Nigerian Newsday

Where is the middle Belt? Those who support this idea or concept define it to include eight states of the federation, namely Adamawa, Taraba, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Kwara and the Federal Capital Territory. Southern Kaduna, Brono and Gombe are also regarded as part of it. In trying to re-assert itself as an independent entity, the place has for long become an alluring bride for many suitors, conscious of the strategic part it plays in deciding the outcome of an election.

Straddling the middle of Nigeria, the middle Belt is a relatively big complex multi-ethnic, multi-religious geographical area, where unlike the Hausa-Fulani and the Kanuris of the far north, is populated largely by minority ethnic groups. Its politics is no complex, swinging between an uneasy attachment to the far north and sometimes an open or cautious solidarity and alliance with southern-based parties. No wonder it has since the pre-independence days been a fertile fishing water pond for the big three ethnic groups in the country in their quest for political dominance.

The middle belt however is much more than an attractive bride waiting to be plucked by the lucky suitor. It has other attributes. Chief Solomon Daushep Lar, a prominent advocate of this cause thinks he knows the true significance of the area in Nigeria. A middle Belt conference he convened in August 1998, the first civilian governor of the old Plateau state and one-time National chairman of thePpeoples Democratic Party (PDP) stated that "because the Middle Belt is located in central Nigeria, which comprise the people of southern and northern Nigeria, it is always in the best position to interpret the north to the south and the south to the north. Not only do we serve as the glue for the country, our privileged location enables us to best measure the temperature of the nation. This role places enormous responsibility on our shoulders, and also requires that both the north and the south must listen carefully to us anytime we speak on contentious issues".

This is chief Lar's understanding and the place of the middle Belt in the corporate entity called Nigeria. Indeed even before the emergences of the Lars on the political scene, the area had been under going some kind of rethinking on its place in Nigeria and its politics. The birth of the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) in the late 1940's was the culmination of such rethinking and the search by the area for relevance in national politics. The founding fathers of the UMBC such as the late Rwang Pam, Yonah Asadugu, Bello Jacob Ijumu, Pastor David Lot, among many others invested enormous amount of their time and resources to see to the realization of the goals of the area.

How did the United Middle Belt Congress fare in meeting the objectives of the area as set out by the founding fathers? In electoral term, the UMBC did very well. According to Jonah Asadugu in an interview he granted to a magazine called "Northern Nigeria in perspective"(NNIP) in February, 1992, the party won 35 out of the $45 seats allocated to the area during the 1954 federal and regional elections. It was however not so lucky with other goals, such that the demand for a Middle Belt region as the willink commission of Inquiry set up by the colonial government in the fifties to look into grievances of minority groups in the country rejected the request. British colonialists and powerful conservative northern interests may have been responsible for the rejection , though it appeared the idea never disappeared from the minds of some here.

It is understood by some people that part of the history of the middle Belt is the history of control and domination by its big neighbours. Some were able to resist the domination, some did not, thus losing their independence and the ability to chart a different course of existence. The voting pattern here is therefore usually informed by how the political parties relate to such history. This may explain why the United Middle Congress was able to sweep the polls in a large part of the area in the pre-and may also be post -independent periods. It may also be the likely reason why south-based parties like the NCNC and the Action Group were able to establish or form good working alliances with the UMBC. On the other hand, the failure of the defunct Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) to make significant inroads here may be due to the fact that the people here may have perceived it as the political organ used to dominate and marginalise them.

The second republic displayed a mixed grill of the voting patterns reinforcing the issue of the diversity of the area.

Perception of the past did count, but not everywhere. Old Plateau state, perhaps the strongest and most steadfast defender of the middle Belt identity went to zik's led Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP). It was a clear vote against the more conservative far north-led National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Former Gongola state, now made up of Adamawa and Taraba was swept by the Great Nigeria peoples Party (GNPP), a party that had some roots in the old Borno Youth Movement (BYM), an ally of the United Middle Belt Congress. Benue state, a hot-bed of minority revolt and identity, however to the surprise of many, laid out the welcoming mat for the conservative NPN.

Kwara and Niger states took the same route as Benue. In the second term in 1983, only chief Solomon Lar's Plateau, then made up of the present Plateau and Nasarawa states held its ground against the mighty onslaught of the NPN. Lar won his re-election on the same NPP platform. Kwara state exchanged suitors, ditching the NPN and tying the nuptial knots with chief Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN).

The NPN also retained Benue and Niger states, in addition to adding Gongola.

During the short-lived third republic, the social Democratic Party (SDP), which was regarded as the party closer to the area's interest found formidable challenge from the more conservative National Republic convention (NRC). In the end the two parties divided the area almost equally during the governorship elections. Plateau, Benue, Kwara and Taraba went to the SDP, while the NRC took Niger, Kogi and Adamawa states.

During the presidential elections however the SDP polled substantially more votes than the NRC. As a matter of fact the SDP presidential candidate, chief M.K.O Abiola got the second highest block votes in the whole country from the area. Only the south west gave Abiola more votes.

Today in the present political dispensation, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is in control of all the eight states here. Does this mean the PDP is closer to the aspirations of the area than the rival All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)? Hard to say, since in today's Nigerian politics, it is very difficult to pinpoint exactly what the parties stand for or where they originated from. However Middle Belters may have been looking for a bigger tent, in order to enjoy a bigger slice of the federal largess and found in the big PDP the perfect tent. Having watched from the sidelines during the NPC and NPN days, eras that consigned then to the political wilderness with all the attendant material drought, for once going mainstream with the PDP was a chance the area did not want to miss.

There are of course people who do not believe in the middle Belt even as a concept, let alone a reality. Those who hold such a view believe that the north is one, united indivisible entity, stretching from Kwara to Katsina and Sokoto to borno. It has no separate part, nor would any part be allowed to go its separate way. Not infrequently agitators, for a separate Middle Belt area out of the north are regarded or described as either few ethnic or religious sentimentalists, who out of pure mischief want to break up the north on the lame excuse that they are being unfairly treated to achieve their separalist goal or stooges of a south bent on slicing off a large chunck of the electoral votes of the north so as to cripple the region politically. Perhaps more than anyone, the Sardauna of Sokoto and the NPC made sure a middle Belt region did not materialize. Today his main followers are still keeping the flames of a united north and the anti-middle Belt stance alive.

Do those who deny the existence of a middle Belt have a point? Yes, they do to the extent that while there was an agitation for the region, the effort was never successful. So legally speaking, there was never a middle Belt region, if the argument is about what was in existence rather than what the people wanted but failed to get . The anti-middle group may have another point if those promoting the cause of a separate identity of area give the impression that the issue is more about religion than geographcal, historical circumstances and genuine minorities fears. Nothing gives those who do not like the idea of a middle Belt better amunition than the impression that it is about religious exclusivity for one religious group. And yet religion, in this case, Christianity, can not be promoted as the binding factor since to do so would exclude Moslems who however happen to form a significant percentage of the population. Christians may be in the majority, but and a quest for this identity has to have the ability of carrying along everyone, irrespective of faith or ethnicity.

However geography and history are more plausible factors the agitators of middle Belt cause can advance? Geographically, the area straddle the middle of the country, giving some of the people here an outlook and orientation that some places are quite different and distinct from the upper north. A large number of the ethnic groups here also share a common history of occupation and domination by the bigger groups in the far north. Common and shared historical experience has become for such groups a rallying factor for identity and unity. The fact that most of the groups are minorities in the midst of the dominant Hausa-Fulani and Kanuris has to some extent helped to instill a sense of solidarity to enhance their ability to ward-off domination, real or imagined.

All these are factors behind which a case for the middle Belt can be built. They are issues that cut across the whole area and not limited to a part of it or some group. On the other hand while some may feel religion is not insignificant, the fact still remains that its elevation will divide rather than unite the area, an outcome those who truly desire a united middle Belt cannot hope for.

So then, do the two sides have valid cases? It may seem so. Those who reject or do not believe in the middle Belt may have legality on their side. On the other hand, geography and history seem to support the cause of the advocates of the middle Belt. In the final analysis though, it may be history, perception, a sense of identity among the people and the nature of the state that will define the reality of the middle Belt rather than what the political elite from both the anti and pro group say, do or want.