Anioma State proposal sparks rift among Delta’s political bigwigs

In this report, MATTHEW OCHEI delves into the heated controversy surrounding the proposed creation of Anioma State, following a bill sponsored by Senator Ned Nwoko, a move that has deeply divided political stakeholders across Delta State

The controversy over the creation of Anioma State as an additional state within the South-East zone has continued to generate issues, with a group threatening to recall the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District, Ned Nwoko, for sponsoring the bill which has scaled the second reading at the National Assembly.

Anioma is an Igbo-speaking group of people in Delta State, covering nine Local Government Areas in the South-South zone. The clamour for Anioma state had been in abeyance for three decades, championed by the then Premier of Mid-West Region, the late Dennis Osadebe. It was put to rest but not forgotten when Delta State was created on August 27, 1991. Nwoko resurrected the call in another dimension as an additional state in the South-East zone.

Speaking on the issue, an Asaba chief, Prof Leroy Edozien who backed the bill, posited that the only way to get the Anioma state is to join the South-East zone, to make the zone complete, having six states like others.

Prof Edozien, who is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta State, advised President Bola Tinubu to write his name in gold by creating an additional state to address the marginalisation in the southeast zone.

He said, “The Federal Government will not just wake up one day and say they want to create states, there must be a reason. Creating additional states beyond what we have now is not easy, because many zones are agitating for new states.

“But, presently, the South-East zone has five states, while all other zones have six states each. If you are the President or the Senate President or key elements in the creation of the state, if you are to create just one state, will you put it in a zone where they already have seven, or six and leave the zone that has five?

“If they said today, they are going to create an additional state; there is no doubt that the state is going to be in the South-East. Let’s face the more controversial aspect of it, and that is the state to be in the South-East zone. If you want something, you must be savvy about it politically.

“For those who have strong feelings against it, are we having a regional government? No, it is not a South-East government, it’s a zone and not even constitutional, but just for political convenience and arrangement to help bring people together to collaborate.”

Prof Edozien said the purpose of state creation is to bring government closer to the people, which is one of the benefits of the creation of Anioma state, adding that it will be very viable as it has abundant human and natural resources to become a state.

“I’m in total support of the creation of Anioma State. We have to be pragmatic about it, you can’t say because we don’t want to be in the South-East, therefore, we can’t have Anioma State. Let us have the state, if it means we will be in the South-East, so be it. We have linguistic and cultural affiliations with them. There is no ethnic group in Nigeria that does not have the good and the bad side, but we must learn to live together and believe in the concept of unity in diversity.”

Throwing his weight in support of the bill, the National Coordinator, Ukpe Anioma, Alex Ipeazu urged all Anioma sons and daughters in the nine LGs of Delta North Senatorial District to speak in one voice for the creation of Anioma state, irrespective of the geopolitical zone it will belong.

Ipeazu stated this in Asaba during an advocacy and sensitization event organized by the Ugo Anioma Movement to enlighten stakeholders on the creation of Anioma state from the present Delta State.

He said Anioma indigenes in the nine LGAs of Delta North would be the greatest beneficiaries when the state is created, and called for total support of all, irrespective of political, religious and ethnic inclinations to realise the age-long clamour for Anioma state.

He hinted that the creation of Anioma state would usher in more opportunities for infrastructural development, job creation, political appointments, economic growth, more revenue, and lots more.

“We are all Igbo, speaking the same dialect of Nnua (welcome) and Ndo (sorry) and none is superior to the other. And if we fail to support Senator Ned Nwoko’s aggressive drive for the creation of Anioma state because of sentiments bothering on the geopolitical zone it should belong to when created, we will be further divided, and rendered politically irrelevant forever,” Ipeazu pointed out.

Also, an ex-Commissioner for Lands, Surveys and Urban Development, Chief Dan Okenyi, who recalled that the clamour for the creation of Anioma state had been on for many decades, gave an assurance that the state would be created this time around under the doctrine of necessity.

While calling for more sensitisation and awareness to allay fears and misconceptions in the minds of some persons, Okenyi clarified that the ongoing agitation for Anioma state was not about Nwoko representing Delta North in the Senate, but that God was using him to push for the creation the state. He added that the two other senators representing Delta Central and Delta South senatorial districts were in full support of the creation of Anioma state

Two prominent sons of the Ndokwa-Ukwuani axis of Delta State, Dr Godwin Ossai, and Chief Ugo Asibelua, reaffirmed the support of their people for the creation of Anioma state. While dismissing the fear of perceived marginalisation if the state is added to the South-East when created, they said the Anioma people had a close affinity with the Igbo in the South East and assured that there would be lots of gains.

The threat to recall Nwoko from the Senate, however, came from the Delta State socio-political group, “The Ndokwa Renaissance,” which urged the sponsor of the bill to withdraw it or face consequences.

In a resolution signed by its President, Mr Chinedu Ebgenumolise and Secretary, Dr Uti Onyeukwu, the group condemned Nwoko’s proposal without due consultation of the people of Delta North who they said will be negatively affected by such a move.

“We warned that if Senator Nwoko fails to withdraw his proposal which is dangerously self-serving, undemocratic and unconstitutional, we will be left with no option but to institute legal action to compel him.

“We will mobilise the people of Delta North Senatorial District to recall Senator Ned Nwoko as our representative at the Senate. The Delta North has been an integral part of the South-South from the colonial era to date. Why would the lawmaker want the peaceful and progressive Anioma land to be made part of the South East where violent agitation for secession has heightened insecurity,” they said.

Adding his voice against the move, a former House of Representatives member representing Aniocha/Oshimili Federal Constituency, Mr Pascal Adigwe, complained about the surreptitious use of his picture to drive home the propagation of Anioma state creation proposal.

Adigwe, who was Director General of Ned Nwoko Senatorial Campaign Council in 2023, told The According that he was never carried along nor consulted for the new agitation for Anioma state. He said what is needed most now is to focus on the governance and development of Delta North.

“There is no faceoff between me and Nwoko, the only thing I responded to was to stop using my name and picture we took for different purposes to represent and put my endorsement to the creation of Anioma state and which zone it should go. That’s my protest. When it’s time to play politics, we will play it. Are we even creating a state? Do you know what it takes to create a state? It is not time for that yet, nobody is creating any state.

“We have tried it in the past, but it didn’t work, so it’s not now. When the time comes, we will sit down and discuss the state to be created and which zone it will be. It will be a collective effort then. As I said, let’s focus on governance and development of the area first.”

To address the controversy surrounding Anioma state, Delta North monarchs have urged for a more inclusive dialogue and broader consultation with key stakeholders, especially on issues regarding the state creation and impact on Nigeria’s geopolitical landscape. The monarchs cautioned that the unity, cohesion and identity of the people of Anioma should not be compromised under whatever guise.

Rising from their quarterly meeting at Owa Oyibu, Ika North East Local Government Area, the monarchs, under the aegis of Delta North Traditional Rulers Forum, appealed for calm among the political class and proponents of the Anioma state agenda, insisting that the input, views and opinions of all strata of the Anioma community should be aggregated in the pursuit of the goals for the creation of Anioma state.

In a five-point communiqué signed by its Chairman and Obi of Owa, Dr Emmanuel Efeizomor 11 and the Vice Chairman and Obi of Ubulu-Unor, Dr Henry Kikachukwu 1, the monarchs underscored the importance of engagements across the board and unity of purpose. They added that the people should unanimously agree to speak with one voice, based on issues of common interest to the entire Anioma Nation as one indivisible entity with a common identity and heritage.

The monarchs said, “We should stop washing our dirty linen in public. Senate Ned Nwoko, who is representing Delta North in the National Assembly and other elected representatives of the people, political class and other critical stakeholders should work together and engage the people to know what they want, rather than embark on what is perceived as personal aggrandizement.

“We enjoined those currently agitating for the Anioma state project and the drivers of the initiative to maintain the status quo, pending when a comprehensive dialogue and all-inclusive consultations have been concluded to give the initiative a clear direction.”

The monarchs frowned on a situation where the issue of the Anioma state creation and the zoning formula has polarised the political class and other critical stakeholders, saying such acrimony is capable of derailing the entire overall objective and depriving the zone of the much desired social, economic and political development.

The stakeholders agree to the creation of Anioma state but to be added to the South-East geopolitical zone is the bone of contention. As it were, consultation and sensitisation are ongoing to bring people together to speak in one voice, even as members of the political class are also busy working underground to truncate the move.