…Says creation of proposed state overdue
From Kenneth Udeh, Abuja
The creation of the proposed Anioma State, championed by Senator Ned Nwoko, who is representing Delta North in the 10th Assembly, has been described as long overdue for actualisation.
Moreover, members of the House of Representatives from Anioma were also accused of refusing to push for creation of the state to complement the efforts of Senator Nwoko at the Red Chambers.
“Odu Oma Club of Nigeria” a socio-political group made this known in a statement jointly signed by President General, Patrick O Okenyi and Secretary General. Uche Emma Aboh yesterday.
Taking into consideration when the clamour was conceived 76 years ago in 1949, the group said the state, whose bill scaled the first and second readings at the Senate, ought to have been established long before the current democratic and political dispensation.
Giving a historical background to how the creation of Anioma State was conceived, the group chronicled how the Obis of Aboh, Agbor and Idumuje Ugboko initiated the project in 1949 for the emancipation of Igbo on west of the Niger.
Additionally, the late Chief Dr D. C. Osadebe, the then Premier of Midwest Region and Ojiba of Asaba and other political leaders later christened the proposed state as Anioma.
Lamenting the prolonged delay of the project, which seeks to carve out Anioma State from the present Delta State in the South-South region, the group said the creation of the proposed state was borne out of the need to establish a unique identity for the people of Anioma.
Justifying their position, Okenyi highlighted five reasons the state’s creation will be of benefit to the people of Anioma, namely, demography, human capital, natural resources, mineral resources and hospitable environment.
He said harnessing of the above potentials for the development of Anioma could be realized through political actors closing ranks for the creation of the state.
The group praised Senator Nwoko for leading the cause at the Senate, saying: “The hope for the realization of this age long agitation was rekindled when Senator Ned Nwoko presented Anioma State Creation Bill in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly. The Bill has gone through 1st and 2nd readings and is awaiting Public Hearing.
“This development has attracted people of goodwill to the struggle for political freedom in the politics of Delta State.
“It is heart-warming that our brothers in the Central and South Senatorial District have come up to support the creation of Anioma State by articulating and presenting their demand for Warri State in the Green Chamber.”
In contrast, the group bemoaned the lackadaisical attitude shown by Anioma Reps members in the Green Chamber in the struggle.
Unlike their colleagues from the Central and South Senatorial Districts who have since demanded the creation of Warri State, Representatives from Anioma were said to be unwilling to put up a demand for the creation of Anioma State to complement the on-going efforts in the Red Chamber by Distinguished Senator Prince Ned Nwoko.