Chief John Dungs, former military administrator of Delta State and one of the founding members of the PDP, is an advocate of separate identity for the people of North-Central. In this interview with Isaac Shobayo, he speaks on the need for power to come to the North-Central, among other topical issues. Excerpt:What is the plan of North-Central concerning 2015'The Middle-Belt, right from independence, has been used as a willing tool during elections. Even during the military it was the same scenario, they would use the Middle-Belt to execute coups and dump them after the success of such coups.They never benefited in terms of development in the North. The Middle-Belt has not had its own share of development; it is a geo-political zone that has been neglected and abandoned. Anytime there is something for the entire North, it is people from a particular part in the North that have been benefitting from positions in government. So, this time around, the Middle-Belt feels that if there is going to be any change of power coming to the North, this is the time the far North should consider conceding power to the North-Central, because all along, before independence and after independence, we have been marginalised in the scheme of things.Even before independence, agitations of negligence led to the Willink Commission that was set up in 1956. The conspiracy that followed that commission ensured that the southern minority didn't have their way, and neither did the northern minority groups. It was only the Mid-Western region that was created. But along the line, during one of the military regimes, six geo-political zones were created; the North-Central was supposed to have been Middle-Belt, but they changed the name to North-Central. In the politics of Nigeria today, people still want to continue to marginalize the northern minorities and this is the time we want to plead with the rest of the country to consider us, if the South is not going to have a shot at the presidency. But if power is coming to the North-Central, it should come to the North-Central.There are many eminent northerners who do not believe in your position. They point to the likes of General Yakubu Gowon, General Ibrahim Babangida (rtd) and General Abubakar Abdulsalami (rtd) who have ruled the country from this geo-political zone. When you talk of the struggle of the northern minorities, the emergence of General Gowon was just by circumstances. If you talk of General Babangida and Abdulsalami, they cannot be said to be real Middle-Belters; they only happen to come from this geo-political zone called the North-Central. In reality, they are more inclined to the core North. They have never been involved in Middle Belt issues or struggle, so they are more aligned with the far North than the Middle-Belt. Yes, Gowon's presidency was just circumstantial and it was the situation at that time that made him to become the head of state. I would not want to go with the argument that the Middle-Belt has ruled this country at a particular time.The saying in certain quarters is that the North-Central lacks the required unity to achieve its aim of producing the next president of Nigeria. Those behind this saying stated that sometimes ago, a forum christened North-Central Governors Forum was formed but got intimidated by the larger Northern Governors Forum and caved in. Is this not a sign of disunity'There has always been conspiracy against the Middle Belt by the core North to achieve political positions. It is glaring that the core North used divide and rule tactics to scuttle the chances of the North-Central governors coming together to actualize common objectives. In fact, the core North people don't want to hear the name middle-Belt; they prefer North-Central, they want to continue to use us to get to the centre and we are not willing to take that anymore. I believe the time is now ripe to have our turn because Nigeria belongs to all of us. If it is a matter of give and take, they should also consider us and allow somebody from the Middle-Belt to rule this country. This is a democratic setting, and concerning the other argument about the military leaders, we should understand that military government is nothing but an aberration, not a democratic setting accepted to all. As far as I am concerned, it shouldn't be power rotation between the North and the South but among the six geo-political zones in the country, that would have been better than the present arrangement of North and South, this would be better if we want to maintain peace and stability in the country. All areas in the country have excellent potentials to rule this country, gone are the days that we have to search, talents abound in all states of the federation.But the grouse of those against the word Middle-Belt in the North is that such areas were carved out using religion as a parameter.The foundation Secretary of the Middle-Belt when he was formed in the 50s was a Christian from the present day Adamawa State, if you read the report of Willink commission, you will see the presentation of the Middle-Belt by both Christians and Muslims.It is not a religious and tribal issue; it is the issue of northern minorities that had been used as willing tools to put people in power, with no development in their areas.That is why people are still clamoring for a National Conference where all the ethnic nationalities in this country would sit to address all these problems confronting Nigeria. Though we have the National Assembly, some of them were not elected by their people, they were just nominated and found their ways into the National Assembly. There is no way out presently; we must have a National Conference to address the issues bothering this nation, nobody wants to break this nation. We want to remain as one country but we must discuss the issues of power, economy and all the issues that affect the country; how they should go around and how we should develop Nigeria. There is the need to reduce power at the centre; more power should go to the states and the local governments.Is the craving for the Presidency in the North-Central based on the contributions of the geo-political zone to the entire nation'The North-Central, otherwise called the Middle Belt, has been the stabilising factor in this country. The name central or middle connotes that we are at the centre; we have been keeping this country together and this is the time for the core North to support the zone without much ado; if they are claiming one North, they must give the Middle Belt the opportunity to have their share.Do you think the people of the North-Central can achieve this dream without the support of the core North and other geo-political zones in the country'Both before and after the independence, the North Central and the South, especially the South-South, have been having common issues and interests to pursue, we have been suffering in the hands of the major groups in the country. We have been discussing and will continue to discuss along this line and we believe that these major groups, especially the far North ,would reason and understand with us. Since there is the likelihood for power to move to the North, if the South South are not contesting again, the rest of the country should support us because of the roles we had played and still playing in the country. I am not babbling, the North-Central is underdeveloped; no industry, most of the viable industries that belong to both the governments of the northern states and the Federal Government are concentrated in Kaduna, Kano, Maiduguri and other states in the core North.There are people in the North-Central who don't believe in the struggle for the emancipation of the geopolitical zone but in what they call one North.The North has often been using divide and rule tactics; so many of us are aware of this. They have been using this to have their way for a very long time. They would call some people and lure them with appointments, so this is not new to us. During the administration of President Obasanjo, some Middle Belters were given the positions of Chief of Air Staff, Chief of Army Staff and other positions, but the clamour in the far North then was that there was no northerners in key positions then, that meant they never believed the North-Central was part of the north. If they claimed we are one north, why were they complaining' They don't want to see people from this part of the country in high positions. This stereotype must stop.
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