In Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Forum has called for the establishment of a regional system of government in which each region would be able to meet its own requirements by making use of the natural resources, educational quality, political prowess, and agricultural production of that region.
It also stated that the marginalisation of the North Central region necessitates the need for a regional government.
The call was made by the Chairman of the forum, Alhaji Saleh Mandung Zazzaga, while speaking with journalists in Jos, the Plateau State Capital, on Friday, over what he termed ‘Issues of urgent national importance.’
He said the North Central has contributed a lot to the nation in terms of agriculture, education, natural resources, political contributions to government, and the emergence of national leaders, among other vital national contributions, but yet has been marginalised over the years.
They have been politically marginalised, according to the chairman. He said that the region is also the nation’s food basket, especially because of the agricultural products from Benue, Plateau, Niger, Kogi, and other places. yet, their agrarian strength isn’t augmented at the public level to deal with the food security of the district.
Similarly, he said, they have natural resources like tin and various other natural endowments, which can take care of the region’s economic needs, but are not yet well maximized for the economic prosperity of the people.
Also, he said that since the democratic dispensation from 1999, the region has contributed to the growth of democracy and the emergence of many national leaders as well as presidents, but are somewhat marginalised in terms of political appointments, for example, the recently contentious APC National Chairmanship position which is being taken to the North West.
“Thus, after cautious thought of how underestimated we have been in this country regardless of our enrichment’s and commitments to public turn of events, we, the North Central APC Forum, are calling for the regional system of government.
“Since the regional system of government is a political framework where power is divided among constituent political units, such as regions or states, we are, therefore, calling for the adoption of such a system so that each region in the nation can use their endowments to develop themselves without any fear of marginalization.
“Meanwhile, the federal government would still be responsible for matters such as national security, foreign affairs, and regulation of interstate or inter-region commerce, while the regions would have powers to administer their respective regions,” he said.
Zazzaga claims that their goal is to improve the North Central Zone. They are actively pursuing political and economic initiatives that would benefit the region and will continue to push for its advancement until they achieve their goal.
Zazzaga said as loyal APC leaders, they have been working for the success of the North Central region and have collaborated with leaders of other parties and stakeholders from the region in this regard, irrespective of ethno-religious or political affiliations.
He explained that using their forum to project the North Central region is legitimate, pointing out that even among the governors, legislators, and local government chairmen, there have party or regional forums to push for their common interests.
