Jerry Gana To North: Middle Belt won’t follow you if Nigeria splits

Current National President of the Middle Belt Forum and former Minister of Information, Prof. Jerry Gana, has told northerners preaching division that if Nigeria breaks, the minorities in the Middle Belt will not follow them.

Gana said this while delivering a sermon at the St. Matthew’s Church, Maitama, Diocese of Abuja (Anglican Communion), in Abuja on Sunday.

The Middle Belt is believed to have the largest number of ethnic groups in Nigeria.

The former minister, who was the guest preacher, therefore, lambasted the Coalition of Arewa Youth Groups for issuing a quit notice to Igbo living in the North.

Gana said, “They think when it comes to break-up, we will go along with the North. We have already told them that if they allow this country to break up, we are not going with the North. We are staying where we are. So, just take notice. If it comes to that, we will tell you that you are Arewa and we are ‘Middle-Belters.’

“We love Nigeria and it was changed to a federal system because of the minorities so that we can have a place. So, we love Nigeria but in the unlikely event that people want to go their way, the Arewa in the Sahel will go. But we will remain here in the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The former minister also slammed a former Vice-Chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University and the spokesperson for the Northern Elders Forum, Prof. Ango Abdullahi, for supporting the quit notice issued by the northern youths.