The
North, the Middle Belt and By Sam
Nda-Isaiah Sam@nigeriaunlimited.com
Today,
I am going to be rude. And about time too. A few days ago, Solomon Lar, Walin
Langtang, former governor of Chief
Lar is in the same confused league with Alhaji Tanko Yakassai. In 1999,
when the emergent government of Olusegun Obasanjo appointed General
Victor Malu from Benue State, chief of army staff, Air Vice Marshal
Isaac Alfa from Kogi State, chief of air staff and Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi
from Kogi State, chief of defence staff, to complement General T.Y.
Danjuma, the newly appointed minister of defence, Yakassai, in a state
of absentmindedness, blurted out in fury, declaring that the “North”
was being marginalised in the military, meaning that these four
soldiers, were not northerners. The implication is that they belong to
Solomon Lar’s Middle Belt. Therefore, Yakassai agreed with Lar (both
of whom have many things in common) that the Middle Belt was not part of
the North. But they and their ilk are liars. They want to destroy the
North in service of some funny ambition. In fact, both Yakassai and Lar
are small minded, puny little men who would do anything to gain
relevance. Is it possible to be more northern than General Danjuma for
instance? Where was Yakassai when, as a young major in the Nigerian
army, Danjuma risked his life in the name of the North (and for its
sake) to effect the arrest of the then much dreaded General Aguiyi
Ironsi? Apart from positioning himself to receive the spoils that come
with parading himself as a northerner especially in those days, has
Yakassai ever taken any risk for the North? There was a time in the Sardauna’s
office, when Ade John, Silas Daniyan and Sunday Awoniyi were in charge
of the day-to-day affairs of the premier’s office. Yakassai would have
complained that these three from the same area were not northerners. The
Sardauna I was told, never used the term “far North” or
“Middle Belt” and even the late Joseph Tarka, who was the genuine
champion of Middle Belt causes, knew the limits of politics and he
retreated when he needed to. It
is clear that those who agitate for a separate Middle Belt identity do
so to continue to remain relevant and position themselves and their
families for some gain in the name of a non-existent fraternity.
Politically, there can never be any such thing as Middle Belt. I do not
know what a Tiv, a Tarok, a Nupe and a Kabba man, have in common
politically to discuss and take common positions. The so-called Middle
Belt is too disparate and heterogeneous, and worse still, most of the
ethnic groups lack any historical or cultural consanguinity. That is
why, in spite of all the cacophony about its existence, people like
Solomon Lar will keep on threatening and lamenting the lack of
recognition for it. But members of the states that make up the North
have historical and cultural affinity. It was only in 1914 that the
Northern and Southern protectorates were merged. If Lar feels so
strongly about the Middle Belt, he should name one single thing he has
done for the Middle Belters in all his public service years, either as a
minister or even as chairman of the ruling party. He should name one
single person that he has developed. The only people he appeared to have
developed are Bernie, his daughter, who holds a certain appointment in
the presidency and his wife, Professor Mary Nanwor (who by the way is an
excellent lady), now an ambassador to The Netherlands. The Wali
has obviously sorted out his home, every other person can go to hell.
When Dr. Iyorchia Ayu, another acclaimed Middle Belter, was Senate
President, virtually every staff member of the then Senate, starting
from George Akume, the current governor of Benue State, who was special
assistant to the Senate President then and most of other staff members
appointed by the Ayu Senate were Tiv. Instead
of standing up for their people, they only use the peoples’ plight as
a bargaining chip. In the aftermath of the official massacre of the Tiv
in Zaki-Biam by the Obasanjo government, Ayu, who was then out of power
– after being disgraced and sacked by the president as minister of
industries while in hospital recuperating from an illness – declared
that the Tivs would never vote Obasanjo again. He said the president had
betrayed the Tivs and said so many horrible things against him. But in
the countdown to the 2003 elections after Obasanjo had promised to
reappoint him a minister, he recanted, declaring on behalf of no one
particularly, that the Tivs had forgiven Obasanjo. He is now a minister.
Third time minister! This is not to imply in anyway that the Tiv voted
for Obasanjo. This is why there is so much tension in Tivland and people
continue getting killed daily. Dan Suleiman is now Nigerian ambassador
to Moscow. So, he is now likely to be quiet for some time but we all
remember that at different times in the past when he was without
appointment or relevance, he was either a rabid Middle Belt agitator or
a fleeing rambunctious NADECO chieftain. The
Middle Belt as carved out by Solomon Lar & co includes the southern
and minority parts of Kebbi, which annexes Zuru. General Ishaya Bamaiyi,
former chief of army staff, who has been in detention since Obasanjo
came to power over unsubstantiated allegation of the attempted murder of
Mr Alex Ibru, belongs to the Zuru ethnic group. One would have thought
that the Middle Belters (so called) would have been on top of their
voices, babbling against the injustice of keeping the former chief of
army staff perpetually in prison while releasing Iyiola Omisore, the
prime suspect in Bola Ige’s murder or even Ganiyu Adams, who we all
know leads a murderous gang. But they will not talk. Talking will affect
their appointment as ambassadors and ministers. Has Chief Lar seen the
list of those recently arrested for security breach? The list does not
differentiate the North from the Middle Belt. Sometimes, it is even
difficult to tell what the agitators want. In the early 90s, General
Ibrahim Babangida appointed Mrs. Pamela Sadauki the deputy governor of
Kaduna State. He thought by doing that, he would be solving a
long-standing problem in Kaduna State. Mrs. Sadauki is Christian and
Hausa/Fulani. But Babangida was shocked when some prominent Middle
Belters from southern Kaduna still complained they were being
marginalised. They complained that Sadauki favoured her Hausa/Fulani
stock in all her decisions. The then deputy governor was said to have
been taken aback because she thought being a Christian would assuage the
southern Kaduna people, who are mainly Christians. The
several Middle Belt groups were not formed for the welfare and well
being of the people, but the political bargaining power of their
promoters. And the people of these areas know it. That is why even
though Solomon Lar was chairman of the PDP, Langtang voted ANPP. Lar
told his people that they are not northerners; Jerry Useni of the ANPP
said they are northerners. In the House of Representatives contest
between Bernie Lar (the Wali’s daughter) of the PDP and Victor
Lar (Useni’s boy) of the ANPP, the people passed their verdict. Victor
Lar is now the member representing the Tarok in the House of
Representatives. It is noteworthy that the Langtang election was one of
the very few, Obasanjo and his men could not rig. To
be sure, there is nothing wrong with the idea of a Middle Belt, just
like there is nothing untoward with the concept of CAN, JNI, Northern
Christian Elders and all the other sub-groupings in the North, if the
idea would be to take up certain noble causes of the people. But this
cannot conceivably be done outside the purview of the North no matter
how one tries. As a Christian, I am a member of the Christian
Association of Nigeria (CAN). In fact, I remember the late Jolly Tanko
Yusuf saying that the Sardauna encouraged him to form CAN in the
North during the First Republic. As Jerry Useni said last week, the
Middle Belt is part of the North and nobody can do anything about that.
And there is no one northerner that is superior to the other. That is
why all the 19 state governors of the North meet regularly on equal
basis to discuss the common problems of their people. And one must agree
that there are a lot of problems, many of which border on the very
existence of the people. Those who call themselves Middle Belt leaders
can engage themselves meaningfully in resolving the intractable
internecine wars between the Tivs and Jukuns, Jukuns and Kutebs, Tarok
and Hausa/Fulani, Christians and Muslims and the nebulous
indigene/settler syndrome. But they will not do that because it is not
one of their objectives. Most of them instead stoke the wars by the
rubbish that comes out of their mouths. But
it must also be said that Solomon Lar & co did not start this
problem. I have researched and asked a lot of questions from both sides
and my conclusion as recorded in this column in an article entitled: Danjuma,
The Making of a General (November 17, 2003), is that General
Shehu Musa Yar’Adua’s ambition (wittingly or unwittingly) worsened
the chasm, which in any case had always existed but was subdued to
manageable levels. Because General T.Y. Danjuma was by far
Yar’Adua’s superior, he (Yar’Adua) needed to create his own power
base outside the traditional one that would have made Danjuma the leader
of the North. He succeeded, but that divided the North. And seeing a
fissure, petty minded people seized the opportunity with Danjuma to
promote their own agenda. It got worse when Danjuma left the army
because they needed his money and stature to continue to flower the
divisions. But again, Danjuma was never invited to many of the Northern
Elders Meetings. Many people, including Danjuma, I was told, found that
amusing. I remember that Adamu Adamu, has had cause to rebuke certain
northern elders on the futility of convening any northern meeting that
excludes the former minister of defence. Malam Adamu told one of them
pointedly not long ago, that Danjuma was their leader. But
it is not only the elders that are guilty of this suicide politics. I
have a very close friend who regularly organises a Northern interest
meeting, at his office not far away from my own office. He invites
almost everyone, most of whom are my friends and colleagues to that
meeting but not me. I do not know what makes him or any of those who he
invites more northern than myself. But it was when Malam Kabiru Yusuf,
Publisher of Daily Trust/Weekly Trust, who was probably surprised
that I was not part of that meeting told me that the gathering actually
started a long time ago as “The Buhari Support Group” that I burst
into laughter. Why did I laugh? Because, none of those who attend the
meetings can claim to be more Buhari than me. Truth be told, probably
only Buhari himself can claim to be more Buhari than me – for clearly
very good and unsentimental reasons of course. Obviously, the North
needs to put its house in order fast. As, without a very strong North,
Nigeria will continue to remain weak! Sam
Nda-Isaiah is the Publisher of Leadership Confidential
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