EXCERPTS
“The Middle Belt Movement was formed in 1949, and it was called the ‘Non – Muslim League.’
It was a reflection of the shared perception on the part of the people later to be known as Middle Belt.
What they had in common was a desire to be free of the Muslim North political control that was to be implemented throughout the Northern Region as a prelude to decolonization.”
INTRODUCTION
As at 2025, one hundred and eleven (111) years after the amalgamation of Northern and Southern protectorates, seventy six (76) years after the formation of the Middle Belt Movement, sixty five (65) years after Nigeria’s independence, sixty two (62) years after the botched creation of the so called Middle Belt Region – the hostility, fears of negect and domination as well as the circumstances that would have led to freedom seems to be as elusive as a mirage to the Middle Belt.
Today, this situation is such that it leaves much to be desired.
Regrettably, the arrival of Muhammadu Buhari and the likes of Nasir El Rufai’s government policies from 2015 – 2023 unfortunately eroded the little gains that the Middle Belt region especially Benue, Plateau, Southern Kaduna, Southern Borno, Adamawa, and the rest had garnered over the years.
Unfortunately, this development have led to catastrophic consequences. The Middle Belt region had been visciously plundered, deliberately ignored, and mercilessly decimated and abandoned. They have wickedly and arrogantly stripped the Middle Belt nationalities stark naked in the public square arena.
WHAT CONSTITUTES THE MIDDLE BELT ?
The Middle Belt is a loosely defined area located between the Muslim Hausa/Fulani dominated North, the predominantly Christian Igbo South Eastern Region, the Mid West Region, and the Yoruba Southwest Region.
According to demographic/linguistic data, the Middle Belt has an extremely diverse ethnic population. There are well over 250 ethnic groups speaking over 400 languages.
The Middle Belt people are warriors whose bravery remains the uniting pivot of the Nigerian state. They are committed to the liberation of Ethnic Nationalities of the region. They are independent of the Sokoto Caliphate and the Sultanate of Borno when the British came in 1900.
As warriors as they are, they have over the several centuries provided the Nigerian Nation the bulk of men in the armed forces for both internal and foreign military operations.
The Middle Belt region refers to Nigeria’s centrally located areas and states of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Plateau, Taraba, Niger, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Southern Kaduna, Southern Borno, southern Adamawa, southern Kebbi, southern Gombe, southern Yobe, and the Federal Capital Territory.
They have their different languages, a unique culture and tradition that is rich but completely different from the Hausa/Fulani.
FORMATION OF THE MIDDLE BELT MOVEMENT
The Middle Belt Movement was formed in 1949, and it was initially called the ‘Non – Muslim League.’
It was a reflection of the shared perception on the part of those to be later identified as the Middle Belt.
“What they had in common was a desire to be free of the Muslim North political control that was to be implemented throughout the Northern Region as a prelude to decolonization.” – Turaki (2007)
POLITICAL ROLE AND INTERVENTION OF THE THEN CHIEF OF KAGORO MALLAM GWAMNA AWAN IN THE FORMATION OF THE MIDDLE BELT FORUM (MBF)
As a member of the Northern House of Chiefs, the chief of Kagoro Mallam Gwamna Awan intervened on several fronts to position the Middle Belt strategically in the political affairs of Northern Nigeria despite the obvious odds he encountered.
Sadly though, politics in Nigeria at that time witnessed the emergence of political parties on tribal and regional basis.
While the Action Group (AG) was the political party for the Western region, the NCNC was the political party for the Eastern region, with the NPC and NEPU as the political parties for the Northern region.
Unfortunately, these political alignments became a development that left the people from the so called Middle Belt sidelined without a political platform of their own.
Realizing the obvious impending disadvantages this would mean to the people of the Middle Belt region, Mallam Gwamna Awan invited some notable leaders from the region for strategic talks and planning.
Achimugu, Aleidaino, Pastor David Lot, Patrick Dokotry, Rev. Bagaiya Nwaya, Haruna Kwoi, Joseph Tarkar, Godwin Daboh, were among the few invited for the talks on the way forward.
At this talks, Chief Gwamna Awan told them to see the hand writing on the political wall of Nigeria. In his address, he said – “There is the need for us to form a forum through which the Middle Belt region would participate in the politics of the country, otherwise, by the time other regions of Nigeria would be enjoying the benefits of politics, this our area will not have such benefits. This dream can only be realised if we wake up and move along with other areas” – Gandu (2005).
At the end of this consultation, the Middle Belt Forum (NBF) was formed in 1949.
The Middle Belt Forum was envissaged as a sociocultural organization representing the collective interest of the indigenouse ethnic nationalities of the Middle Belt Region.
Without any equivocation, the Middle Belt Forum is committed to justice, equity, and fairness for all, and the promotion of egalitarianism.
It was this Middle Belt Forum (MBF) that later gave birth to the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC), a political party for the Middle Belt.
Having achieved his objectives, Chief Gwamna Awan quitted political activism to face his royal duties as Chief of Kagoro as well as his legislative sessions as member of the Northern House of Chiefs.
Since its formation in 1949 to date, the Middle Belt Forum (NBF) assumed the role of a regional socio political group in Nigeria, serving as a voice and promoter of the interest of the people of the Middle Belt region. This, they have continued to do through advocacy, representation and forming alliances with other regional blocks like Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), other Southern/Niger Delta groups, Afenifere, and Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo.
LEADERSHIP OF THE MIDDLE BELT STRUGGLE : 1949 – 2025
In addition to the list of founding fathers of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) Party as already highlighted above, other leaders that sustained the interest of the Middle Belt Nationalities in a pluralistic Nigeria, as well as the struggle for the realisation of a Middle Belt region include Chief Solomon Lar, Pius Atta, Isaac Shaahu, Wilberforce Juta, Cornelius Adebayo, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, Dr. Obadiah Mailafiya, and Dr. Bitrus Pogu, just to mention a few.
From Chief Gwamna Awan to the present (2025) leader Dr. Bitrus Pogu, each of them had sacrificed a great deal to the Middle Belt struggle.
Long live Nigeria.
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