Map of Nigeria showing North Central region used to demonstrate the story. (Credit:Google – Researchgate.net)
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – The All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum in North-Central Nigeria has has asked the federal government to adopt a regional system of government to ensure every region becomes resourceful and viable, harnessing the natural and human potential embedded in it.
The Chairman of the Forum, Alhaji Saleh Zazzaga said this in Jos where he insisted that it is imperative to turn regionalism to mitigate marginalisation, especially in the North Central region.
His words, “The North Central has contributed a lot to the nation, in terms of agriculture, education, natural resources, political contributions to government and emergency of national leaders, among other vital national contributions, but yet has been marginalised over the years.
“The region is also the food basket of the nation, bringing in agricultural produce from Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, etc, but their agricultural strength is not maximised at the national level to take care of the food security of the region. The region has natural resources like tin, and others, which can take care of the region’s economic needs, but yet not well maximised for the economic prosperity of the people.
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“Since the democratic dispensation from 1999, the region has contributed to the growth of democracy and the emergence of many national leaders, but are somewhat marginalised in terms of political appointments, for example, the recent contentious APC National Chairmanship position which is being taken to the North West.
“So, after careful consideration of how marginalized we have been in this nation despite our endowments and contributions to national development, we the North Central APC Forum are calling for the regional system of government. Since the regional system of government is a political framework where power is divided among constituent political units, such as regions or States, we are therefore calling for the adoption of such a system so that each region in the nation can use its endowments to develop itself, without any fear of marginalisation.”
He however advocated that “The federal government would still be responsible for matters such as national security, foreign affairs, and regulation of interstate or inter-region commerce, while the regions would have powers to administer their respective regions.”
