Southern and Middle Belt leaders have rejected the proposal by Arewa leaders to include the Middle Belt in the geopolitical configuration of the North.

The African Sociocultural Harmony and Enlightenment (ASHE) Foundation, which made this known in a statement, said that the continued classification of the Middle Belt as part of Arewa amounts to an endorsement of undue politics.

In the statement signed on behalf of the southern leaders by the Foundation’s President, Prince Justice Faloye, the group stated that lumping the Middle Belt as part of the North amounts to continuous marginalization of the region.

Reacting to the recent 25th anniversary of the Arewa Consultative Forum, ASHE Foundation said the body’s identity represents the historical continuation of the Sokoto and Bornu empires, whose “Afro-Arabian imperialistic agenda” sought the political domination and cultural erasure of both the South and Middle Belt.

The group noted that this legacy explains why the South and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF), chaired by Afenifere leader, HRH Oba Oladipo Olaitan, was absent from the event in Kaduna.

Faloye said the colonial decision to group Middle Belt ethnic nationalities under the Northern Protectorate—despite their cultural and civilisational affinity with the South—resulted in decades of political marginalisation and “genocidal ethnic cleansing” across the region.

He referenced the political outlook of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who consistently preferred alliances with the South and Middle Belt, including the 1958 partnership with the United Middle Belt Peoples Congress.

According to the statement, the creation of SMBLF in 2014 reaffirmed the South–Middle Belt civilizational partnership and exposed what it described as the flaw in Nigeria’s current North–South boundaries, which ASHE argues do not reflect geography or cultural realities. The group accused Arewa of profiting from colonial distortions to promote political exclusion and turning a blind eye to attacks by “herdsmen and jihadists,” which have attracted global condemnation.

Faloye said the decision of some Middle Belt groups to attend the Arewa anniversary contradicted the spirit of the 2014 National Confab, which agreed on far-reaching reforms such as state policing, power devolution, and referendum rights for minorities.

“It would be hypocritical for Middle Belt partners in SMBLF to acknowledge those who have spent a decade sabotaging restructuring,” he said.

He also dismissed the participation of a faction claiming to represent Afenifere at the Kaduna event, describing them as “renegades” reminiscent of the NNDP era and accused them of supporting policies that undermine the poor and promote ethnic exclusion.

Faloye insisted that anyone committed to ending the killings in the Middle Belt must oppose the Arewa framework, which he called “a vehicle for Afro-Arabian imperialism.”

He urged both domestic actors and the international community to intensify advocacy for restructuring and state police to ensure that indigenous communities “protect themselves and enjoy representative governance in their chosen regions.” (Tribune)