Assessing Tinubu’s govt: Middle Belt not carried along in Summit — Dr Bitrus, MBF president

In this interview with Weekend Trust, the president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Pogu Bitrus spoke on how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is handling the affairs of the North, 2027 elections and challenges in the Middle Belt region.   The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation organised a summit in Kaduna recently; was the […]

In this interview with Weekend Trust, the president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Pogu Bitrus spoke on how President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is handling the affairs of the North, 2027 elections and challenges in the Middle Belt region.

 

The Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation organised a summit in Kaduna recently; was the Middle Belt Forum invited? 

We were not invited; it was just an informal discussion with one of the organisers, so I wouldn’t say the Middle Belt was invited.

Also, while they were having it, General A.T. Ahmed from Taraba called to tell me that it was on and I was supposed to deliver a goodwill message or whatever. But I said I was not invited and didn’t want to burst into people’s activities.

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So, you see, our northern brothers feel that we are appendages; and that is due to the colonial arrangement of indirect rule. They didn’t conquer us. We were not their colonies, but the British decided to place many of us under their tutelage and they think they own us. Unfortunately, nobody owns me. 

 

What do you make of the summit? What does it portend for the future of the North? 

One cannot comment on something he didn’t participate in. Even the minute or content of the meeting was not disposed or given to me. So I can’t comment on what I don’t know anything about. All I know is that a meeting held for nearly two days. People in their capacities were invited and they had their presentation, but we were not. Somebody told me that Akume made a good presentation on behalf of the government, but it was because he was invited.

I belong to a small nation that is not as big as the Tiv. So, maybe Akume was invited based on the status of the Tiv nation, I don’t know. Or was he invited as the secretary to the government? I don’t know. The agenda is not even known to me, so it would be unfair to comment on something I know little about.

 

Is the Middle Belt Forum worried that they were not invited?

No. In fact, we are happy about this because it means that the demarcation of what is the North is being well defined – that they have their thing and the Middle Belt is not part of it.

Unfortunately, however, they invited the 19 northern states. Out of those 19 northern states, if you are talking of governors, yes, but if you are talking of the people, I can assure you that more than 40 per cent are Middle Belters.

So, right from Zuru and Yauri – who were part of the Niger Province, now in Kebbi – coming right down to southern Kaduna, Plateau, parts of Bauchi, southern Gombe, southern Borno and all that – are Middle Belters.

In the North we are talking of, the Middle Belt people constitute more than 40 per cent. So what are they talking about? Is it about empty, populated or occupied land? 

 

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and some northern politicians, including a former governor of Kano State, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, have accused the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration of sidelining the North in terms of key projects and appointments. What is your view? 

First and foremost, we should look at this from different angles. When President Tinubu was coming into office, he said he would follow the footsteps of General Buhari. And Buhari was the one who proved that nepotism could be practised openly in Nigeria.

If that is what Tinubu said he would do, then they can’t blame him now. He is simply doing what Buhari did – serving his own region.

What we are experiencing is unfortunate, but it just confirms that we are not really a nation. We are a set of components forced to live together. Each leader serves his own.

Buhari served the North, and now, Tinubu is serving the South.

 

What about the Middle Belt specifically? Has the government done anything noteworthy for the region in the last two years?

Within the Middle Belt, we haven’t seen anything special. Yes, we have the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and I must say we now have a minister who stands out. No minister has developed the FCT like Wike, except maybe El-Rufai, who did a few things. But even those things have been overshadowed.

Our main concern has been security. Our people are hardworking, mostly farmers. If there is security they will thrive. But that is still a big issue. Many can’t go to their farms. And we still have a large number of displaced people in the Middle Belt.

When the far North complains, I don’t think they understand our reality. Their problems are different, but in the end, insecurity affects us all. Let’s be honest, much of it originated from the North. Whether it is Boko Haram or herdsmen militias, they all have roots in the North.

So blaming the president is baseless. Yes, he is showing signs of nepotism, but so did Buhari; and Tinubu didn’t hide his intentions. He said he would follow Buhari’s example.

 

Is the All Progressives Congress (APC) to blame?

It is an APC problem. From the start, there was heavy propaganda against Goodluck Jonathan, but from Buhari till now, the APC has underperformed. Compare that with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) era – Obasanjo, Yar’adua, Jonathan – it is clear that the APC relies more on propaganda than performance.

In the Middle Belt, we are mostly onlookers. People might say we have been given key appointments like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), but those ones come with little real power. The SGF’s duties have been diluted and the CDS doesn’t control troops; he only coordinates.

Now, we have a national chairman of the APC from Plateau; that’s something. It shows the president recognises the role the Middle Belt played in 2023. When we supported Peter Obi, it was phenomenal. If we support Tinubu, the impact would be the same. That may be why he appointed someone from the Middle Belt.

 

Do you think the North has the capacity to remove the president in 2027?

Not really. The so-called monolithic North doesn’t exist anymore. They are good at propaganda, but they still control much of the national security apparatus. The National Security Adviser (NSA), minister of defense and even departments under them are dominated by northerners. So why are they complaining? Even in Kano, no single leader can dictate votes. The history of Kano shows independence – from the First Republic till now. It is the same with parts of Kaduna, where they vote more like the Middle Belt than North-East.

 So, if you remove Kano and Kaduna, where else in the North-West would you get the numbers to unseat a sitting president?

 

Do you think that can change how alliances would be formed in 2027?

Absolutely. The alliances of 2023 may not be the same in 2027. If the North-West won’t partner with him, the president will look elsewhere.

But whether President Tinubu continues or someone else comes in, we need leaders who are more nationalistic than sectional. We also need reforms – what some of us call restructuring – to make this country work.

The 1999 Constitution was a military document imposed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar through Professor Yadudu. It is outdated and full of flaws. We need a people-driven constitution that reflects today’s Nigeria. Without restructuring, Nigeria will keep struggling.