Why stakeholders favour Etiti state proposal as parity state for S’East

Why stakeholders favour Etiti state proposal as parity state for S’East

By Steve Oko

The proposed Etiti State appears to enjoy the support of many stakeholders and the masses of South East as the zone’s parity state.

A number of state movements have been canvassed by different individual states and interest groups from the zone. But the majority seem to lean towards Etiti State proposal for many reasons.

The agitation for state creation, has been renewed following the recent recommendation by the National Assembly Committee on Constitution Amendment for the creation of additional state to bring South East at par with other ge-opolitical zones in the country.

Since the last state creation exercise in 1991, South East has remained the only zone with the least number of States.

While other zones parade six states each except the North West with seven States, South East, is in only zone with five states.

Some of the major state proposals include Adada State (from Nsuka clan of the present day Enugu State); Aba ( comprising only the Ukwa La Ngwa people of Abia State; Orlu State (mainly from the Orlu people of Imo State and few communities from Anambra and Abia States; and Etiti State movement.

Among the various proposals, Etiti Stake movement being championed by Hon. Amobi Ogah representing Isuikwuato Umunneochi federal constituency and some of his colleagues from other states, appears to enjoy the support of many stakeholders and people of the zone.

Proponents of Etiti State movement argue that each of the existing marginalised States in the South East will donate a minimum of two local government areas to the new state. This simply means that no one particular State will be the lone beneficiary of the exercise.

In the proposed Etiti State, Abia will donate Isuikwuato and Umunneochi LGAs; Imo will yield Okigwe and Onuimo LGAs; Anambra will part with Orumba North and Orumba South; Ivo and Ohozara LGAs will come from Ebonyi State; while Enugu drops Awgu, Aninri and Oji River for the new State.

The equity and inclusiveness in this arrangement, according to the proponents, are what makes it truly a parity (equalisation) state.

Major sponsor of the Bill, Rep Ogah, argued that since the creation of additional state for South East “is all about equality”, it therefore, makes sense that every state in the zone should benefit from it.

He said:” However you look at it, Etiti State makes more sense because each state in the South East will donate at least two LGAs to it. It cuts across all the existing five states so that no state is shortchanged”.

Declaring support for Etiti State movement, elder statesman and second Republic Minister for Education, and Health respectfully, Professor Ihechukwu Madubuike, said there was need to revert to the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference of Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Professor Madubuike who was among the delegation that presented Ohanaeze position before the ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Constitutional conference of 2005, and a delegate at Jonathan’s 2014 confab, said that both confabs had already agreed on a consensus parity state for South East.
The two-time Minister, and former Finance Commissioner in the Old Imo State, advised that regional interest and equity be put above other considerations.

” Definitely there is a crying need for an additional state for the South East. We have already dealt with that in both 2005 Obasanjo confab and Jonathan’s confab in 2014. For them to do anything meaningful, they should go to confab report. They should find out what has already been agreed.”

Opposing the proposed Orlu State, he said:” Orlu State wasn’t among the ones that we proposed. This one is a bastardisation of what we proposed. We said we should have Equity/Etiti State.

” So, what they need to do is to go back to both Obasanjo and Jonathan’s confabs and see what has been proposed, where we talked about a parity state or Equity State or Etiti State with capital around Okigwe -Lokpa axis that will include Awgu and Oji River from Enugu State; Aninri and Ivo from Ebonyi State; Umunneochi and Isuikwuato in Abia State; Okigwe and Mbano from Imo State; plus Umunze in Anambra State.”

Another elder statesman and former Chairman of Nigeria Economic Summit, Mazi Sam Ohuabunwa, also threw his weight behind the proposed Etiti State, saying “it is more encompassing and more reasonable”.

” As a geo-political zone, the more reasonable proposal is Etiti State. That’s more encompassing that any other one because it represents every state in the zone.”

He, however, noted that the proposed Anioma State makes sense but should be created as the seventh state for the South East.

” I also support the call for the creation of Anioma State because it’s long overdue. It should be created to either make the seventh state in the South South because South South is a major contributor to the economy of Nigeria. I also don’t mind if we want to include them as a state in the South East but that should be the seventh state. But it doesn’t substitute for Etiti State.”

Meanwhile, a former Senate President, Senator Adolphus Wabara, has advised that the South East should not miss the current opportunity to get a parity state to address decades of marginalisation.
He, however, made case for the creation of Aba State, arguing that Aba is one of the oldest Provinces in the country that has not metamorphosed into a state.

” For me it’s Aba because Aba remains one of the oldest Provinces that has not become a state. However, we should not in our agitation, lose this opportunity. We should come together as a people and come up with one proposal so that this opportunity doesn’t elude us.”

Speaking in favour of Etiti State movement, the Methodist Archbishop of Umuahia Ecclesiastical Diocese, Archbishop Raphael Opoko, said Etiti State, typified justice and equity having cut across all existing five states in South East.

The cleric, however, harped on the need for agreement and unity among the lawmakers of South East extraction at the National Assembly. Opoko advocated due consultations with all the necessary stakeholders in the affected LGAs that constitute the proposed state so they could speak with one voice.

” This one appears to be more legitimate. If all the five states agree to contribute two LGAs each that makes it legitimate but there must be agreement with the stakeholders”.

However, another state movement that is gaining traction among the people is the proposed Anioma State being championed by Senator Ned Nwoko, representing Delta North Senatorial district.

Despite arguments being advanced by Nwoko, many still prefer Etiti as the sixth state for South East, arguing that Anioma should only be considered the seventh state if the zone is given the opportunity to produce two states.

Senator Chinedu (Ned ) Nwoko, has been very forceful in his campaign for the creation of Anioma State comprising about seven Igbo-speaking Local Government Areas in Delta State.

But many believe that while his quest for Ndigbo across the Niger River to be united with their kits and kin on the Eastern divide of the river should be applauded, the fundamental truth should not be sacrificed on the altar of sympathy or illogical political smartness.

According to his critics, it is not in doubt that the people of the proposed Anioma State are Igbo. They are full-blooded Igbo just like any other Igbo from the Eastern flank of the River Niger.

In fact, Ndigbo in Delta State right from the time Delta was still part of the Mid-West Region, and later Old Bendel, had never denied their Igbo identify and ethnicity unlike some of their brothers in Rivers State.

They further argue that since the parity State is to correct the age-long imbalance and lopsidedness against South East, giving the slot of Ndigbo in South East to their kinsmen in South South, is still not justice.

Holders of this view, argue that making Anioma the parity state for the South East will not in anyway correct the endemic and glaring cheating of the zone. Rather, it will make the South South geo-political zone where Delta State currently belongs, the only beneficiary of the gesture.

The lopsidedness in State existing creation arrangement which has disadvantaged the South East, also has far-reaching implications on the zone’s economy.

South East which has the least number of LGAs , senatorial zones and federal constituencies, is, wittingly denied of trillions of Naira that ordinarily should accrue to the zone as allocation from the Federal Government.

Those directly affected by this injustice are the Igbo living in South East, and not those found in other geo-political zones.
This, according to the promoters of Etiti State, is the injustice the the agitation for parity state seeks to address.

They further argue that the idea of creating additional or party state for South East is not to lump all Igbo-speaking people into one geopolitical zone, as doing so is not even politically strategic.

Those pushing this analogy, also argued that Delta is not the only State outside South East geopolitical zone with sizable Igbo population.

Empirical records indicate that greater part of Rivers States originally known as Igwe Ocha, are Igbo not minding the denials by few political elite who for selfish political interests, do not want to be so identified.

Gladly, the current President General of the apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Senator John Azu-Mbata, from Ikwere in Rivers State, is occupying that position because he is Igbo.

In fact, key positions in Ohanaeze leadership especially the PG, Deputy PG and the Secretary General, have always been rotated among all seven Igbo-speaking States of Abia, Anambra, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo, and Rivers.

There are also Igbo-speaking LGAs and Communities in Benue, Kogi, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and even Bayelsa States.

While their Igbo identity is not in contention, the essence of creating additional state for the South East is to bring the zone at par with other zones, end and make up for the decades of lost revenues and other benefits.

The idea of bringing the Igbo in Delta to join their brethren in the South East is a brilliant one and Senator Ned Nwoko and other proponents of Anioma State movement should be commended for their great efforts, however, Anioma should not, by any wise argument, take the slot of parity state for the South East.
Supporters of this position say maintain that there are Yoruba-speaking LGAs and Communities in Kwara and Kogi States respectively, further validates this point.

While the efforts to re-unite people severed from their brethren either out of political exigencies or whatever reasons should be appreciated, parity state for South East should be carved out from the states within the zone as currently constituted.

Otherwise, it is not a parity state; it is territorial expansion state which makes sense only if Nigeria is returning to Regional arrangement.

These proponents also argue that carving out parity State for South East from outside the zone, is no longer parity but expansion of Igbo territory which is not the intent of the exercise.

Based on Nigeria’s current zonal arrangement, Delta State is in South South with three major tribes – Igbo, Ijaw and Urohbo plus other minor ethnic groups including the Itsekiri.

According to pundits, taking what is meant for South East to South South amounts to further injustice against South East. With Etiti as first on the list for South East, Anioma can then come second assuming the Federal Government decides to increase the tarry of each zone from six to seven as North West currently has.

Those championing or supporting Anioma State proposal against other proposals from the present-day South East soil, should know that they have not addressed the injustice against the Igbo in South East.

South East leaders including Governors, National Assembly members, traditional rulers, religious leaders, the academic among other stakeholders, should immediately convene a meeting and decide on the most appropriate among so many proposals being canvassed by various groups.

It is time to set aside political affiliations, clanish interests and other sentiments, and take a dispassionate decision based on merit so that this opportunity will not be lost.

The entire National Assembly should complement the bold step already taken by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, by ensuring that this long-clamoured and overdue additional state for the South East pulls through this time around.

Importantly, the 36 State House of Assemblies should also, in the spirit of equity and national cohesion, affirm this decision which had been a consensus in various Constitutional Conferences in Nigeria.

Inequality of states to the disadvantage of the South East, has remained one of the major complaints of the zone against the Nigerian State, and this is a golden opportunity to break the jinx.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, should consider giving South East a parity state; and the release of the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPoB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, two major gifts to the zone and the Igbo nation, to rekindle their confidence in the Nigeria State, ahead of 2027.

This, will not only endear President Tinubu to Ndigbo as a listening and considerate President, but also rekindle the faith of Ndigbo in the One Nigeria project where they have been treated as second class citizens.