Abdullahi Shelleng [SEP] position held
Abdullahi Shelleng
Colonel Abdullahi Shelleng (born 20 January 1942) was the first Military Governor of Benue State, Nigeria from 3 February 1976 to July 1978 during the military regime of General Olusegun Obasanjo, after Benue State had been split from the old Benue-Plateau State.
Background and education.
Abdullahi Shelleng was born on 20 January 1942 in Shelleng, in the Numan Local Government Area of the former Gongola State (now Adamawa State). He was educated in Shelleng and Yola, and attended the Government College,
It is a successor to earlier movements such as the United Middle Belt Congress led by Joseph Tarka.
Rejection of northern control.
On 9 August 2001 a delegation from the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), which represents the North, visited Jos, Plateau State, in the heart of the middle belt. Major General Abdullahi Shelleng invited his audience to join the ACF. However, in response governor Joshua Dariye made it clear that he was not interested in being marginalized and would prefer to remain a "middle-belter