Groups Want 4 New States From Rivers

If presentations made by various state creation groups is anything to go by, Rivers State may be split into four states if the current constitutional review exercise embarked upon by the National Assembly succeeds.

One of the groups which made presentation on Tuesday, at the Zonal Public Hearing for the South-South by the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution in Port Harcourt, is the Ijaw National Congress.

The states expected to sprout from the present Rivers State include, Bori, Ahoada, Minji-Se and Oil Rivers State.

At the Riverine axis of the state, Minji-Se, Oil Rivers state, according to the stakeholders, would provide political space for the marginalised people, mostly occupying the coastal fringes, while those in the upland axis would get Bori and Ahoada states.

From the presentations made, two earlier states agitated for have changed their nomenclatures. The former Orashi state was renamed Ahoada and Ogoni renamed Bori State.

Explaining reasons why the states should be created, President of the Ijaw National Congress, Dr Atuboyedia Obianime said the states were overdue considering the huge economic resources and oppression suffered by the people over the years.

In the light of the political suppression suffered by the people over the years, the INC boss said, “We see that if we continue in this way we would remain the same for a long time.”

Especially, he remarked that long time balkanization of the people makes them difficult to speak in one voice and develop.

According to him, Oil Rivers State would have been created since 1983 if not for the military intervention. The area consisting of Oil Rivers he further explained covers 13 local government areas with a population of 2.3 million and 5,000 square kilometers in land mass, with lots of oil and mineral resources.

For Ahoada state, Stephen Ekekwem explained that the new state would cover eight ethnic groups including Ekpeye Ogba, Ndoni, Engenni, Egbma, Odual, Kugbo and Abua.

Formerly christened Orashi state, the name was dropped following the failure to push it through in 1996. However, with the current constitutional review exercise, he noted that the people of the area believes that, “it would be worthy reparation which Nigeria federation can offer to the people of the area.”

Senator Cyrus Nunye of the Bori State submitted that one unique aspect of the proposed state is that it has large quantum of gas and oil mineral resources.

The new state he explained would comprise all the Ogoni local government areas including Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni and Oyigbo area.

Senator Nunyee remarked that the name ‘Ogoni’ was dropped to give room for the diverse ethnic groups expected to fall within its area.

Similarly, Dr Numbere of the Minji-Se State creation movement has called on the National Assembly to address the infrastructural problems faced by riverine communities in Rivers State by creating new state.

With headquarters in Degema, Dr Nembere declared that remote areas like Kula and Soku would linked to the upland so as to provide both economic and political space for them.

The new state he further stated would cover from Abua area to the Andoni area, adding that the state has enormous economic resources to make it viable.