Anioma state: Separating facts from fantasy

BY KINGSLEY DIKE

The campaign for the creation of Anioma State recently gained steam and momentum with the recent nod of Nigeria’s National Assembly to the goal of creation of additional six states in the Federation. Earlier, a joint committee of the Senate and the House of Representatives approved the recommendation for the creation of one state in the Southeast to balance it with the rest of the five other geopolitical zones that are each made up of six states. The lawmakers stated that their proposals is to reflect equity and fairness in the federation. The joint committee also reviewed about 278 proposals for state creation across the Federation.

The joint committee of the National Assembly also recommended to the lawmakers advocating for state creation must consult widely with their constituents. This singular action by the National Assembly have sent the agitators for state creation into an overdrive. Particularly, for us in Delta North senatorial district of Delta State, where the seating Senator, Mr. Ned Nwoko, revamped the Anioma State movement, calling for the creation of Anioma State with a new twist, that Anioma State be the sixth state of the Southeast geopolitical zone. Even, people of the Southeast are calling for the creation of an Etiti or Adada State for the Southeastern geopolitical zone. Senator Ned Nwoko however is selling an Anioma State with Oil producing capacity from the Ndokwa area as the most viable option for one additional state to Southeast geopolitical zone.

With this new momentum, many political actors from the Ndokwa area that has opposed Senator Ned Nwoko’s proposals for what they called lack of consultation as mandated by the National Assembly joint committee on Constitutional review are seriously been courted and realigning with the Ned Nwoko camp. All the people particularly our Ndokwa persons who crossed over for whatever reason (it is not our duty to question motives) to join Mr. Ned Nwoko’s campaign for Anioma state, now is the time to dig deeper to make sure you are not “being sold a dummy”. It is very easy to dismiss all the red flags surrounding Mr. Nwoko. As the Senator representing Delta North, his conduct in the public space has become very toxic and embarrassing to the good people of Delta North.

I had held back commentaries on the Anioma State creation campaign of Mr. Nwoko because of a desire to give equal time to his supporters and those seriously against his version of Ukwuani/Ndosimili participation, that is Anioma being part of South-East geopolitical zone instead of its present South-South geopolitical zone. But now it has become clear that what the naysayers are saying deserve more than a perfunctory look. The man at the tick of a major political move with great consequences in reshaping the lives of the citizens of Delta North, changing the face of the revenue sharing formula as we know it today as an oil producing area, or aligning us with the Southeast may not be in the right frame of mind to conclusively say he knows what he is doing. If he is, his notions of consulting his Ndokwa constituents will not be a political forum in Akwa Ibom state while his constituents are in Delta State.

As many ordinary citizens are asking that at a time when the Southeast is embroiled in active criminality by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its militant Eastern Security Network (ESN), killing and maiming innocent civilians, who in their right mind would be advocating that his peaceful constituency become part of this unhinged violence. Already, the Delta State Police Command is reporting that most of the violent armed robberies in the state, around the Asaba areas are by gangs crossing the Niger Bridge from the Southeast. I was a student in the Nigerian University system in the 90s, there is a unifying bond that has developed over time for us “Bendelites”. The “Up Bendel” metaphor is not just a mere slogan, it represents our excellence in academics, sports, culture and a way of life worth keeping.

Even, when Delta and Edo states were created, their belonging to same geopolitical zone South-South ensured continuity of “our” way of life that is worth keeping. The Southeastern way of life is different and must be celebrated by those who have grown into it. For instance, nobody in Delta State will see the criminality of IPOB and keep quiet but the entire Southeast elites are mum and nobody dare say killing of innocent citizens and forcing people against their will to remain indoors and not participate in economic activities is a crime that must be called out. This is the future Mr. Ned Nwoko wants for the good people of Delta North. It has nothing to do with language consanguinity, for though my name is Dike, I feel more at home with the Agbonifos from Edo State, the Etos from Isoko, the Odebalas, the Ogodos and Magoros of Sapele and the Ekurhares and Odjegbas of Urhobo land. And this “feeling more at home” has nothing against our Southeastern brothers. It is just the fact from the many, many years of our historical associations in commerce, culture to include sports and politics.

How can you just extricate yourself from such long history because of the ambitions of a politician? I was a member of the 4th Kwale Troop of the Nigerian Boys Scouts from elementary school to secondary school, maybe from the age of 12 we started competing in the then Bendel State Scout rally at Ogba Camp, Benin City. It was usually a glorious gathering of Scouts from Warri, Benin City, Oleh, Ughelli, Asaba, Sapele, Agbor and Kwale etc with us all competing for primacy in which troop will represent the state and country in World Scout Jamboree. How about football and athletics meet? These were glorious times when we competed with soccer teams from Ughelli, Warri, Asaba, Ogwashi-Uku, Agbor etc. In doing all these together, friendships, a commonality in how we view life and it’s moral ethos developed, which will not just go away on the whimps of the inordinate ambitions of a politician. It is time to tell Mr. Ned Nwoko to leave us alone, the Ndokwa nation from his fantasies of an Anioma State.

Dike is a former foreign affairs reporter with The Guardian Newspapers and retired intelligence analyst. He wrote from Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A.