Follow Us on Google
From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The National Vice-Chairman (South-East) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Ijeomah Arodiogbu, has made a case for the creation of Anim State in the South East.
In a statement yesterday entitled “Restoring Balance, Renewing Hope: The Imperative of Anim State Creation for a fairer Nigeria,” he argued that the South-East has carried the burden of being the only zone with five states while the South-West, South-South, North-Central, North-East and North-West enjoy six or seven states each.
Arodiogbu said the imbalance is not just a statistical curiosity, but it translates into fewer senators, fewer members of the House of Representatives, fewer federal constituencies, fewer votes at the National Economic Council, smaller monthly allocations from the Federation Account, fewer ministerial positions and fewer appointments into federal boards and parastatals.
According to him, the situation has created a structural disadvantage that no amount of individual brilliance or collective industry by the people of the South-East can fully overcome.
He claimed that the 10th National Assembly has chosen to confront this injustice head-on, saying that the bill for Anim State, sponsored by Senator Osita Izunaso representing Imo West Senatorial District, has already scaled second reading in the Senate and is on the path toward concurrence in the House of Representatives and eventual transmission to the President.
“This is leadership that posterity will celebrate. The proposed Anim State is to be carved out of local government areas that share deep historical, linguistic, cultural and economic affinities across the present Anambra and Imo boundary.
“These communities have intermarried for centuries, speak virtually the same central Igbo dialects, and trace their origins to the same ancestral migrations from the Nri-Awka-Orlu axis.
Other News
“Long before the British drew arbitrary lines in 1914 and long before Gowon created twelve states in 1967, these towns and villages regarded themselves as one indivisible family.
“Even today, traditional rulers from Ihiala attend meetings of the Imo State Council of Traditional Rulers when issues affecting their common heritage arise, and citizens move freely across the invisible state boundary without any sense of crossing into foreign land,” he said.
In his message to lawmakers from South East, he said, “The process is rigorous by design. Public hearings have been held and overwhelming support recorded from traditional rulers, youth groups, women’s organisations and professional bodies across the proposed areas and beyond.
“Memoranda have been submitted, boundary concerns addressed, and viability studies completed. The bill has passed second reading in the Senate and is receiving similar attention in the House. State Houses of Assembly in Anambra and Imo have already indicated readiness to give concurrence once the formal request is transmitted.
“Every constitutional requirement is being met with diligence and transparency. Do not allow vested interests or last-minute manoeuvres to derail this train.
“Do not postpone the committee report or the conference committee stage under the guise of further consultation.”
