Northern minority ethnic nationalities, under the auspices of Coalition of Indigenous Middle-Belt Organisations, (CIMBO), have risen from a two-day maiden conference in Kaduna, calling for restructuring of Nigeria into three regions, namely, South, Middle-Belt and North.
The ethnic nationalities also demanded that the current 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) should be rewritten, saying that, restructuring and enactment of a new peoples constitution is the panacea to peace and development of Nigeria.
A communiqu issued at the end of the two-day conference, which had as its theme: Restructuring and Enactment of the Peoples Constitution, Panacea to Peace and Good Growth of the Nation, suggested that the 2014 National Conference Report should be the basis for the restructuring of the country.
In a paper presented at the conference by Professor Ejeikwu Emmanuel Oloja, titled: The position of the Middle Belt on Restructuring, Boundary Adjustments and Constitutional Review, called for restructuring of Nigeria into South, Middle-Belt and Northern regions.
His words: Restructured Nigeria, with a number of units, will lead to true federalism, reduced corruption and over-reliance on statutory allocation from the centre, and this will intensify struggle for resource control.
So, in consideration of the foregoing, CIMBO should recommend three regions for Nigeria. Northern Region (North-West & North-East), Middle-Belt Region (Eastern Middle-Belt and Western Middle-Belt) and Southern Region (South-South, South-East & South-West).
However, the conference communiqu, jointly signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Timothy Barau Gandu and Prof. Emmanuel O Ejeikwu, argued that the call for restructuring of Nigeria is more pressing now than ever, primarily due to the significant growth and diversity of the ethnic composition of the Middle-Belt, whose population is estimated at 44 million as at June 2024.
According to the communiqu, The Middle-Belt has since independence been seen and called part of Northern Nigeria, with the split of many ethnic nationalities into States as minorities. This has weakened the ability of such ethnic nationalities in achieving political representation and economic empowerment and development.
Consequently, this has created inferiority complex, a feeling of second-class status and peasantisation of the people as a result of laws and statues that tend to limit and imprison the capacity of citizens of such ethnic nationalities from achieving set goals and aspirations.
Participants at the conference were drawn from Bauchi, Benue, Gombe, Kaduna, Kogi, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau and Taraba States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The Middle Belf Forum (MBF) was officially represented at the conference indicating a tacit support to the CIMBO.
