Northern minorities are calling for the restructuring of Nigeria into three regions: the South, the Middle-Belt, and the North.
Under the Coalition of Indigenous Middle Belt Organisations (CIMBO), these ethnic nationalities convened a conference in Kaduna where they also demanded the rewriting of the current 1999 constitution. They believe that restructuring and establishing a new ‘people’s constitution’ are essential for achieving peace and development in Nigeria.
A communiqué issued at the conclusion of the two-day conference proposed that the recommendations from the 2014 national conference should serve as the foundation for this restructuring.
During the conference, Professor Ejeikwu Emmanuel Oloja presented a paper titled “The Position of the Middle Belt on Restructuring, Boundary Adjustments, and Constitutional Review,” which advocated for the division of Nigeria into the South, Middle-Belt, and Northern regions.
He argued that a restructured Nigeria, comprised of multiple units, would promote true federalism, reduce corruption, and lessen the reliance on federal allocations. This, in turn, would heighten the struggle for resource control.
The conference communiqué, co-signed by Chairman Timothy Barau Gandu and Secretary Prof. Emmanuel O. Ejeikwu, emphasized that the call for restructuring is more urgent than ever, particularly due to the significant growth and diversity of the Middle Belt’s population, which is estimated to be 44 million as of June 2024.
