Constitution Review: Long Road To State Creation

Precisely a month ago, members of the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution were in Rivers State for a two-day Zonal Public Hearing on the proposed alteration to the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Committee was led by its South-South Chairman and Senate Deputy Leader, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN). Others include Senator Effiong Bob from Akwa-Ibom, Eme Ufot Ekaette, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri from Bayelsa, Senator Patrick Osakwe from Delta, Senator Ehigie Uzamere from Edo and Senator Lee Maeba from Rivers State.

The hope raised by the two-day hearing is still reverberating as state creation and minority rights dominated most of the presentations made at the forum.

From far away Edo State to Cross River State, various calls were made by stakeholders for more states creation.

And if the agitation sails through, not less than 10 states may be split from the six existing South-South states in the country.

The states include Ogoja in Cross River State, Turobe State to be carved out from Ondo, Edo and Delta States. Oil Rivers to be carved out from Rivers State. In short, only in Rivers State, agitations were made for Ahoada, Ogoni and Minji-Se states.

Agitation for states creation did not start today. Shortly after independence in 1960, the country split from the three regions to four including Middle Belt. By 1967, during Gen. Yakubu Gowon regime, the country was further split into 12 states.

By 1979, during Gen. Murtala Mohammed/Obasanjo regime, the country grew into 19 states. Gen. Babangida increased it to 21 in 1991 and when Gen. Sanni Abacha came in 1995, the number of states went up to 36.

In all, only during Gen. Murtala regime was a deliberate action taken through constitutional procedure to create state.

Experts are of the view that it was a coincidence as at that time because a Constitutional Drafting Committee, led by eminent lawyer, Late F.R.A Williams, (SAN), was already putting together the 1979 constitution for eventual military handover that same year.

Aside from that instance, right from the regime of Gen. Gowon, state creation has always been through military fiat. It was in this light that most political analysts assert that it would be difficult this time to get new states created considering the complex political, economic, social and ethnic intrigues that would come to play in the process.

Since the present constitutional review process was mooted in 2007, agitations for more states creation have resonated in the country. The agitation cuts across the different zones of the country.

In the South-East zone of the country, Governors like Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State has called for the creation of Njaba state. Governor Ohakim bared his mind on the matter last year when he received a delegation of Orlu Council of Elders, led by its chairman, Hon. Justice L.C. Alimor at the Government House, Owerri.

Governor Ohakim, while asserting his support for the creation of the new state said the people of the zone have lost lot of federal attention. He urged the delegation to come up with a strategic design on how to actualise the goal.

The same view was promoted by Ebonyi State Governor, Chief Martin Elechi, who observed that the South-East has the least number of states.

He told newsmen at Abakiliki that there was no way to define marginalisation than in the present arrangement which detracts from the contributions of South Easterners to the country’s development.

“My view is that the agitation for an additional state as the beginning of new creation is that it is national neglect that calls for a national resolve. There is no reason why this geo-political zone should have only five states,” Elechi argued.

“Above everything else, we deserve that additional state before we talk of how many more states that should be created all over Nigeria. We handled this issue almost to a definite conclusion in the defunct national political reform conference.”

The Ebonyi State Governor submitted that because of its urgency and importance in building national unity through equity, ‘justice and fair play, state creation could even be taken care of by national consensus rather than the tedious process of constitution amendment.

Adding, “after all, none of the existing states was created through constitutional provisions. So it is a national problem that requires national focus and national commitment.”

In the North, the Movement for the Creation of Savannah State, has renewed its call for the creation of Savannah State out of the present Borno State.

The movement said during its meeting with members of the National Assembly last year resolved that all sons and daughters of Southern Borno shall work to achieve their long desired objectives.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting, the Publicity Secretary of the group, Inuwa Bwala, commended the vision and efforts of the founding fathers of the movement, and urged all sons and daughters of the zone to remain committed to the course of the area.

Calling for the creation of Torube State, President of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Dr. Atuboyedia Obianime, during his presentation said the call for the creation of the state started over 20 years ago.

The new state, which for him was needed for the creation of more political space and homogeneity of Ijaws. It would cover Burutu in Delta, Bomadi, Patani, Warri South and Warri North. In Edo, it would cover Ovia South/North and in Ondo, Ojibo, which are exclusively Ijaw territories.

For Oil Rivers State, Dr. Obianime, would cover 13 local government areas in present Rivers State consisting of 5,000 square kilometers of abundant gas, oil and fish resources.

In order to make it a reality, he noted that the Senate needs to distance itself from extraneous influences that, may come from the federal government, arguing that, state creation should be a way of addressing the age-long marginalisation the people of the Niger Delta have suffered.

Speaking on behalf of the Movement for Minji-Se State, Dr. Charles Numbere, said the stakeholders need to go back to the Willinks Commission of 1958, which declared that the Niger Delta was not sufficiently developed.

Dr. Numbere was of the view that the restiveness in the Niger Delta was as a result of aggrieved minds over the underdevelopment of the area. He urged the federal government to treat the area as a special area.

He proposed four new Ijaw states namely, two from the East of Bayelsa and two from the West of Bayelsa.

The two of the East of Bayelsa include Minji-Se and Abaji-Se Minji-Se, he said should consist of Abua, Bille, Kalabari, Kugbou, Odual and Udekema. While the two West of Bayelsa should be Torube and Benibe.

He further declared, “we have gone to the people and sought their consent, and we have gone to see the Senate President and have submitted our memorandum.”

The idea of state creation according Dr. Numbere goes beyond politics, “we are talking about the future of our children, we have always been cheated in the past. When the North, West and East were created, the South ought to have been created rather, they were sidelined,” he added.

Advocating for the creation of Ogoja State, Prof Itai recalled that the area was formerly referred to as Oil Rivers and Ogoja Province during the colonial era. But since independence, the area has remained dormant because the people have not been given a voice.

Quoting section 8 subsection one of the constitution, Prof Itai remarked that the right of the minority have to be protected considering the fact that almost all the former provinces have now become state headquarters except Ogoja.

For him, what the people of the area have suffered, “is gross oppression, regression of Niger Delta communities.”

In Bayelsa State, according to Mr. Gideon Okei Owei, what the people need goes beyond infrastructural development. He gave knocks to the Land Use Act and harped on the need for more local government areas creation.

“We do not subscribe to the provision of section 41 subsection three”, he said, “we believe that the question of Revenue Allocation as determined by the National Assembly has not been fair”.

Mr. Owei called for fiscal federalism. He maintained that states need to  be given freedom to control their resources, create their own Police and also allowed to create local governments based on convenience.

The same view was re-echoed by eminent lawyer and former president of the Nigerian Bar Assocation, Onueze Okocha, who spoke on behalf of Ogbakor Ikwerre Movement.

The Senior Advocate of Nigeria stressed that the call for state creation would be based on merit. According to him, states must be homogeneous and economically viable.

OCJ Okocha asserted that local government should be left for states to create, “if Rivers State can manage 50 local government areas let them create, as far as they can maintain it.”

Earlier, Senator Ndoma-Egba has assured stakeholders in the area that the Upper House would collate and study their views in order to produce an equitable and balanced constitution.

He dismissed the view that the public hearing was an effort to kill time as the National Assembly was bent in ensuring that the constitution is reviewed to reduce tension by incorporating the views of all the citizenry.