Abuja — Nigeria has recalled its Ambassador from Libya, in reaction to the diplomatic row Maumar Ghadafi touched off on Tuesday when he advocated the break up of Africa's most populous nation along the lines of religious homogeneity.

On Wednesday, Senate President David Mark called Ghadafi a "mad man" whose views should not be given prominence by discussing them on the Senate floor.

Chief Press Secretary to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ozo Nwobu, who disclosed the position of the Federal Government in Abuja on Thursday, described Ghadafi's comment as "insensitive and irresponsible."

The House of Representatives went further by demanding the severance of ties between Nigeria and Libya.

"The insensitive and often times irresponsible utterances of Ghadafi, his theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion, have become too numerous to recount. These have indeed diminished his status and credibility as a leader to be taken seriously," Nwobu said.

He expressed the government's regret over the recurring violence in Plateau State, but said Ghadafi's comment on it is "most unacceptable and unbecoming of a leader who claims to be an advocate and champion of African integration and unity."

Nwobu added that Abuja is determined to find and deal with those responsible for the crisis in Jos, and would listen to respectable members of the international community, but insisted that Nigeria is a sovereign state that would only accept comments that recognise its sovereignty.

The Federal Government "reassures all Nigerians and the international community that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Nigeria is sacrosanct and non negotiable."

Members of the House of Representatives sought the severance of all diplomatic ties with Libya to prove Nigeria's displeasure, even as Speaker Dimeji Bankole counselled his colleagues not to repeat the tag of a mad man Mark placed on Ghadafi.

"While I appreciate your passion and concern for the comments, (Ghadafi) still remains the President of a sovereign nation," Bankole told members, in response to a threat by Soli Sada (PDP, Katsina) that lawmakers would address him as "ignorant" and "mad."

A motion sponsored by Halims Agoda (PDP, Delta) had urged the House to prevail on the government to call Ghadafi to order, and to request the African Union (AU) to investigate his motive for the comment.

The request came as members asked the Inspector General of Police, Ogbonna Onovo, to probe the bomb blasts which rocked the venue of a post-amnesty conference in Warri on Monday.

Those who contributed to the motion on Ghadafi included Patrick Obahiagbon (PDP, Edo); Dino Melaye (PDP, Kogi); Patricia Etteh (PDP, Osun); Leo Ogor (PDP, Delta); and Farouk Lawan (PDP, Kano).

Three of them - Etteh, Ogor, and Lawan - advised that rather than castigate him, Abuja should consider his comment as a wake up call to unite the motely ethnic groups in the country and give them a sense of belonging.

Ghadafi had in Tripoli advocated that Nigeria should be divided into two nations to avoid further bloodshed between Muslims and Christians. He praised the example of India and Pakistan, where he said the partition (in 1947 when India gained independence from Britain) saved many lives.

Splitting Nigeria "would stop the bloodshed and burning of places of worship," state news agency, Jana, quoted him as saying.

Hundreds of people have died in communal violence in villages around Jos this year alone, and although the violence generally takes place between Muslim and Christian communities, the underlying causes are a complex mix of political, social, and economic grievances.

Nigeria is roughly split between its largely Muslim North, and a Christian-dominated South. Ghadafi characterised the Jos violence as a "deep conflict of religious nature" caused by the federal structure, "which was made and imposed by the British in spite of the people's resistance to it."

He described the partition of India as a "historic, radical solution" which saved the lives of "millions of Hindus and Muslims." However, splitting India in 1947 led to mayhem in which between 200,000 and one million people were killed, 12 million left homeless, and thousands raped.

Ghadafi, a Colonel, himself came to power on September 1, 1969 in a coup d'etat which ousted the monarchy, and now leads a country of some 6.5 million people.

But an attempt by Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, a Lt. Colonel, to carve Biafra out of Nigeria in 1967 failed, and also led to a civil war that lasted three years and left more than one million people dead.

Going back to the drawing board to divide up Nigeria now equally remains perilous - even if that would split it into two nations (North and South) of roughly 75 million population each, a more manageable population by any leader, rather than the current motley crowd of 150 million.

The core Muslim North does not reckon with the Christian Middle Belt, partly because of religion and partly of language, nor does the Middle Belt regard itself as part of the core North.

The South South, a plethora of ethnicities, is wary of the South East, which is homogenous, like the South West.

Even with the common currency of Christianity in the South, tension over leadership would remain between the dominant Igbo and Yoruba if the South were to become a separate nation.