A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress in Delta state, Prof. Leroy Edozien, has backed the proposed bill seeking for creation of Anioma state.
Prof. Edozien stated this while speaking to journalists in Asaba the Delta State capital weekend.
He said: “First of all, I will like to express a form of appreciation to Senator Ned Nwoko for resurrecting the issue of Anioma state which had been in abeyance for three decades.
“It was a kind of put to rest when Delta state was created, not that it was totally forgotten, and now the Senator Nwoko has resurrected it and becomes agenda.
“Do we need Anioma state? Is it something we should be pursuing? The answer is yes. The agitation of Anioma state had been long time agitation.
“We have the landmass, the population, we have the human and physical resources to become a viable state. There is no doubt that people of Delta North are in position to benefit from the creation.
“Similarly, the people from Delta central and South are in position to benefit from the creation of Anioma state because what use to come to us as one package will now be two packages with all the dividends that come from it.”
Prof Edozien said the whole purpose of state creation was to bring the government closer to to the people. He insisted that there is need for it, there is benefit for having Anioma state.
“Let’s face the more controversial aspect of it, and that’s the state to be in South-East zone. If you want something, you must got to be savvy about it politically.
“The federal government will not just wake up one day and say we want to create states. There must be a reason. For one to create additional states beyond what we have now is not easy because there are many argument to create many states.
“So, if you are the President or Senate President or key elements in the creation of state, if you are to create just one state, will you put it in a zone where they already have seven, or six and leave the zone that has five?
“If they say today, they are going to create additional state, there is no doubt that the state is going to go for the South-East.
“The South-East has been complaining of marginalization. Why do we have security issue in South-East? It’s because of the marginalization and the people have been talking about it since civil war.
“The federal government must show some commitment towards addressing the issue of marginalization. We cannot continue to sweep it under the carpet.
“We cannot pretend that it’s not there, we cannot pretend militarization in South-East is the answer to security issue. So, we are talking about creation of state, the federal government should think about completing South-East zone to six states before thinking about others, otherwise we are preparing the country of self destruction.
“If you look at it at that point of view, I feel, we really want Anioma state, we should be prepared for it to be accommodated within South-East zone.
“For those who have strong feeling against it, are we having regional government? No, it is not a South-East government. It is a zone and not even constitutional but just for political convenience arrangement to help to bring people together to collaborate.
“In terms of governance, you belong to state. I don’t know what the fears are. In Anioma, we are proud with people in banking, medicine, education, military, and more. We have men and women of achievement.
“I’m in total support for the creation of Anioma state. We have to be pragmatic about it. You can’t say because we don’t want to be in South-East, therefore, we can’t have Anioma state.
“Let us have the state. If it means we will be in South-East, so be it. We have linguistic and cultural affiliation with them. There is no ethnic group in Nigeria that does not have the good and the bad side but we must learn how to live together and believe in the concept of unity in diversity”
For my message to Mr. President, I will refer you to my congratulatory message to President Bola Tinubu when he was elected. When I said, I hope his government will be one that will listen to the people, feel the pulse of the people, talk with electorate, engage with all stakeholders, manifests empathy and build a glorious future.
He called on President Tinubu to listen and filled the fear and anxiety of the people, noting that aside the economic situation that everybody is complaining about today, there is nothing else that speaks louder in politics today then the issue of the South-East situation.
“Now, President Tinubu has opportunity to write his name in gold and address South-East zone marginalization.
“That was why I said earlier that sending military men to address security issue in South-East is not the answer. Detaining Nnamdi Kanu indefinitely is not the answer.
“Mr President must do something concrete that can actually make them feel that the president has done something remarkable for us. Then, the people can said Mr President has listened to them and feel our pain,” he added.
