● Says move will strip none state actors of historic content to mobilize support
A peacebuilding think tank, Foundation for Peace Professionals, also known as PeacePro, has called on the federal government of Nigeria to rename the six geo-political zones of Nigeria after historic memories.
PeacePro also said that renaming of the geo-political zones would help address some of the fundamental issues being used by none state actors to mobilize public support in their quest for regional solidarity.
In a statement by the Executive Director of PeacePro, Mr Abdulrazaq Hamzat, the group said the description of Nigeria’s six geo-political zones simply as North West, South West, North East, South East and North Central,South South was of no political significance, hence the need to adopt a more political conscious approach to closing the gap of regional agitation.
According to Hamzat, the federal government should rename the six zones properly, to reflect the desire and aspiration of the people.
“People in various zones of Nigeria identify themselves by certain names and descriptions and running away from such political identity will naturally make them feel entitled to those identities
“This is why non-state actors simply invoke those identities, to which people have affinity and connections, to mobilize them in their quest for relevance, ” Hamzat said.
He therefore proposed that, the South West region should be renamed Oduduwa region, North West renamed Arewa Region, South East renamed Biafra Region, North East renamed Kanem Borno Region, South South renamed Niger Delta region and North Central renamed Middle Belt region.
Hamzat maintained that, the renaming of these regions had political implications, because non state actors often used these names as rallying points to create division among the people in their quest to mobilize support for their activities, and officially adopting these names automatically strips them of existing and historical concept to mobilize non suspecting members of the public for their divisive activities.
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