Middle Belt Crossroads: A Region Seeking Identity & Autonomy

By JULIET EKANEM

STRETCHING across the heart of Nigeria is the Middle Belt — a culturally rich and politically complex region whose identity has long been overshadowed by the country’s North–South power struggle. Home to a mosaic of ethnic groups including the Tiv, Idoma, Berom, Jukun, Gwari, Igbo, Yoruba, Igala and many others, the Middle Belt has never been culturally homogeneous, nor fully aligned with the predominantly Hausa–Fulani North.

For decades, communities in this zone have voiced concerns about political marginalisation, resource neglect, and being drawn into conflicts shaped by identities not their own. Many feel their histories, languages, and faith systems are often flattened into a broad “Northern” label that fails to capture their diversity or aspirations.

This tension has resurfaced in national conversations: If the Middle Belt had a choice, where would it stand?

Would it remain tied to the Northern political bloc? Align with emergent regional movements like Biafra? Or pursue its own autonomous destiny?

Increasingly, the sentiment across the region is that the Middle Belt is not a cultural appendage of the North nor an ideological extension of the South. Its people insist on recognition as a distinct political force with the right to self-determination — whether within a restructured Nigeria or as a region with greater autonomy over security, governance, and cultural preservation.

Underlying this demand is a deeper truth: the Middle Belt is tired of being the battleground for national tensions and the buffer zone between competing identities. Its communities want the freedom to define their future based on their own values, priorities, and sense of belonging.

The larger question now shifts to the national stage:

Should the Middle Belt finally be allowed to determine its political destiny — or remain within the current structure of Nigeria?