historical-perspectives

From several historical accounts, the Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities of the Middle-Belt were migrants into the areas south of the Chad Basin as the northern limits the Upper Benue / Gongola Valleys, and the northern fringes of the rainforest zones of present day Federal Republic of Nigeria. Specifically, these are Peoples’ whose forebearers had lived here, established their communities either as political uautochthonousnits and or state-like structures, prior to AD 1750. Indeed, the Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities of the Middle-Belt are a fusion of the Great Bantu and Afro-Asiatic Negro Stocks. These peoples have lived together and interacted with each other peacefully, as a result of congruencies in their cultures, traditions, ancestral, languages, and societal values. And without any doubts many of them were part of the “Great Kwararafa” empire and civilization. Some established independent political entities of their own with varying forms of political organization, within which sophisticated socio-cultural and economic institutions evolved, as testaments to creative responses to existential and environmental challenges. Although occasional inter-ethnic conflicts were not unknown, these were far apart and made no significant difference to harmonious inter-group relationships in pr-colonial times, thus ensuring the development of “Unity in Diversity” amongst these ‘People’. It is important to therefore to appreciate from the on set, the fact that the history of inter-group interactions by the Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities, despite often wide geographical spatial distances, resulted in significant contributions to the cultural growth of the Middle-Belt region. In these strides, the region was noted generally for its social, economic and political stability, high levels of cross-cultural assimilation that gave rise to unique extant political orientations. These cultural interactions gave rise to cultural symbioses, notwithstanding ethnic peculiarities, which served as bases for unity and common identity in the pre-colonial period.This political situation of the Middle-Belt region, however, was dramatically altered by what has arguably been referred to as the first most destructive insurgencies in the region, from 1804, which was itself the aftermath of Islamic upheavals in the West Arica in the 19th century. The insurgencies contributed to disruption of hitherto harmonious and fruitful inter-group relations among Indigenous ethnic peoples. The political and cultural demise of Sukur kingdom perhaps epitomizes the negative cultural fate suffered by relations among the Indigenous peoples in this period. The reduction of Huba kingdom to political irrelevance also exemplifies the political and cultural lost of the period. So also the destruction and internal displacement of the Bwata dynasties. Further, the pacification of the Middle-Belt region by Europeans, and particularly the British Colonialist from 1860-1960, brought profound changes which resulted in new socio-political arrangemernts in the region. However, the foregoing was without due respect or considerations to the long standing characters of the socio- cultural and political institutions that existed in the Middle-Belt region prior to AD1750. Crucial to this was the fact that eventual “Balkanization” of the erstwhile political order, and concomitant (in some cases forcefuly) regrouping of indigenous Ethnic Nationalities under political arrangements, that turned out later to be neo-colonial in conception, structure, organization was the resultant consequence of these incursions. The case of the Yandang people in Mayo Belwa comes to mind. Sadly, some of these developments resulted in reduction in the political pedigree of the Indigenous Ethnic Nationalities, where upon most of the “Peoples” did not recover from the unwholesome sudden revolutions in the region prior and after independence in 1960. Again the experiences of the Hona, Kilba, Bura Yandang, attest to historical realism. Without any doubt, Nigeria at Independence, was an envied enterprise and was globally rated as the indisputable “Giant of Africa”. Yet as years passed by the country was bedeviled by the vicissitudes occasioned by questionable leaderships. Curiously and relevant is the fact that the country’s post- independence leadership continued the notorious negative legacies that disrespected the nature and character of the historical diversities of the Indigenous Peoples of Nigeria. When the post-independence leadership threw Nigeria into one of the darkest moments in the annals of the country (Nigerian civil War of 1967-1970), it was the same denigrated indigenous Ethnic Nationalities of the Middle-Belt that were at the forefront of the defence of national honour, which eventually saved the country from disintegration. Nevertheless, the question now remains: how have their sacrifices impacted on the lives and well being of their kit and kin’s in the northern region? Perhaps yes. Perhaps No