By Wilbet Ijeoma
In the wake of the turn of events following the emergence of Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa as the ruling party APC flag bearer of Delta North Senatorial District for 2027 general elections in place of incumbent Senator Ned Nwoko, it has become pertinent and concerning to put in the right perspective the misgivings masked in campaign propaganda fettered by propagandists of anti-Anioma State creation.
The reappearance of the bill for Anioma State creation on the floor of the National Assembly couldn’t have come at a better time than now – no less thanks to distinguished Senator Ned Nwoko, who made unequivocal the call for parity, equity and fairness in state strength for the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones.
The political permutations of the state creation in the National Assembly resulted in the expedience to situate Anioma State in the South-East zone without prejudice to the culture of the Anioma people, to bring the South-East region at state parity with other geopolitical zones.
This bill reintroduced on 2nd July 2024 has witnessed a remarkable progress to the final stage, having scaled through the first and second reading, awaiting the third reading and harmonization by the red and green chambers, as well as witnessed zonal public hearings on constitutional amendment in Enugu and Uyo with the buy-in of 97 Senators including the Presidency. Moreover, a number of stakeholders engagements initiated by Senator Nwoko within and outside the senatorial district has made the call more popular given its overriding importance to the people of Anioma in particular and Delta in general.
In a twist of even and what seems to be a potential setback to the noble call for Anioma State creation, the ruling party APC in Delta State conducted a primary that didn’t contemplate continuity for consolidation of the Anioma State creation bill by its proponent, but a preference for hierarchical interest in the person of the immediate past Governor of Delta State, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa.
As a means of counteracting the Ned Nwoko pro-Anioma agenda and justifying his preference, the APC flag bearer for Delta North Senatorial District, Sen. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa allegedly claimed that the call for Anioma State creation at this time was ill-timed and ill-conceived, citing lack of depth in stakeholders’ consultation and personal interest of Senator Ned Nwoko.
The crux of the matter is the personal interest of Senator Ned Nwoko alleged by Senator Ifeanyi Okowa and his sympathizers. This kind of criticism of a noble cause calls for public concern, scrutiny and discussion because it is not only an attack on the personality of the proponent of the bill but undermines the people who will benefit from it. Succinctly put, it is a ploy to “call a dog a bad name just to kill it;” not minding the domestic usefulness of a dog.
Senator Nwoko’s three-year spell so far in the red chamber has been impeccable and one with attendant results. He has passed 33 bills and moved 22 motion, still counting with numerous Infrastructural and empowerment projects across the senatorial district. Before he became a senator, he was self-made – a successful international lawyer with credits of Paris Funds recovery for Nigeria, and a titan in the business industry. It is thus despicable and mischievous to allege that the noble and people-oriented call for Anioma State creation is for the senator’s self-empowerment allegedly to become the first Governor of Anioma State or whatsoever.
The call and push for Anioma State creation like every other concerned states in the region are pushing for their states of interest, should be put in the right perspective. It is obviously not for Ned’s profiting as alleged by naysayers, but a “Mobutu Gift” – to be deployed for the benefit of Anioma people.
The “Mobutu Gift” of 1973 was a 5million USD gift from then President of Zaire Mobutu Sese Seko to his Mauritania’s counterpart President Moktar Ould Daddah during a working visit when the benefactor realized that his host had no befitting suit as a president. Instead of using the money for luxury clothing and suits as intended, the Mauritanian President deposited the money into his country’s treasury and the money was instead utilized to build teachers training center for human capital development to confront and conquer illiteracy, poverty and underdevelopment that bedeviled the country as at then.
It is within this intendment the call and push for Anioma State creation was reinitiated lately by the distinguished senator, to unbundle the enormous potentials of Delta State in both natural resources and human capital, and drive grassroots development through state fragmentation.
State creation is a public cause; It is only a mischievous mind that would see personal gain instead of the “Mobutu Gift” narrative. Our people should begin to see the bigger picture in state creation and stop conjuring defective views and spewing misleading narratives to help their paymasters score cheap political points. Our people should begin to see that with Delta State having Anioma State as a sister-state irrespective of the geopolitical zone, there would be more allocation and revenues (IGR, Oil Derivations and FAAC), more local government areas for grassroots development, more local and international interventions, more elective offices (2 gubernatorial seats, 6 senatorial seats, 18 HoR, and multiple HoA, Chairmanship and Councillorship seats) for aspirants, 2 different Police Commands and more employment of police personnel to strengthen internal security, 2 different public service organogram for Delta and Anioma requiring more facilities for Secretariats, more infrastructure, more manpower and more employment; there would be exponential growth in public service as, say, a grade level 14 or 15 officer may eventually become a Director being the likely superior officer; more industrialization and employment opportunities for the teaming youths, business boom in a viable compact economy of the respective states; and so on.
Like the people of Mauritania, the good people of Anioma would not want to sacrifice their posterity in the altar of malicious politics but prefer a representation to consolidate the realization of Anioma state dream that would release and unleash them to self-realization and unprecedented development.
