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Nigeria: Middle Belt Youth Forum Demands Presidency, Rejects Northern Label

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In late 2025 and early 2026, the Middle Belt Youth Forum (MBYF) and its affiliates intensified their demands for political autonomy, specifically calling for the Nigerian presidency and a total rejection of the "Northern" label.

Key Demands & Rejections

Presidency Claims: The forum argues that the Middle Belt has been historically marginalized and deserves to produce the President to ensure equitable representation. This follows years of strategic alliances with Southern leaders who previously agreed that the North had exhausted its "eight-year" presidential tenure after 2023.

Rejection of the "North" Label: Youth leaders and protesters have explicitly stated, "Middle Belt is not North". They reject being grouped under "One North" or the "Arewa" umbrella, citing distinct cultural, historical, and religious identities.

Separate Identity: Protesters in late 2025 demanded official recognition of the Middle Belt as a distinct geopolitical region, including its own development commission.

Constitutional Restructuring: The Middle Belt Forum (MBF) continues to push for a restructured Nigeria, advocating for a parliamentary system or greater regional autonomy to protect minority interests from the dominance of "core" Northern politics.

Defined Middle Belt Region

The forum defines the Middle Belt as comprising:

Core States: Benue, Plateau, Nasarawa, Taraba, Kogi, and Kwara.

Sub-Regions: Adamawa, southern Kaduna, southern Kebbi, southern Bauchi, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Recent Context

Protests: In late 2025, one of the largest public demonstrations of Middle Belt identity occurred, with leaders presenting a formal demand letter to the Presidential Villa.

Counter-Movements: The forum has strongly denounced proponents of an "Arewa Republic," pledging to fight for their rights within a united, inclusive Nigeria rather than a fractured Northern entity. 

Meanwhile, the president of the Middle Belt Forum (MBF), Dr Pogu Bitrus, has said the Middle Belt is not out to destabilize the North politically.

MBF rejected claims that the Middle Belt is a recent political invention aimed at destabilising the North, describing such opinion as historically inaccurate and intended to undermine the Middle Belt’s growing political consciousness.

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