National Treasurer of the Middle Belt Forum, Ben Akaakar, has said Miyetti Allah are still claiming territories that are not theirs and committing atrocities across the middle belt and other parts of the country with impunity, but it seems leaders in the country are preoccupied with 2023 presidential election, rather than the plight of the people.
He said unless these issues are addressed, whoever becomes president in the next election will not resolve the issue magically.
Akaakar who is the leader of the Mzough-U-Tiv socio cultural group in Port Harcourt, made the statement during an interview with Daily Sun, in response to questions on 2023 presidential race.
He said, "Before we even go to the presidency, we even think that the presidential system we are operating now is faulty and has outlived its usefulness. And that’s why we are calling for restructuring.
"The present government has shown so much lack of capacity to tackle issues whether you call them economic issues, its lack of capacity.
"For us in the Middle Belt Forum, 2023 is not even a magic year. The pitfalls that we have now such as the herdsmen challenge, the issue of Miyetti Allah coming out brazenly to claim that their people have murdered or eliminated or ransacked communities because maybe, they rustled their cattle or they did some things that are not acceptable to them.
And none of them has been arrested or brought to book. And they continue to claim territories that do not belong to them with the native people who own the land being murdered in cold blood.
"As long as these things continue unchecked by the federal or state government or even by the local government or the traditional institution, 2023 will not bring a magical solution.
We must first address these fundamental hiccups in the society, then whatever system of government we agree on that going forward in 2023, will be what evolves out of what the people want.
It’s easy especially in this era of social media communication to get a consensus of opinions and know what will work for most Nigerians to do this. 2023 as far as the issue of governance is concerned, the Middle Belt Forum is for getting people with the right capacity and exposure, people who are still very strong and agile.
"We do not want people who are old and almost a quarter to go. We do not want people who will lead us to our early graves. The situation in most African communities is deplorable. Nigeria should not be part of it.
We need to evolve a crop of new leaders with fresh ideas, agile, dynamic, young, people who are not leading us to our early graves but who are leading us to our desired destinations. That is what the Middle Belt Forum stands for."
Akaakar also insisted that the middle belt is not part of the North. He said those not in agreement are only doing so for their respective pockets.
"It is a very difficult matter with divergent interests. People go to where their interests are being nurtured.
People go to where they feel they can eke out their own living or meet their needs. Because of this, there are groups that exploit these differences instead of exploiting them in a positive manner to advance the society, they want to exploit them in a divisive manner to bring us down."
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