A former Attorney General of Kaduna state, Mark Jacob Nzamah Esq, has clarified on the difference between the Middle Belt and Northern Nigeria. Jacob who made the distinction at House of Justice, said the Middle Belt was insoluble in the north and the most victimized region in the contraption called Nigeria.
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Lamenting on how the Middle Belt was fused together into a ” so-called North” with no concrete terms under which the relationship should exist, Jacob who is also a former National Legal Adviser of the Peoples’ Democratic Party said that the Middle Belt was the first and consistent victim of mass atrocities perpetrated by terrorist bandits. He said although mainstream media wrongly projects the situation as “Farmer- Herder conflict” which has co-perpetrators, there is only one set of victims.
‘ The insecurity, banditry and food shortage which the country now currently faces, has long been the fate of the Middle Belt. Sadly, our Southern counterparts with whom we have more in common are yet to understand that there’s a huge difference between indigenes of the Middle Belt and those from the ‘core north’ and so categorize us all as ‘Northerners’.
Responding to the Asaba Declaration by Southern Governors, Jacob said it was a ray of hope and a pointer that help is on the way and the challenges being faced by the Middle Belt will soon be a thing of the past.
Ariyo Dare Atoye, a former Ekiti state gubernatorial aspirant, described as ‘unfair and unjust’, the mode of political appointments under the Buhari administration. Ariyo who was guest along with Hon. Mark Jacob, and Chinenye Uwanaka, the C.E.O. of the FALI Group, said restructuring would allow for devolution of political powers and ensure greater autonomy over state resources.
He praised the Southern Governors on the Asaba Declaration stating that the single agenda of the meeting had other components geared towards ensuring security, peace and welfare of the people in Nigeria.
On her part, Chinenye Uwanaka Esq who responded to the question on whether the eastern part of Nigeria was dealing with a different set of security issues from those captured in the Southern Governors’ resolution, said there was an existing leadership vacuum in most of the eastern states and youths in the region fill up the gap by following the likes of Nnamdi Kanu.
” I am Igbo. The idea of ‘One Nigeria’ appeals to me but it has to be on fair and agreeable terms, ” she said.
The House of Justice is a weekly international media syndicate on justice and governance. Hosted by Gloria Mabeiam Ballason, it airs every Thursday 15:00hrs (WAT) on the HOJRadio/Tv cable network.
To listen live: http://www.houseofjusticeng.com/house-of-justice-radio
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