Checks showed that the unexpected announcment had since thrown political caucuses of the three northern geo-political zones into frenzy of activities, with the core north gradually openly moving against the convocation of the conference whether sovereign or not.
While some core north leaders are faulting the composotion of the dialogue panel and the whole idea of a conférence, the Middle Belt Forum had jumped at what its chieftains called opportunity to finally assert its separate identity as a distinct region in the middle of Nigeria.
Investigations by Sunday Tribune showed that even the Niger state governor, Babangida Aliyu was rebuked for his initial endorsement of the conférence with a source hinting that the core north believed it was under siege following the announcment by the President.
A top northern leader in Kano who spoke under anonymity said the president’s sudden endorsement of the conference despite northern opposition showed that the intention was political and with direct link with 2015.
“We are worried as the timing is suspicious. We think the announcment is politically motivatied but we are waiting to see how the whole thing will play out” he said.
Another leader in Kaduna who described the decision and appointment into the committee as worrisome said “the South has its first eleven on the panel. We in the north are represented by our 13th team.”
Saying leaders of Arewa Consultative Forum would soon meet on the matter,the leader who was active during the Babangida transition said “the conférence may be a trap for the core north going by happenings between the core north and the middle belt region.”
The Joint Action Committee of Northern Groups comprising of leaders from leading pro-north groups urgently came out with a position on Friday opposing the dialogue and masking its position as a pan-Nigerian position. The statement signed by Dr Hakeem Bab Ahmed argued that the problem of the north was security-related and that the president should work Harder in that line.
The real reason why the north is afraid of a conférence was however explained by the youth leader of the Middle Belt Forum, ,Hon Jonathan Asake, in an interview with the Sunday Tribune. He posited that the core north was afraid of the whole nation knowing that the north was no longer monolithic.
“We are liberating ourselves and that explains why you see us becoming more active before and after the civil war, the North looked like one solid bloc, until the eyes of the Middle Belt started noticing incredible unfairness in the way it was treated by its core-North counterpart, even when, in actual fact, the Middle Belt is in the majority.
“I am sorry to say that the media has helped to force the majority status on the Hausa-Fulani when talking about the North. That is only true when you take the two as a single tribal group. Yes, they have more numbers if you compare them to Tiv, Nupe, or Atayp, each standing on its own. But, on the aggregate, the Hausa-Fulani is a minority to the rest of the tribal groups of the Middle Belt, the way I have defined the Middle Belt.
“The Hausa-Fulani in the 19 northern states are not in the majority in Benue, Kwara, Kogi, Taraba, Nasarawa, Plateau, Niger, FCT, Adamawa. They are hardly even present in Borno State – Boko Haram notwithstanding.
“The Kanuris are in the majority in Borno and Yobe. It is only 49 per cent of the population of Kaduna State; the Middle Belt of southern Kaduna is 51 per cent according to the 2006 census. It is just 45 per cent of Gombe State, it is not an overwhelming majority in Kebbi State. The Middle Belt is 30 per cent of Bauchi. The main area of strength of the Hausa-Fulani is: Sokoto, Kano, Zamfara, Katsina, Jigawa, Bauchi and part of Gombe and Kaduna.
“So, you see, the Hausa-Fulani who, everyone has so made the lord of the North, are actually in the minority, unlike what you have in the South-west and South-east with the Yoruba and the Igbo. The Hausa-Fulani, though found everywhere in the 19 northern states, are really in minority if it comes as a bloc. The so-called minorities as an aggregate, are the majority. And that is the Middle Belt. If you doubt this, look at the 2006 census result, and the way votes in the 2011 elections were cast in our areas,” Jonathan said.
Source: Tribune
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