₦airaland Forum

aletheia:
A friend of mine who spent some time in Kebbi state tells me that the Hausa are not indigenous to Kebbi state and that Non-Hausa are actually the majority there.

You are right. They are mainly descendants of the Songhai and Kebbi empires (Kotal Kanta). However, their culture is more of Hausa these days, even though they still bear those distinguishing facial marks. Even Zuru will eventually become Hausa due to association.

If you see a detailed ethnic map of Bauchi and Gombe at www.ethnologue.com, you would be surprised that most of the area was originally not Hausa, but today only a few peoples are not yet Hausanized

edoyad:
Nice Map! How in heavens carnation did places like Kogi and Benue end up as north?

Some long dead cartographers have questions to answer!

See:
http://www.uni.edu/gai/Nigeria/Background/Standard5.html

See two quotes from above web page:

In simple terms, the country has three basic regions, a concentrated Muslim area in the North, a concentrated Christian area in the South and a region of transition in the central "middle belt" region. The southwestern Yorubaland also has a sizable Muslim minority that comprises one-third of the population.

A good example of a heterogeneous cultural region is the "middle belt" region. This east-west zone in central Nigeria is composed of dozens of small minority ethnic groups. This region is also part of the zone of transition between the Christian south and the Muslim north.

BBC Analysis

Simplified ethnic map

Find attached map as a guide. Places in grey are MB areas attached to the Core North. In red are the Yoruba areas of Kwara and Kogi

@ Chima12,

Borgu (Bariba & Busa) and Lafiagi-Pategi (Nupe) parts of Kwara will probably not go to Odu'a with the rest of Kwara

Niger is made up of Nupe, Gbagyi, Kamberi, Kamuku with some Hausa. It is Middle Belt in my book

Zuru (Southern Kebbi) are Middle Belt. They were originally in Niger Province but later were grouped into Sokoto Province

@ jamace and chima12

I am not comfortable with the idea of a militant group. Due to the religious and ethnic multiplicity in the MB, this will eventually contribute to instability as a result of proliferation of arms. MB autonomy has to be won, as much as possible, peacefully and by compromise between its peoples and those of other regions

I guess its because it is so difficult to separate them that other Nigerians refer to them as Hausa-Fulani

For people like SLS, isn't there likely to be some Hausa blood in their veins?

I am not so sure Balewa was Hausa

Edoyad,

Land is VERY important. If sold to the 'wrong' person, you are likely to end up in slavery in the future. Lets's not even discuss the current settler-indigene dichotomy in our area.

Emphasis in the future, of course, will be on EDUCATION, EDUCATION and EDUCATION, but not forgetting to cover our backs concerning such 'mundane' issues like land

Personally, if each autonomous region will concentrate on using seed money from land-based and intangible resources on 5 economic aspects, we are likely to achieve above 10% annual economic growth for many, many years. These five aspects are EDUCATION, HEALTH CARE, WATER SUPPLY, ROADS and POWER. The government does not have to provide every want but these five will provide the foundation for growth, especially EDUCATION, including provision of small skills like WELDING, CARPENTRY, etc

DanKan0:
@ karfe

Where you from in middlebelt?

This has already been discussed extensively
https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-674760.0.html

Moderators, kindly include Kwara and Kogi in the list of options if possible

emmke:
What a blessed region. But what happens to abuja? Not that am crazy to have it as part of the territory, but it's geographically impossible to remove it from the MB.

If Nigeria stays together, as I hope it will, FCT should remain a Federal Territory reflecting the agreement to stay together, but with autonomous regions. I believe Lagos, PHC and Kaduna should also share this special status. This might stop some skirmishes regarding ownership of these major towns. At least we all know which regions Enugu, Ibadan and Kano are part of

edoyad:
Just imagine the in flow of capital into the area if we can market our territory as home to one and all. After all we already started with White Zimbabwean farmers in Kwara state. I honestly think we stand to gain a lot from our liberalism and hospitality. The problem would be how to stop the immigration of certain undesirable elements.

I agree. The possibilities for the MB, as well as other regions, are countless to grow economically. However, our hospitality has been taken for granted historically and taken advantage of. Its time to do everything with moderation. No more selling of land at give away prices and allowing your children to pay the price later. Believe me, if properly managed, the MB will become the region of pride in the future Nigeria

I hope to discuss a thread soon about MB opportunities for TOURISM, AGRICULTURE and SOLID MINERALS

Is it possible to edit a poll and include more options?

@ Edoyad,

You are 100% correct

Ddaji:
by your definition of middle belt Atiku,Ibb,Abdusalam,Abdullahi Adamu and rest of the criminals are in middle belt.I dey laf

Criminals full every LG for Nigeria!

edoyad:
Like we said on the other thread, certain tribes in the middlebelt , either by religion or by way of association, may feel they have a closer bond to other regions than with other MB tribes. For me, a referendum would best be used to determine who and what lies where.

So let's have a mini-referendum here

I am not so sure Nigerians realise how crucial it is to solve this Middle Belt issue,

edoyad:
All of them are middlebelt save for some local govt.s in some of the states

Like which ones?

I also forgot to include Kwara and Kogi in the list. Methinks the Yoruba portions belong more to the Odu'a region anyway

Which of these areas is not in the Middle Belt?

^^^^
@ Tsiya

So why are the Igbos always disagreeing with the Ijaws? Or why did the Midwest seek separation from the Yoruba? Why are the Shiites and Sunnis of Iraq bombing themselves?

This proposal is based on MINORITY vs MAJORITY. If my proposal is insincere, what is your sincere proposal?

By the way, please do not reduce it to Karfe's personal objective because it is much bigger than that

I am open to your proposals, but so far you have only been trying to shoot down the idea without providing any alternatives

Tsiya:
Is your middle belt based on (1) religious identity: Muslim - North and Christians (MB), (2) Ethnicity: Hausa, Fulani, Kanuri - North and Everyone else- MB

My answer is (2), and I have been trying to make that clear from the start of this thread

I have also made it clear, and ekt-bear supported me and explained better, that a clean break is not possible. No illusions about that

If there are contrary opinions to the list, from you or anyone else, let us discuss. Remove the places you think are not MB from the list presented and inform other forumists why they cannot be part of my fantasy as you call it. My ultimate aim is to also learn from you and have a better understanding

If you do not agree with the MB concept, what is your alternative apart from the status quo? Because I do not think what we have is working

Tsiya:
Could you put these places you are talking about here in a map so that we can visualize how realistic your fantasies are?

Fantasy or not, I have laid my cards on the table. You do not need a map to know these places, except you are not in favour of a MB region

edoyad:
Who come from? I'd prefer "settled" in the area, but then again, according to the constitution a settler is an indigene if they chose to be so.

Yes, settled since the Jihad in some places, and then more recently in some others. But they are here now, so we have to work with what we have at the moment.

This thread has tried to identify all the areas which may or may not be part of the MIDDLE BELT (CENTRAL) REGION

Non-Yoruba Kwara
Non-Yoruba Kogi
Benue
Niger
Nasarawa
Plateau
Taraba
Adamawa
Southern Kaduna
Southern Kebbi
Southern Bauchi
Southern Gombe
Southern Borno (not sure)

It would be useful if MB persons, and other Nigerians could identify which regions should be removed from the list or retained. It would also be useful to hear the views of Hausa-Fulani and Kanuri persons who come from these areas or from the Far North

For those from the Yoruba parts of Kwara and Kogi, please state if these areas should be part of the MB

Leonidas, that was really funny

I want Nigeria to remain one also, but like this:

5 AUTONOMOUS (TRUELY AUTONOMOUS) REGIONS:

AREWA (NORTH)
MIDDLE BELT (CENTRAL)
ALAIGBO (EAST)
ODUDUWA (WEST)
NIGER DELTA (SOUTH)

3 SPECIAL (OR FEDERAL-GOVERNMENT RUN) TERRITORIES:

LAGOS
PORT HARCOURT
KADUNA

1 FEDERAL CAPITAL TERRITORY - ABUJA

babagy82:
the only way north will develop is by seperation, i'm a northener and i'm a hausa man, and i know what i'm saying. Our leaders in the north are bunch of hypocrites and oppressors, they only care for themselves and their families, they are curropted bastards, let d nigeria break so that we can kill those bastards and start from square one. They can never do anything good for the northern people once their eyes are always on south south oil. once nigeria is seperated, and those bastards wake up 1 day and realize that there is nothing like free oil money again, then they will have two choices. EITHER YOU BRING OUT YOUR LOOTED MONEY TO INVEST IN AGRICULTURE OR YOU LEAVE THE COUNTRY FOR LIFE, leadership is the problem of north, our leaders dont give a phuck whether a common man live or die, i know with seperation north will suffer for some time, but without seperation north will forever be a poor region.

Thank God you see this. Most Northerners believe they would be finished without the rest of the country, but that is when their true strengths will be discovered. As it is, even within Nigeria, the North-Eastern 4 states standard of living and literacy levels is worse than many landlocked countries in Africa

Restructure now into at least 5 autonomous regions and negotiate federal functions and taxes

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KnowAll:
What are we waiting for in Nigeria, where we have Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, Berom, Tiv, Edo, Igbirra, Urobho,Ijaw, Efik, Ibibio and Jukun all in one country. We should go our separate way or form alliance with one and another in order to stay together, check out Somalia.



Somalia at this point in time is divided into 4 independent states

1. Republic of Somililand in the North West with Capital in Hargesia

2. Puntland in the North East with Capital in Garowe

3. Mogadishu area which is central Somalia controlled by Transitional Federal Government or TFG

4. Jubaland or Azania or better still Southern Somalia close to the Kenyan borders with capital - Kismayo. This area is presently controlled by Al-Shebab

All these territories are semi Automounous except for Puntland and Republic of Somalialand that have actually gone their own way. Somalialand Republic has had 2 democratic elections since breaking away from the rest of Somalia.


What is Nigeria waiting for then, if a country populated by a single ethnic group can break up into 4 countries what are we waiting for!!

These countries were different entities during the colonial times, even though they are not recognized yet. Maybe African colonial boundaries are affecting us so much that we cannot create our own natural boundaries. I can recall Soyinka once calling for redrawing of African borders. I guess that will never happen, but countries like Nigeria will have to redraw their own natural internal borders

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Onlytruth:
Are all Ndigbo only from SE?

Your lies won't last long. Just watch!

Of course, I understand there are Ndigbo in Delta and Rivers. However, if I go with what I read on NL, those from Rivers, and some from Delta appear to have separated themselves from the rest of Ndigbo and only careful politicking, not coercion, is likely to make them accept that identity again. Remember there are French people and Germans who are from countries other than France and Germany

These are the things that ought to be negotiated

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Nigeria is a country with at least 5 nations

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