Kindly comment on the following article.

Leonard Karshima Shilgba, PhD

The Middle Belt Federation in British Nigeria

Eleven days after Nigeria got her political independence on October 1, 1960, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello said, as was carried by the Parrot newspaper on October 12, 1960:

"The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future." – Parrot Newspaper October 12, 1960.

Now, there are important revelations about the vision of Sir Ahmadu Bello, as captured in the above, and which vision his people have executed with great effectiveness for the past 5 decades:

1. Nigeria is an estate of their great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio, and so anyone who does not descend from their forebear is a tenant. The vision is to maintain a tenancy status for all non-Dan Fodians dwelling within the geographical boundaries of Nigeria.

2. To prevent ruthlessly any change of order that wrestles power from the Dan Fodians.

3. To use and manipulate all "minorities" of the "north" as the slaves of the Dan Fodians.

4. To control the resources of tenants (non-Dan Fodians) in their estate (Nigeria).

5. To resist any form of rule over the Dan Fodians.

6. To never allow non-Dan Fodians to have control over their future.
The pursuit of the above vision and the brutal enforcement of this vision have contributed in the many crises Nigeria has faced for more than fifty years. The connivance of western powers such as Britain and the USA at different stages of our history for the sake of protecting their interest has been a recurring scenario that has just refused to go away. Now is the time to end this subjugation that has been as insidious as it has been hidden from the majority of peoples of the world, including some Nigerians.

We the peoples of the Middle Belt in particular and non Dan Fodians, in general, must rise up and resist this egregiously inhuman vision with every sense of pride and purpose. You can never be wrong in seeking to be free. Some have derisively asked the clear description of the Middle Belt peoples. Socially speaking, all non-Dan Fodians in the geographical north and central north are Middle Belt people, the oppressed people, deceptively huddled up under the “One North” of Sir Ahmadu Bello. However, geographically, it is generally acceptable to many scholars from the region that the Middle Belt federation consists of people in the present BENUE, NASSARAWA, TARABA, ADAMAWA, PLATEAU, SOUTHERN KEBBI, KOGI, KWARA, NIGER, SOUTHERN KADUNA, FCT, SOUTHERN GOMBE, and the two minority local government areas of TAFAWA BALEWA and BOGORO in southern Bauchi State.
We the Middle Belt federation must take charge of our future. A starting point is to press for the rejection and crashing of the 1999 "constitution", which is a fraud instigated by the Dan Fodians in order to achieve the vision itemized above (1-6). It is for our children that we must fight. I have approached some lawyers to file a symbolic case on behalf of the Middle Belt people to declare our outright rejection of the 1999 "constitution" as a fraud. But it appears they are chicken-hearted. Are there any lawyers, or do you Middle Belters and our friends know any lawyers that will agree to do this? So long as nothing is done to change the vision-fortune of the Dan Fodians, so long will the Middle Belt people remain the appendage of the Dan Fodians.

ACTION POINT: Spread this information and help us project this fact of our plight before the law courts and the international community. Our focus is to compel the convocation of a sovereign national conference, where we shall all discuss whether and on what terms the various ethnic nationalities shall co-exist as one people. We reject the present subjugation with all our strength, with our entire mind, and with all our soul.

INFORMATION: There is a muted plan by the Jonathan government to make the term of elected officials in Nigeria to be a single term of 7 years BEGINNING WITH those voted into office this year, who under the extant relevant laws got only a four-year mandate of the Nigerian people. We, therefore, reject this contemplation and call on President Jonathan and his colleagues to re-direct attention to the social re-construction of Nigeria under a constitutional conference with representations from each nation within Nigeria. If we don't pile pressure for what we truly need, we shall get what we truly don't deserve—perpetual subjugation, while a few among the oppressed are bought over and manipulated just for a pot of porridge. A people that values its safety above its rights cannot for too long guarantee that safety, which is just safety at the pleasure of the jackals. Now is the time. Is there not a cause?

Leonard Karshima Shilgba is an Associate Professor of Mathematics with the American University of Nigeria and President of the Nigeria Rally Movement (www.nigeriarally.org ). Leonard Shilgba is also the Coordinator of the Middle Belt Federation under the Middle Belt Coalition agenda.

Interesting

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karfe:

No votes yet

mind if i asked where u are from? Which state in the middle belt in particular

have you ask people whee they prefer to be.

Kwara and Kogi west prefer to be with the Yoruba. Yoruba people.

While Benue prefer to be with the igbos.


So which state remain in your middle belt. Plateau state , can one or three state be a region.



You see nigeria is diviided into three region base on the river niger



the western niger, eastern niger and northern niger, the western niger consist of kwara, kog,edo,delta ,ondo,osun, ogun lagos oyo,ekiti,
eastern niger consist of imo,benue, croass river, river, taraba and adamawa. enugu, bayelsa,anambra,abia
while the north has Plateau, niger, sokoto,kaduna,kano, borno, yobe, katsina, kano, etc//

It is had for plateau state to be a region , You may feel lonely up there. but it is more of geography.

You know daniel Amokachie is from benue state, does that name so northern to you.

^wow. Ok. Cant see Borno in the east. Dont forget Borno is east (north east actually, just like adamawa) of the niger river and used to be Gongola along with adamawa (which is in the east according to u).

@ emmke

I am from Kogi State. I believe you are either from Plateau State or you dwell there.

I agree with Musiwa about the Yoruba in Kwara and Kogi. My feeling is that most of them would like to be in a region with the rest of the Yoruba. This was supposed to have been dealt with through a referendum after the Willink Commission hearings in 1958. This was never done, and now states, rather than regions are our federating units. However, I disagree with him that the rivers should be the natural boundaries for federated regions. This would only introduce problems more complex than the ones we are dealing with

I am usually interested in thrashing out issues concerning the middle belt status, not just because I belong to this group, but because the vast majority of Nlanders seem to be from the southern states, and so discussions always veer in the direction of southern issues. I believe the middle belt status is of importance to the whole of Nigeria if we truly seek a way forward that will be beneficial to all Nigerian peoples. This will require a bit more understanding of the socio-cultural make-up of MB peoples

It is quite unfortunate that some Igbo are usually bitter that the middle belters played an active part in stopping the breakaway of Biafra. However, a closer look at circumstances from colonial times up till date will absolve those who believe in the middle belt cause of any blame.

The poll I set up is expired. I will have to create another one to gauge the feelings of Nairalanders. I wish there was a way of indicating an individual's geo-political zone in order to the gauge the feeling from each zone. I will be back

list the states in the middle belt and their ethnic make up, i believe kogi have the egbiras who can easily join yorubas and the southeastern igala who share similarieties,names and cultures with the igbo and a few others that are similar to the edos.

@karfe.
my brother dont ever burder yourself about igbos been angry with middle beltans.
we the igbos knew our enemies. we can stand with you the mb's anyday anytime but we just cant lead the way.
the same way we stand for ND in their stuggle. we know they are going far when we accept joing their wagon.

the igbos can never in nigeria be against the happines of the ND,MB and SW.
forget wat you see here on nl,Sw are not our enemy and ca never be,the hausa/fulani are.

hausa/fulani's cant stand us all if we unite against them.

if the Middle Belt have the will, they have my support.

One of the things they must do, is to start teaching their younger generation the path to follow.

Below is a list of some MIDDLE BELT states and their ethnic make-up, simplified as much as possible:

KWARA STATE:

12 out of the state's 16 LGA's are predominantly Yoruba, 2 are Nupe while the remaining 2 are made up mainly of Bariba and Busa speakers. However, even though the LGA's in Ilorin area are Yoruba speaking, the Fulani aristocrats seem to make them lean more towards a ONE NORTH philosophy

KOGI STATE:

There are 21 LGA's in this state

There are 5 LGA's in the western part that are predominantly Yoruba speaking (Okun dialects, which can be further differentiated).

There are 4 LGA's that in the central part that are predominantly Ebira speakers

There are 8 LGA's that in the eastern part that are predominantly Igala speakers

Lokoja LGA is an admixture of peoples from near and far including Oworo (related to Yoruba), as well as the Nupe dialects (Kakanda, Bassa Nge and Kupa)

Kogi LGA is made up of mainly Ebira Koto speakers (another form of Ebira)

Ogori Magongo LGA is made up of a group that has a lot of cultural features with Akoko Edo LGA of Edo State. The majority of the indegenes speak Yoruba

Bassa LGA is made up of Bassa and Bassa Nge (Nupe dialect) as well as Igala speakers

Do we have anybody from the Nupe ethnic group here?

I hear they are related to Yoruba somehow (share similar sounding words) but I would like to know better or have this notion dismissed.

The middle-belt, I'm getting old. Dont contribute much anymore.

@ JamesDoe:

I am not Nupe but I know that Nupe belongs to a branch of Niger-Congo languages in which Yoruba, Igbo, Edo and Idoma are the main nodes. These languages, though not mutually intelligible, usually have words that are used by the different groups and may mean different things to the different groups

@ Edoyad:

Good to see you. You were once quite vocal about the middle belt. Do not give up. Other areas of Nigeria stand to gain as well if the middle belt identity is properly recognized

BENUE STATE:

Simply put, the state made up of 14 Tiv LGA's and 9 Idoma LGA's.

However, 2 LGA's speak Igede, a variant form of Idoma who regularly proclaim their uniqueness.

Idoma is generally known to contain a lot of dialects. In fact the Alago in Nasarawa State and the Yala and Yace in Cross River State (Ogoja area) are regarded as Idoma speakers in some quarters

The Tiv can also be found in Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba and FCT in large numbers. The Bacheve at Obudu cattle ranch are one of several variant forms of Tiv who speak mainstream Tiv but proclaim their own uniqueness as well

Does anybody else see a similarity between Benue State and the northern part of Cross River State?!

^^^

There are Igbo communities in Benue State.

NIGER STATE:

In a simple way, this state can be said to be made up of Nupe, Gbagyi, Hausa and a lot of small ethnic groups (Kamberi and Kamuku are the more recognizable ones)

The Hausa can mainly be found centred around Suleja (near Abuja) and Kontagora

This state is heavily influenced by Islam, and is the only one in the current NC zone currently operating Sharia officially. For this reason, some proponents of the Middle Belt seek its exclusion. 2 former military heads of state are from this state, and it can be argued that they are more of ONE NORTH proponents

It can however also be argued that the state is infact MIDDLE BELT territory, if historical factors are carefully considered. This area was mainly a 'pagan' territory of small ethnic groups as can be found in some other middle belt areas which will be mentioned later

Also I personal do not believe that the MB issue is a Christian agenda as some proponents feel, or as some core North and MB muslims believe. That's my personal opinion

@ Obiagu1:

I agree with you. However, there are also Idoma and Oring communities in Ebonyi State, Igala (Ebu) Communities in Delta State, etc which are isolated from the main body of their own ethnic groups. Remember, I said these are just simplified

So if Nigeria was to disintegrate the Middle Belt will have to be strong to survive as many groups will lay claim to their territories. I think it is better for the Middle belt to redraw state lines in relative peaceful times now than attempt to do so at a not so opportune time.

KOGI (21 LGA's):

There are 7 LGA's  that are predominantly Yoruba speaking

There are 4 LGA's that in the central part that are predominantly Ebira speakers

There are 6 LGA's  that are predominantly Igala speakers

There are 2 LGA's  that are predominantly bassa speakers



there is nothing like middle belt. it is mostly people from plateau state that feel lonely up there. that shout middle belt. Kwara dont consider themself middle belt. there is no way in this world, that kwara and kogi will be in the middle. belt. you are asking for war. The government will be overthrow if that happen.

You cant not force people to be where they dont want to be in.

From the previous 4 states discussed, 9 ethnic groups can be identified as prominent:

Yoruba
Ebira
Igala
Idoma
Tiv
Nupe
Gbagyi
Hausa
Fulani

3 of these are what can be referred to as national languages. In a strict sense, are these MIDDLE BELT languages? It is open for discussion,

However, it can be seen that the Hausa are already located fully in Niger State and isolated from the rest of Hausa land, even though these Hausa (and Fulani) can trace their origins to specific places in the Core North

The Yoruba can be easily relocated (not all Yoruba want this) but will face opposition from the core North and the ruling indigenes of Ilorin, not so?

In the future, we will look at 4 other states of the middle belt, the FCT, and 5 areas in core North states that can be regarded (or not) as MIDDLE BELT depending on an individual's view

karfe:

@ Obiagu1:

I agree with you. However, there are also Idoma and Oring communities in Ebonyi State, Igala (Ebu) Communities in Delta State, etc which are isolated from the main body of their own ethnic groups. Remember, I said these are just simplified

There's Igala too in Anambra.

You're listing ethnic make up in the middlebelt but did not list the Igbo.

@ Musiwa

You have 19 LGA's on total, while I have 21. Which other 2 LGA's are Yoruba speaking, which I did not mention?

@ Obiagu1

If you go into the nitty-gritty of it, Igbo will appear as an ethnic group in Benue, and maybe even Kogi, but that is not my intention. I want to bring out the most prominent groups in each MB state and how they influence local and regional politics, vis-a-vis the MB issue

ok

Ijumu
   Kabba/Bunu
Lokoja
   Mopa-Muro
  Yagba East
   Yagba W
Ogori/Magongo




   there are north of the river,


what Fulani aristocrats is in ilorin. You people do not know anything about fulani. It was when I lived in the north that I know what fulani is. The fulani people speak fufude. And they have no relation with ilorin people.   

Emir is an islamic title and not a fulani title. It was assume that Emir was a fulani title. That why they assume they are fulani. but Emir is an Islamic title and not a fulani title.  That assumption was wrong. Not fulani. 

Mohammed ali , the USA boxer is he fulani too.


fufude is  complex . Nobody speak fulani or hausa in kwara state. if you doubt me. please go there.  Inbetween Kwara state and the hausa are the Nupe, Gwari , Kambari and other ethnics .

@ Musiwa

If you read my post above, you will see I said that Ogori Magongo is quite similar in culture with Akoko Edo as they speak Yoruba and bear Yoruba names.

But just like the Akoko Edo they have their own identity and cannot be said to be Yoruba

Infact many Ebira bear Yoruba names and speak Yoruba

Most ethnic groups in the North bear Hausa names and many speak Hausa. Does that make them Hausa?

Most of the former Soviet states speak Russian, does that make them Russian?

Lokoja is not a predominantly Yoruba LGA. A number of its indigenes speak Oworo which is related to (or may be a dialect of) Yoruba, but the LGA is very cosmopolitan. It has indigenes from all over West Africa, probably due to its colonial status

oworo and ogori  are  dialet of yoruba.

Most ebira people speak Yoruba and some bear yoruba name too.

@ Musiwa

I agree with you about the Fulani. The only places Fulfulde is actually spoken are Adamawa, Gombe, Yobe, Borno, and all the Bororo cattle rearers moving all over the nation. But the effect of this group during the jihad is still felt in Ilorin, right?

Please forget all this preaching and fighting for yorubas in Kogi or not We want true fedralism! im igbo from anambra state and i want a stituation where every state should be controlling herself!! wheather Yoruba is in kogi ,Hausa in Niger or Igbo is in Rivers! all that nonsense! they can preserve their culture there. why dont all these tribes go and claim their brothers in Benin/Niger or the slaves in america that were taken from them.

why are the majorities too selfish? Let every state control herself!! apart from abuja!!!!!

This ahmed bello must be a compound fool for saying that! infact let satan cast him from hell!!

Eleven days after Nigeria got her political independence on October 1, 1960, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Sir Ahmadu Bello said, as was carried by the Parrot newspaper on October 12, 1960:

"The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great grandfather Othman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities in the north as willing tools and the south as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us and never allow them to have control over their future." – Parrot Newspaper October 12, 1960.

Read below a brilliant article about the 'other peoples' of the Middle Belt:

http://yadamag.com/re-introducing-northern-nigeria-not-as-you-know-it/