any person or ethnic
nationality that claims suzerainty over another ethnic nationality. The
political independence was handed over by the British to all Nigerians,
regardless of their historical backgrounds. Nigerian Independence was not a
restoration of the Caliphate, Sultanate or any Kingdom, but political freedom
for all Nigerians, regardless. It is so strange to see even in our contemporary
times a deep seated injustice and ungratefulness for one who was humiliated by
defeat in war, but was later granted a political freedom from his colonial
masters. But this same fellow, who was defeated, colonized and later set free,
would not even consider this moral maxim, but would adamantly and arrogantly
turn to his slaves of yester-years by closing his eyes and heart unashamedly
against them. Because he still says to the peoples of the Middle Belt, you are still
my bond servants and my subjects. This is exactly what had happened in Northern
Nigeria. The conquered Caliphate and Sultanate were granted political freedom
by the British on First October 1960 along with all Nigerians. The same people
today in post-colonial Nigeria are still talking about their conquered subjects
and would shut their eyes at British favours on them and without shame are
proud to call some ethnic nationalities as their subjects and slaves. Some of
them still make such bogus and unfounded claims that those who were conquered
before the British colonialism are indeed still their subjects. Such a view is
unacceptable in any modern democracy today, especially in modern Nigeria. Such
retrogressive and primordial thinking is an outmoded value of the jahiliya period.
Nigerians cannot condone or accept the fact that in Nigeria there are some
ethnic nationalities that are subjects to other nationalities. Only the
National Conference can address this serious socio-political issue within
Northern Nigeria.
IV.
The Christian-Muslim Minority (CMM) of the North in
National Politics
We need
to define the political experience of the Christian-Muslim Minorities in
national politics.
A.
The Political Class and Elites of the NORTH and the
Christian-Muslim Minorities (CMM)
This
very Oppressive and Dominant Group of the NORTH have continued to use the
arbitrary and artificial boundaries created by the most oppressive and brutal
Empire Builders of Sokoto Caliphate, Sultanate of Kanem-Bornu and the British
Colonialists. The term NORTH and all that it contains and means, is used by
these oppressive and dominant groups for one singular purpose: to entrench
their historical and human advantage in the present political equation of
Nigeria. NORTH as both political and religious gives them a wider territory,
population and historical advantage that they always use as means of intimidating
and instilling fear and anxiety into the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern States of Nigeria and the peoples of Southern Nigeria.
This
National Conference should explore and use every means to ensure that all
ethnic nationalities and groups of the Northern States are given their
historical and inalienable ethnic, cultural, religious and political rights and
also be given their political freedom from the NORTH oppressors. The Empire
Builders took away the ancestral land rights, cultural, economic and social
rights of the ethnic minorities of the Middle Belt and in its place, they
impose the BURDEN NORTH upon them. This is what this National Conference should
remove from the backs of Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States of
Nigeria.
This
National Conference is NOT about artificial REGIONALISM as created by the
Empire Builders but about DISMATLING such oppressive and dominant structures
and GIVING political freedom to all those who are still being oppressed in
Nigeria. This is the state of Christian-Muslim Minorities in the North. They
are currently still under this oppressive yoke and burden of NORTH-ISM.
B.
The Political Class and Elites of Southern Nigeria
Southern
politicians have always fallen victims of NORTH-ISM by being intimidated with
bogus claims of territory, population and Islam from their political
counterparts of the NORTH. The truth is that the politicians of the NORTH never
have the interests of the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States at
heart. Rather, they always ensure their subordination, humiliation and
marginalization. The major problem of the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern States of Nigeria is the nature of national political arrangement and
practice. For example, at the political centre, a Yoruba politician goes with
only one ethnic political card. He does not present a religious political card.
The same thing with an Igbo politician, who also goes to the national political
centre with one ethnic political card. Similarly, and now also, the man from
the South-South, he goes to the same national political centre with one ethnic
political card. But, on the contrary, the man from the NORTH goes two political
cards. The first card is NORTH-ISM. This political card is not an ethnic
political card as that of the rest of Nigerians, because his religion has taken
away his ethnicity and ancestral land. His political card does not carry the
ethnic symbol of Hausa, Fulani, or Kanuri, nor that of his ancestral land
(Hausaland or Kanuriland), but that of an artificial and contrived NORTH. He has the NORTH as historically and
artificially contrived and created by the Empire Builders of yester-years.
His
second political card is religion or ISLAM. Both NORTH and ISLAM give him a
wider political space, power and population as a political bargaining-chip and
also as an intimidating tool for all Southern politicians at the national
political centre.
All
Southern politicians have a very powerful political role to play. First they
need to know that the political concept NORTH subsumes the Christian-Muslim
Minorities of the Northern States of Nigeria, who in actual fact are denied a
national political platform and forum as other Nigerians. The NORTH does not
speak for the Christian-Muslim Minorities, but always as against them, both in
word and deed throughout history. NORTH-SIM as a political ideology has also become
in a political IDOL which many of the political class and elites of Northern
Nigeria worship and revere.
However,
Southern Minorities have been able to have their political aspiration met when Mid-West
Region was created during the First Republic and South-South during the Abacha
Military Regime. Thus, the political space and freedom of the Minority Ethnic
Groups of Mid-West and the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) have been realized, while
their counterparts in the Middle Belt have been left to contend with fate and
evil. The recently created (1996) Geo-Political Zones of North-West, North East
and North-Central and that of the earlier States and Local Governments creation
by the Military Regimes are in effect a political geography that further
entrenched NORTH-ISM upon the Christian-Muslim Minorities. This political
geography is a window dressing of a further and deepened subordination of the
Christian-Muslim Minorities to the oppressive and dominant ideology and
idolatry of NORTH-ISM.
The
National Conference and politicians in Nigeria need to re-visit the political
aspirations and freedom of the Middle Belt Ethnic Minorities which British
Colonial Nigeria did not address, nor the politicians or the soldiers of
Northern extraction.
Southern
politicians who have tasted political freedom and are now enjoying and living
democratically should work hard politically and form a mountain pressure group until
the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States also gain their
political freedom and democracy.
The
National Conference should re-visit the colonial artificial and arbitrary and
contrived geo-political boundaries and the consequences of British Indirect
Rule that have given undue political advantage to some ethnic nationalities in
the North over the Christian-Muslim Minorities. The political question of the
Middle Belt within the national political equation should be taken up very seriously
and addressed comprehensively by the Conference.
C.
The Military Regimes and the Political Question of the
Middle Belt
The Military
Regimes after General Ironsi were mainly bred and nurtured under the ideology
and idolatry of NORTH-ISM. Their policies of states and local governments
creation were governed and influenced by geo-political mathematics. The
political question and the ethnic, cultural, religious and social rights of the
Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Middle Belt were never entertained or
granted. By and large, the exercise of states and local governments creation
were based upon master-servant syndrome and classical clientelism of the Empire
Builders. A typical example of this intractable case is the quest by the
Christian-Muslim Minorities of Kaduna State for the creation of Gurara State.
All that the Military did was to further entrenched the hegemony of NORTH-ISM
and the full subjugation of the Christian-Muslim Minorities. In most Northern
States, the Military ensured that the Masters (Muslim Rulers and majority) have
their servants (Christian-Muslim Minorities) appended to them as the hewers and
cutters of wood and carriers of water in their States. Perhaps, the Military
might have naively assumed that equality of persons or ethnic groups is a given
factor in human history, or that it was expedient to mix them up for the good
of humanity and national integration. But realities on ground have proven the
Military to be both naïve and wrong.
Nigerians
are not just scattered as individuals, but people bound by culture, religion,
ethnography and geography. The greatest political disservice of the Military to
the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States is in this area. This
National Conference should consider addressing the political question of the
Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States as its top-most national
priority.
D.
The Nigerian Government and the Legislature
Both the
Executive and the Legislature should have been pro-active in ensuring that all
historical imbalances, injustices and subordinations of the yester-years of
Empire Building are corrected and redressed. They neglected this very need by
not ensuring that every ethnic nationality has a taste of Nigerian Independence
of 1960. On First October 1960, the British granted political independence to
all Nigerians, but the NORTH has refused to do same to some Christian-Muslim
Minorities in the Northern States of Nigeria. Therefore, it is the
responsibility of the Executive and the Legislature to ensure that every person
and every ethnic nationality is politically free in Nigeria. It is incumbent on
them to set up a national research on the need for all ethnic nationalities in
Nigeria to have their full political freedom.
E.
Summary
From the
forgoing, very serious political questions have been raised on what the Empire
Builders have done to the peoples of the Middle Belt. The failure to address
the political question of the CMM of the Middle Belt is deeply rooted in
ethnography, geography, religion and culture. The political question of the
Middle Belt has from recent history exhibited great fears and anxieties by
those who derive enormous political benefits from NORTH-ISM. The historical
strangle hold of the then Sokoto Caliphate and the then Sultanate of
Kanem-Borno, the then British Colonial Administration and now the Northern
political class and elites and the Military regimes on the CMM of the Middle
Belt is deeply rooted in the manipulations of ethnography, geography, religion
and culture. The political jinx of the Middle Belt and the place of the CMM in
both Northern and National politics are rooted in this fundamental question.
The term
Middle Belt in itself generates great anxieties and fears in some people. They
hate the term to the core. But we know that their anxiety and fear are deeply
rooted in the political manipulation of the ethnography, geography, religion
and culture by the ideology and idolatry of NORTH-ISM. Until when these issues
are brought to the open, one would not be able to fathom the foundations of
such great anxiety and fear that is imbedded in the political question of the
Middle Belt. In order to understand and appreciate the deep-seated anxiety and
fear of the political question of the Middle Belt, one needs to be well
educated beyond the dominant and oppressive ideology and idolatry of ONE NORTH.
V.
The Northern Minorities and the Politics of Geography and
Ethnography
The nature and scope of Nigerian politics is deeply rooted
in geography and ethnography. The politics of ancestral land, regionalism,
federalism, states, local governments, sectionalism and zoning are all rooted
in geography. While the politics of tribalism, religion, culture, federal
character, population and elections are all rooted in ethnicity. The dominant
and powerful motif of ethno-regional politics in Nigeria is the basis of
religious and cultural wars, the politics of population, elections, zoning,
state and local government creations and federal character. The political
bargaining powers are between and among only the South East, South-West,
South-South and the Muslim Far-North. The peoples of the Middle Belt are left
out of the political equation as we have already pointed out. We need to point
out how political geography and political ethnicity benefit the rest of
Nigerians as they were fashioned out for them by the Empire Builders, but not
the peoples of the Middle Belt.
A. Political
Geography and Political Ethnography
Political
geography deals with land and all its natural and mineral resources. Land and
its natural and mineral resources dictate how politics is being played among
and between all the stake holders. How is political geography being played out
in Nigeria?
Political
ethnography also deals with ethnicity, tribalism, religion and culture. The
ownership of land and its natural and mineral resources dictate how politics is
being played. The political holders use ethnicity, religion and culture and
political intrigues as means of manipulations and entrenching their dominant
position in both regional and national politics.
The National
Conference needs to research and answer the question, “How did Empire Builders
use geography and ethnography to create a MONOLITHIC NORTH?,” which has become
the most sophisticated and powerful instrument of political and religious subjugation,
oppression and marginalization of the Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern Sates of Nigeria in both regional and national politics?
B.
The Historical Background of Political Geography and
Political Ethnography
The National
Conference needs to have a thorough knowledge and understanding: How political
geography and political ethnicity were used by the Empire Builders in
institutionalizing the inferior status and socio-political role of the
Minorities of the Middle Belt. On this account the political quest of the
present Christian-Muslim Minorities is their total and complete liberation
based upon the political principles of land ancestry (geography) and
ethnography (ethnic nationalities). The political problems of the peoples of
the Middle Belt can only be seriously addressed if their ethnic nationalities
are considered as a primary political factor in the National Debate.
Nigerians as
citizens define themselves solely in terms of their ethnicity, history,
religious affiliation, culture or ancestral land. For example, the colonial
masters would ask Nigerians: What is your tribe? What is your Native Authority?
What is your region? What is your religion? Where do you come from? Are you an
indigene, a native or a settler? In Nigeria today, people from one ethnic group
cannot claim rights to land that is ancestral outside of their own geographic
area. Residency and Nigerian citizenship do not grant land ancestry. The
Nigerian Constitution has yet to erase that colonial understanding,
interpretation and application of linking ethnography to ancestral land of
origin (geography). For this reason, a Yoruba Nigerian cannot claim rights to
ancestral land or chieftaincy in any part of Nigeria outside of his ancestral
Yorubaland, whether in Sokoto, Katsina, Kano, Enugu, Owerri, Calabar, Port
Harcourt or Benin. Similarly, an Igbo Nigerian cannot claim a right to
ancestral land or chieftaincy in those areas. In the same vein, a Hausa
Nigerian cannot claim rights to ancestral land and chieftaincy in Ibadan, Ife, Enugu,
Owerri, Calabar, Port Harcourt or Benin. So also a Middle Belt Nigerian cannot
claim ancestral land or chieftaincy in the Far North or the West, the East, or
the Far South. For the same reason, no Yoruba, Igbo or Middle Belter can be
made a ruler of the Hausa in any part of Hausaland. No Hausa, Bini or Yoruba
can be made a traditional ruler of the Igbo in any part of Igboland.
Furthermore, no Igbo, Hausa, Bini or Middle Belter can be made a ruler of the
Yoruba in any part of Yorubaland. But the Hausa and Fulani, however, who cannot
claim such ancestral and geographical rights in Igboland, Yorubaland or
Biniland, can do so quite easily in the Middle Belt even though historically
they do not have ancestral and geographical rights as it applies to the rest of
Nigeria. Conversely, a Christian or traditionalists from the Middle Belt cannot
claim ancestral land rights in any part of Hausaland or Kanuriland.
Why is the case
of the Middle Belt different from the rest of Nigeria (Far North, West and
East)? The British concepts of Nigerian ethnicity, land and citizenship were
rooted in their own Kingdom heritage. One may be a British citizen, but he may
not be a Scott, or Welsh, or Irish or English. Being a Scott, or Welsh or Irish
or English is not granted by British citizenship or residency, but exclusively
by ancestry and geography. The British brought the same idea to colonial
Nigeria, but carved out the Middle Belt as an exception which may appear to
resemble the American (USA) concept of citizenship, but inherently different.
Why is the Middle
Belt an exception in both land and citizenship matters? It is unique because
its ethnicity, religion, history and ancestral land were manipulated and
interpreted differently by the colonial masters from those of the rest of
Nigerians who resided in the Far North, the East and the West. Earlier, the
Caliphate had claimed some parts of the Middle Belt through the jihads,
the wars of expansion and the annexation of lands and territories. Later, at
the arrival of the British, they consolidated those Hausa and Fulani enclaves
and colonies into districts, divisions, emirates and provinces under the
Indirect Rule and indigenous administration (Native Authorities). The British
colonial structures, the emirate system, indigenous administration and the
philosophy of indirect rule gave a colonial status to the Islamic territories
in some parts of the Middle Belt.
Even prior to the
Caliphate era, the Hausa traders and the Fulani pastoralists lived in their own
separate colonies or the zangos as distinct from the indigenes. Islam
consolidated this early settler and non-indigene communities scattered
throughout the Middle Belt as Muslim communities within the vast territory of
the Middle Belt. The British simply took the Hausa concept of
settler-stranger-indigene and created the 440 yards rule and the Sabon Gari
System. The concept and practice of non-indigeneship, settlers or strangers
was a colonial consolidation of the early Hausa concept of communal separation
of un-equal ethnic or religious groups.
In Hausaland, the
passport to indigenization is assimilation or integration. If a non-Hausa
wanted to be an indigene, he/she must have to integrate or assimilate. The
Kanuri have integrated in Kano and became Hausawa and the same in Zaria.
Identity change by religion or culture facilitated integration or assimilation.
A Yoruba man or Igbo man who refuses to assimilate or integrate in Kano or
Katsina would ever remain a settler or a stranger. Without assimilation or
integration, it is very difficult for one to claim indigeneship in the Far
North, West or East. It would be foolhardy for a Yoruba man or a Birom man, or
any other to claim indigeneship in Kano or in any parts of the Far North if
such a one refuses to assimilate into Hausa system.
But currently,
Nigerians are forcing and advocating for a different case in the Middle Belt.
Traditionally, the Hausa and the Fulani or any other has generally refused to
assimilate or integrate in the Middle Belt. Particularly, the Hausa, the Fulani
and the Kanuri have ever remained distinct, different and even stood aloof. It
is with this posture that some of them are laying claims of indigeneship in the
Middle Belt areas which could not be done in the Far North. Here we can see
social and ethical disparity which is the source of crises and conflicts
between the Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri, on the one hand, and the other ethnic
groups in the Middle Belt, on the other. This social and ethical disparity is
sometimes given to religious and political manipulations, but such takes place
only in the Middle Belt. When the Middle Belters began to have their own
chiefdoms, in some places, the Hausa and the Fulani would refused to be placed
under this arrangement and would demand for their own emirates and emirs in the
Middle Belt. In colonial times, the Hausa, the Fulani and the Kanuri had always
been the rulers and this makes it very difficult for some of them to submit to
the rulers from Middle Belt extraction. The issues of assimilation and
integration are social factors that are the roots of many crises and conflicts
in the Middle Belt. The Jos and Kafanchan crises are deeply rooted in
ethnography, geography, religion and culture of mainly the Hausa, Fulani and
Kanuri, on the one hand, and that of the other ethnic groups, on the other.
What the Hausa and the Fulani want done in Jos or Kafanchan cannot be done in
any part of Hausaland. Ancestry of both ethnicity and land are the primary
causes of conflicts and crises generally in the Middle Belt between the indigenes
and the Hausa and Fulani. Any political or religious solution that does address
these primordial social factors can be considered to be far from justice and
fairness. Imposition of the will of the powerful or the majority would only
inflame crises and conflicts. The powerful can have their will or interest
enshrined in a contrived State policy or legislation. But doing so only sows
the seeds of crisis and conflict. The question of ethnic nationalities in the
Middle Belt must be taken very seriously if we are searching for peace in the
Middle Belt areas.
British
colonialism had defined Nigerians in terms of their ethnicity and land
ancestry. Because of this social fact, they have also defined Nigerians in
terms of indigeneship or settlership. For example, if one is born a Yoruba, or
Ibo, or Hausa, or any other, automatically that one is associated with an
ethnic group and with a specific ancestral land. If a Hausa man is born in Port
Harcourt, he is defined in terms of being an ethnic Hausa with his home
ancestry in Hausaland. This was what British colonialism made of all Nigerians.
The argument that a Nigerian if born in a certain place, he is automatically an
indigene of that place does not fit any conceptual and British colonial culture
in Nigeria. In fact, the only geographical area where people make such bogus
claims and practice it is the Middle Belt. No Nigerian can make such a claim in
the Far North, West, or East. British colonialism had carved out Nigerian
ethnic groupings according their land ancestry and there are ample ethnographic
colonial maps that had defined each ethnic or language group according to their
ethnography and land ancestry. The smaller ethnic or language groupings may
stand the chance of losing even their very little portion of ancestral land to
the powerful ones as the case is becoming in contemporary Middle Belt. This
could be done by mere use of force of arms, assimilation or enculturation. The
other is done by contrived constitutional means and political manipulations.
For example, if Nigerian citizenship should be defined by residency, then the
Middle Belters would be disadvantaged because of what the British colonialism
had done to both their ethnicity and land of ancestry. Every Nigerian who
resides in the Far North, West or East knows that he/she is a stranger by
ancestry of land and ethnicity in the area. Who would even dare to make such
claims? The only claim that is valid for any Nigerian is that of ancestry of
both ethnicity and land. The British manipulated the ethnography and geography
of the peoples of the Middle Belt to their disadvantage in modern Nigeria.
Whatever definition of citizenship or land that Nigerians should adopt today,
the peoples of the West, East and Far North would not feel threatened by such,
except for the peoples of the Middle Belt. The questions of citizenship and
land matters are very sensitive issues for the Middle Belt peoples who stand
alone to watch the gradual shrinking of their ancestral land and the erosion of
their space and freedom in modern Nigeria. Gradually, the Middle Belt is
becoming a war zone filled with so many crises and conflicts. The inflammation
of crises and conflicts are rooted hegemonic and religious manipulations of the
peoples of the Middle Belt by the dominant and powerful political and religious
groups.
Since British
colonialism had imperially carved out all the ethnic groups based upon their
land of ancestry, Nigeria must on this historical basis protect the smaller
ethnic groups from having their ancestral lands being confiscated by the
powerful ethnic groups. This can only be achieved if a land and ethnic law is
promulgated primarily to protect all ethnic groupings of Nigeria. This
socio-historical background is what can be the foundations of modern Nigerian citizenship.
Those desiring to apply wholesale the American experience of citizenship to
Nigeria would invariably disadvantage only the Middle Belters. Nigeria can
modify its primordial values, but must be done in such a way that in the long
run no one is disadvantaged or schemed out in the political equation of
Nigeria. Nigerian citizenship based upon the American experience or residency
concept would in principle be accepted by Nigerians knowing that such a concept
can only be applied in the Middle Belt and not in their ancestral areas. The
Middle Belt would invariably become a new virgin territory where all Nigerians
could converge as Nigerians. The political and social implications for the
Middle Belt would be phenomenal. Land and citizenship disputes in Nigeria are
only found in the Middle Belt. All disputes pertaining to indigeneship or
settlership in the Middle Belt must have to be settled and resolved for the
well-being of all ethnic groups in the Middle Belt. They should be guaranteed
of both their ancestral ethnography and geography.
Historically, the
non-Muslim groups had a subordinated status in the hierarchical structure of
the Northern Colonial System. Even in their own ancestral lands, they were made
second-class citizens with a dhimmi or slave status. The Muslim Hausa,
Fulani or Kanuri rulers who had no ancestry in the Middle Belt were made their
rulers and thus had ancestral land rights of the area. Thus, the political
geography of the Middle Belt was redefined to give the Muslim Hausa, Fulani and
Kanuri territorial rights for the whole Northern Region. The only group of
Nigerians who have been subjected to a different understanding, interpretation
and application of colonial ethnography and geography are the peoples of the
Middle Belt. Even in their own ancestral lands, the Christian-Muslim Minorities
in the Middle Belt are at best, second-class citizens. Hence the necessity of
making ethnic nationality an important factor in National Conference.
During the
colonial era and since independence, the indigenous peoples of the Middle Belt
have campaigned for political independence and resented the continuation of the
non-indigenous rule and claims to their ancestral lands. The British colonial
masters defined the Nigerian ethnic groups, not as individuals, but as
people-groups with distinct ethnicity, history, religion, culture and ancestral
land. Each ethnic group under the colonial masters was given a geographical
territory as its ancestral land. The British were able to monitor and traced
individual Nigerians back to their ethnicity and ancestral land. They had the
colonial maps which defined the political geography and ethnography of all
ethnic groups in Nigeria. Because of rapid population growth, urbanization and
migrations, there are some ethnic groups that stand the danger of becoming
extinct. The endangered ethnic groups stand in dare need of protection and
preservation from the powerful and numerous ethnic groups that could easily
swallow them up. There is a great need of developing a policy of preserving
such ethnic groups from extinction.
Under the
Caliphate and the Sultanate and British colonialism, Muslim–non-Muslim
relationships were based upon a hierarchical classification of human races or
civilizations. The legacy of these social hierarchies affects the way in which
the Muslim Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri, on the one hand and the non-Muslims of the
Middle Belt, on the other relate to each other. Classical Islam and British
racism produced a social order that results in inferior status and role for the
traditionalists, Christians and peoples of other faiths. In some Northern
States, the non-Muslims and Christians still carry the stigma of inferiority of
the bye-gone years of slavery or dhimmi status. They still suffer
discrimination on grounds of religion or ethnicity and are sometimes denied the
opportunity of holding key political positions. These discriminatory practices
seek to limit the influence of Christians and other non-Muslims even if they
are in the majority or are present in large numbers. Some powerful Muslim
groups still believe in the Caliphate, Sultanate and British hierarchical
classification of people groups and seek to maintain their status as
second-class citizens. This mentality has turned out to be the current ideology
and idolatry of NORTH-ISM.
From the
foregoing, we have stated very clearly the reasons why we have a strong need
for the National Conference to be based upon ethnic nationalities as means of
curtailing the influence of the political class and elites who have dominated
national politics prior to and after Independence. Nigerians and ethnic
nationalities should be given the opportunity of determining their fate in the
next centennial starting in 2014.
VI.
The Role and Function of the National Conference
We proffer the
following suggestions regarding the role and functions of the National
Conference.
A.
Sovereignty of the National Conference?
Historically, the
desire by some Nigerians to make this National Conference a Sovereignty is what
has hindered or delayed any set-up of such a Conference in the past.
Sovereignty as a concept threatens some people and casts a shadow of suspicion
as some believe that Sovereignty spells the disintegration of Nigeria. The
concept has both proponents and opponents. We advise against making this
National Conference Sovereignty.
B.
Government Support and Backing
Without any full
Government support and backing, this exercise is doomed to failure. The only
question we want to ask here is, “Does the Government have the political will
to implement all the decisions of the National Conference?” It is this
assurance of will power to implement decisions that we need as a nation.
C.
Presentations at the National Conference
1.
National Conference Should Not Be Based Upon Regions or the
Elite Political Class
When we hear some
people talk about East, West or North as power brokers and stake holders who
would come to this National Conference to represent their Regions, or the elite
political class, and if accepted, it would only send Nigeria back into the
feudal jahiliya period. This Conference is not about Regional or elite
representation. What we call regions, were the contrived artificial and
arbitrary creation of the Empire Builders who imposed their wills upon the
unwilling subjects. We cannot today, use the democratic instruments of national
integration and nation building to bring in at the back-door feudalism and
political backwardness of the ideology and idolatry of regionalism, elitism and
especially NORTH-ISM. Regional politics and structures are the Trojan Horse of
the political class and elites. We strongly oppose the use of instruments of
oppression, subjugation, discrimination and marginalization under the guise of
regions, for example NORTH-ISM. The political class and elites of the NORTH
have never served the political, cultural and religious interests of the
Christian-Muslim Minorities of the Northern States of Nigeria. They have always
worked against them by ensuring and establishing their political dominance and influence,
and political distribution of resources, rewards and statuses. No one or group
should be allowed to speak for and on behalf of any others.
2.
National Conference Be Based Upon Ethnic Nationalities
In order to
correct the contrived, artificial and arbitrary creation of regions, states and
local governments, the National Conference needs to define Nigerians mainly in
terms of their ethnicity (ethnography) and ancestral land (geography). In the
Middle Belt, all the people groups are a mixture of Christians, Muslims and a
few Traditionalists. They form what we call Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern States of Nigeria. Even though some of them have become Muslims, the
ideology and idolatry of NORTH-ISM still discriminates and marginalizes them.
Even though they are Muslims, Islam Hausanizes and incorporates them
peripherally into a Hausa ethnic group. Still, their tribal/ethnic roots
stigmatize them as kabila and tubabbu. Becoming a Muslim does not
erase their nascent ethnic and ancestral origin and place. It only depends who
is Hausa or Muslim enough. The place and plight of a Muslim Minority is
rooted in his ethnography and geography. Even if he assimilates into Hausa
he has primordial social factors which cannot be erased as the Hausa community
is highly hierarchical based upon human classification of races. We are all
equal but some are more equal than others. Many, who wanted to escape their
inferior status and socio-political role in NORTH-ISM and ISLAM, have
discovered to their regret that after all they are not better than their kith
and kin who did not convert to Islam. In fact, their kith and kin may be better
treated than they. Thus, being a northerner is much deeper than a mere
political expression of NORTH-ISM or ISLAM. To many who are designated as the
Northern Minorities (Christian-Muslim), the concept NORTH is an ideology and
idolatry that has denied them their freedom, equality and basic human
rights.
The
Christian-Muslim Minorities need to go to the National Conference as an ethnic
nationality with a distinct ancestral land. We still have colonial and
post-colonial maps of ethnic and linguistic groupings in Nigeria, especially
the Middle Belt which has more ethnic nationalities than any region of Nigeria.
Representation in the National Conference by ethnic nationality will redress
many injustices and manipulations of ethnicity, land, religion and culture of
people groups in the Middle Belt that have been overrun and dominated by
NORTH-ISM and ISLAM. They need to be free and be given an opportunity to chart
their political course without being tele-guided by their so-called surrogate
lords and masters.
Under no
circumstance(s) should any ethnic nationality in the Middle Belt be subsumed
under NORTH-ISM, because the National Conference is not about regions or
religion but people who are all Nigerians and are all equal before the National
Conference. We are also going there not on political majority or minority
basis, but as equal ethnic nationalities and Nigerians. Elitism of the
political class has nothing to hold on to except a geo-political boundary or a
religious universalism. National Conference is not a place where Labour
Congress or Regions, or Religious Groups would be allowed in or to impose their
hegemony of servitude upon ethnic nationalities.
The
Christian-Muslim Minorities of the
Northern States are in dare need of their political freedom and expression, for
this reason, they should not be placed under any form of NORTH-ISM. What the
British Colonial Administration did to them in the mid and late 1950s, the
Hudson Commission (1956) and the Minority Commission (1958) should not be
repeated by this National Conference. All other Minority Groups in Nigeria have
obtained their political rights and land rights, except the Christian-Muslim
Minorities of the Northern States of Nigeria. In fact, the National Conference
should be made to finish the task of carving out politically and geographically
all the Christian-Muslim Minorities who are not Hausa, Fulani and Kanuri and be
given their two political Zones: Middle Belt West Zone and Midddle-Belt East
Zone. The Hausa and Fulani North-West Zone and the Kanuri and their similar
others North-East Zone.
D.
Suggested Working Guidelines for the National
Conference
We propose the
following working guidelines for the National Conference in working with each
identified ethnic nationality or groups of ethnic nationality:
1.
The National Conference shall set up a machinery or means
of Identification and Classification of all Ethnic Nationalities or Groups of
Ethnic Nationality in Nigeria based upon the following primordial social
factors: (1) ethnography
(ethnicity, identity and history); (2) geography (land and territory); (3)
religion; and (4) culture.
2.
Each Ethnic Nationality shall be asked to list, debate and
resolve by itself all pending issues of joining with others in the Nigerian
Project, for example:
a.
What political arrangements and structures are conducive
for national unity and would make her want to be part of making the new Nigeria?
b.
What primordial social factors and values that other ethnic
nationalities or the political class and elites have that have generated crises
and conflicts in their experience of being part of Nigeria? Should such
conflict generating social factors and values be allowed or disallowed in the
New Nigeria?
c.
How would she want to be treated by all other ethnic
nationalities and Nigerians if she is to be part of the making of New Nigeria?
d.
In its experience of Nigeria, what type of a New Nigeria
does she want to have?
e.
What specific areas of development does this ethnic
nationality or group of ethnic nationalities want see Government to do in her
ethnic territory?
f.
What form of Government is best suited for this ethnic
group that shares one geo-political entity with others?
3.
Each Ethnic Nationality or Group of Ethnic Nationalities
shall have an Elders’ Forum to discuss debate and resolve the above issues and
findings. These are to be sent to the National Conference for further
presentation, debate and resolutions.
4.
The National Conference shall present, debate and resolve
all the submissions from all the Ethnic Nationalities or Group of Ethnic
Nationalities. Two broad classifications are to be made in collating the
Debates and Resolutions of the National Conference:
a.
Collation of all common ground social factors and values
that form the basis of national unity and harmony;
b.
Collation of all conflicting social factors and values that
is divisive and conflictual. These are to be debated intensely and if they
could not be resolved, they cannot also be brought into the making of a New
Nigeria. They are to be labeled sub-national values with very limited sphere.
They cannot be made national in whatever form.
5.
The National Conference shall prepare a Constitution that
embraces and reflects the common ground of all Nigerians and advise on how to
handle sub-national and limited values.
6.
The National Conference shall propose a National Instrument
for the processes of adoption of the New Constitution by the Executive and the
Legislature.
