Group wants FG to rename Nigeria’s six geopolitical region

The Foundation for Peace Professionals, better known as PeacePro, a think tank for peacebuilding, has urged the Federal Government to give historical names to Nigeria’s six geopolitical regions.

The group claimed in a statement released by its Executive Director, Mr. Abdulrazaq Hamzat, that simply referring to Nigeria’s six geopolitical regions as North West, South West, North East, South East, and North Central has no political significance and that a more politically aware strategy is necessary to end regional unrest.

Hamzat contends that in order to accurately reflect the preferences and ambitions of the populace, the Federal Government should name the six zones.

Running away from such political identities will naturally make them feel entitled to those identities, as people in different zones of Nigeria identify themselves by particular names and descriptions.

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To mobilize individuals in their search for significance, non-state actors simply invoke those identities for which people have affinity and connections, according to Hamzat.

Therefore, he suggested renaming the South West region Oduduwa, the North West region Arewa, the South East region Biafra, the North East region Kanem Borno, the South-South region Niger Delta, and the North Central region Middle Belt.

The naming of these regions, according to Hamzat, has political ramifications because non-state actors frequently use them as rallying points to sow discord among the populace in an effort to garner support for their activities, and officially adopting them automatically strips them of existing and historical concepts to sow discord among unsuspecting members of the public.