Southern And Northern Kaduna Agree To Split Kaduna State At Constitution Review

In a development that caught many unawares, the
Christians, Non-Hausa/Fulani from the Southern part of
Kaduna state and its rival Northern Muslim Hausa/Fulani
dominated part of Northern Kaduna, have agreed for the
split of Kaduna State into two new states.
Speaking during the presentation and defence of their
memos at the Senate ad-hoc Committee and the House
of Reps Special Committee on the Review of the 1999
Constitution at the Hassan Katsina House on Wednesday
who has been engaged in infamous inter-ethnic and
religious clashes for decades, said creating new states
from the present Kaduna State will go a long way at
solving the bloody violence that seemed to defy solution.
The President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union
(SOKAPU), Hon. Jonathan Asake, who defended the
memo of Southern Kaduna people said: “The wish of
Southern Kaduna is to have a brand new constitution, not
an amended one,” he said.
“But in the absence of that, we are here to make our
inputs as a people who have suffered suppression and
oppression for a long time,” he said.
“Southern Kaduna is made up of 67 ethnic nationalities
spread in 13 of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of
Kaduna state. It has a landmass of 26,000kmsq with an
estimated population of 5.1 million. We are endowed with
an educated population and with abundant natural
resources,” he said.
“Our land size is greater than that of Kano state which has
a landmass of 20,000kmsq. Yet Kano is a state of its own
with 44 LGAs. Our population is greater than 21 other
states of the federation,” he went on. “We are demanding
for the amendment of the provision of section 8 of the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which
makes it almost an impossible task for the creation of a
new state,” he insisted.
“We have been demanding for a state of our own for over
thirty years and Gurara state was among the 18 states
proposed in the 2014 Confab report,” he said.
“We are demanding for the creation of the Gurara state
after the amendment. This will help in solving the
incessant conflicts between our people and the other
divide,” he said.
SOKAPU also asked for the removal of the Land Use Act
from the Constitution and its amendment as a law, so that
communities and families can have larger control of the
ancestral lands.
“We stand by all the 2014 confab report which had
captured most of our demands.
In the same vein, the Northern part of Kaduna State,
under the aegis of Kaduna Development Elders Initiatives
submitted a memo signed by the Senators Representing
Kaduna North Senatorial Zone, Sen. Sulieman Abdu Kwari;
the Senator Representing Kaduna Central Senatorial zone,
Senator Uba Sani; all the House of Reps members from
the Northern Part of Kaduna; all members of Kaduna state
house of Assembly from the northern part of Kaduna their
Chairmen of LGAs and Councillors.
Defending the memo of the group, Abdulkadir Ahmed
said, “we are canvassing for the creation of New Kaduna
state from the present Kaduna state and we want the
constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria amended
to make this possible.”
“Kaduna South has been complaining of marginalisation
ever since, even though Chiefdoms have been given to
them and they occupy 60% of the workforce of Kaduna
state,” he added.
“Let the state be split and if they are asking for Gurara
state, let them have it,” he said.
“This will solve all the crises we have been having in this
state,” he added.
“On our part, we are asking for the creation of ‘New
Kaduna State’, which will include Kaduna North and
Kaduna Central Senatorial zones,” he said.
“But there should be a referendum for each section of the
state to decide on where it wants to belong,” he added.
Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, who declared the
meeting open, also asked for true Federalism, State Police
and Financial Autonomy to Local Government Councils.
The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaiya
from Kano State, in his opening remarks assured all that
each of the memos will be well looked into and submitted
to the National Assembly for further actions.
Many groups and individuals also submitted memos as the
sitting continues till Friday.