The Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives joint committee recently recommended the creation of six additional states in the country.
The lawmakers reached the resolution at the end of a two-day retreat, co-chaired by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, and the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, in Lagos.
After considering 55 requests for state creation, the committee unanimously resolved that six additional states be created in the country.
They considered a total of 69 bills, 55 state creation requests, two boundary adjustments, and 278 local government creation requests during the retreat.
Accordingly, if the recommendation comes through, it would increase the number of states in the country from 36 to 42.
The resolution means that there would be the creation of one additional state in each of the six geopolitical zones: North West, North East, North Central, South West, South South and South East.
With the approval, South South will now have seven states, South West seven, South East six, North West eight, North East seven and North Central seven.
The North Central could boast of seven states too, with the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, being treated as a state. It adds to Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau.
The six states in the North East include Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, Yobe.
The North west already has seven states, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto, Zamfara.
The South East has a clear shortage of one state with only five: Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo.
South South has 6 states: Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Rivers, the same number as the South West.
The talk about state creation was centred on balancing the number with the loudest cry coming out of the South East who felt they were being marginalised in that sense.
Stakeholders from the region and other well-meaning Nigerians are of the opinion that the South East needed one state to bring about fairness and equity.
However, the recommendation of the joint committee means that a region would have 8 states, others seven and the South East merely upgraded to six.
Some political stakeholders in the region have expressed concerns over the recommendation, insisting that it further widens the inequality.
Speaking to DAILY POST about the development, elder statesman, Dr Chike Obidigbo, was more concerned about what he described as the needless rancour over an additional state for the South East.
Obidigbo urged caution over the ongoing contentions over where the additional state for South East should be carved out from, saying that the disagreements are not necessary.
He regretted the political tricks behind the attempt to address the structural marginalisation of South East, stressing that there was a covert effort to bring disunity among Igbo.
He noted that instead of heating up the polity with divergent agitations for the additional state, leaders of the Igbo nation under the auspices of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo should convene a meeting to thoroughly examine the various demands to arrive at an amicable resolution.
“Adada is on record as one of the oldest demands for the creation of state.
“But, then, we have heard the merits of creating an Etiti State by carving out homogenous communities from the existing five states in the South East.
“In my opinion, if Etiti State is given priority consideration, Anioma should come as a separate state when the proposed one state from each of the various six geopolitical zones would be considered.
“I am compelled to take this position due to the fact that unlike during the military regimes, the state creation effort would still go through a referendum.
“And, I do not think that Delta State House of Assembly would readily vote for an Anioma State as an appendage of the South East,” Obidigbo explained.
He disclosed that some external forces were behind the arguments and proposition for Anioma State to be joined to South East, remarking that the political design of those pushing that agenda is to throw up disunity within the body of Igbo caused by the malicious notions of core and peripheral Igbo.
He stated, “I think the issue of geography should be respected. If the Igbanke people in Edo State agree to be part of Anioma and Igbo communities in Benue and Kogi agree to be part of Adada, it would be left for Igbo leaders to decide on which state to take pre-eminent consideration.
“And, don’t forget the political office holders in those areas would be disposed to vote according to where they feel that their electoral bread is well buttered. I appreciate what Senator Chinedu Nwoko is doing in terms of reaching out, but the ultimate decision would be that of a group and not a single individual.”
Also speaking to DAILY POST, Managing Director, Anambra State Civic and Social Reformation Office, Dr. Chuka Nnabuife, said “I don’t actually engage in discussions of marginalization or non marginalization.
“First, I must commend the National Assembly’s initiative of recognizing the need for more states.
“Take it or leave it, whether people make the argument of having many states, it doesn’t hold water. It’s just like saying that having many business entities will hurt the economy of a company. The highest it will do is that you bring those entities, entities that can actually attract funding loans. So it brings development.
“And anybody who has been in Nigeria when we had twelve states, when we had 19 states, 30 states and now that we have 36 states, will know that there has been remarkable improvement in the quality of life.
“However, there is a need for equity and justice. There is a need for balancing the equation, not because of any argument as regards Southeast or whatever.
“It is because of the fact that equity and fairness are served, that there should be a balance of the number of states in the Southeast with what is in other regions.
“There’s even a region that currently has seven. Others have six, but the South East has five. So if you are adding one more state across the regions, it means that the South East will still be having a shortfall, and there is a need for that shortfall to be balanced.
“I am for the creation of more states. I am also for the creation of an additional state in the Southeast.
“So, if we are creating one more state in the southeast, I’m okay, but if we are creating one more state in the southeast and creating additional states for the other regions the imbalance will go on.
“I am suggesting two states in the South East, then one in other regions, and if possible, none in a region that already has seven.That is what we call equity and justice.”
