Ukwani Leaders and Ndokwa Elders Forum, (ULNEF) led by Chief Dele Omenogor and Francis Otunuya Idigbe, Chairman and Secretary respectively and other stakeholders have rejected attempt to lump up Ndokwa/Ukwani Federal Constituency in Delta State with any state including Anioma State in the South-East as currently being proposed in a bill sponsored by the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
At a meeting in Ashaka, Ndokwa East, leaders drawn from the three local government areas of the constituency namely: Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West and Ukwani Local Government Areas, converged to restate the earlier stance of the General Mike Ndubisi-led Ndokwa Neku Union, (NNU) on its opposition to the creation of Anioma State in the South East, saying if an Anioma State must be crated, such a state must be in the South-South geopolitical zone.
The forum, in its firm decision vowed never to go back on its position, saying whoever intends to hoodwink and lump up the people of Ukwani/Ndosumili speaking ethnic nationality with the South East will be resisted.
In a statement. it reinstated that the Ndosumili/Ukwani speaking ethnic nationality through its umbrella body, the NNU has stated clearly the position of the people of Ndokwa/Ukwani Federal Constituency on the issue of the creation of Anioma State in the South-South.
The elders alternatively requested the creation of Ndokwa State from the current Delta State in the South-South but not to be part of any arrangement to surrender its distinctive entity or allow the nation to be subsumed by any group in the country as it raised suspicion over its current Anioma appellation by vested interests who they noted are bent on merging Ndokwa nation with the south-east without the people’s consent.
“We stand strongly on the NNU declaration. Our nation will never be part of any state in the South East but will happily align with any state in the South-South geopolitical zone. Our nation is oblivious to the content of the bill being sponsored for the creation of Anioma State in the South-East. We vehemently reject this.
“For the umpteenth time, we the elders and leaders of Ndokwa nation who are critical stakeholders in the Ndokwa project wish to state clearly for the purpose of emphasy that our nation dissociates itself completely from any arrangement by any individual, group or institution who intends to merge Ndokwa nation with any state in the South East. Nobody under any guise can subjugate our oil-rich nation of people comprising three economically viable local government areas,” the statement read in part.
The Ashaka meeting called for the immediately withdraw the bill submitted to the National Asembly for the creation of Anioma State if the content includes Ndokwa nation in an Anioma State in the South East as being rumoured while it reminded of the position of the NNU on the issue.
Ndokwa Elders called on the Senate Chairman, Committee on Constitutional Review, Senator Jibrin Barau, Chairman of the House Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the entire NASS leadership to disregards any document that names Ndokwa nation in any state outside the South-South geopolitical zone.
They called on the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and the his House of Representatives’ counterpart, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas to disregard any document that does not have its root from the position of the NNU and other stakeholders in the Ndokwa project.
The statement calls on the National Security Adviser, NSA to the President, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and heads of other security agencies to call those who wish to cause crisis in Delta North Senatorial district using the instrumentalities of misrepresentation to order, saying nobody can armtwist or subvert the will of Ndokwa people anywhere in the world.
“We are a people with distinct culture, tradition and norm which can not and will never be allowed to perish on the altar of political shenanigans. We didn’t ask anybody to agitate on behalf of our people. The only organ that speaks for us is the NNU and in line with the people’s consensus, we stand solidly as a nation in the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria,” the statement said.