Recently, the Governors of the South West states were reported to launch regional electricity and rail projects. This comes at the back of their successful launch of their regional security outfit “Amotekun” which in the past days reportedly was able to drive out a large portion of the criminal terrorists known as “Fulani herdsmen” from their bushes.
A Middle Belt organization known as the Middle Belt Patriots, a movement focused on the economic and political emancipation of the Middle Belt people has urged the governors of the Middle Belt states to emulate their Southwest counterparts in setting up similar structures in the Middle belt.
In a statement signed by the secretary of the group Steven Kefas and made available to newsmen on Friday, Kefas said: “The Middle Belt emancipation must be multidimensional. We must not only be focused on solving the security issues in our region, but rather, we must also ensure to develop our region in terms of infrastructure and social programs.
We must strive to continue the policies of the first Middle Belt political party which went into the infamous alliance with Awolowo’s Action Group which prioritized regional solidarity, education, agriculture, and social welfare schemes for the people of the Middle Belt.
Currently, we lag behind all the Southern States and if we are to catch up with them, we need to be proactive”.
The group said its past alliance with the core north has benefited the people of the Middle Belt nothing other than blood, tears and sorrow. It said the time has come for the Middle Belt to forge a new alliance across the Niger that will benefit its people.