Let me start by thanking you all for the honour of inviting me to this inaugural meeting of the College of Anioma Patriots.
In 2003, there was a nationwide frenzy over the twin issues of resource control and state creation. To support our legislators at the national level, Delta State Government assembled a highly competent technical team, and I remember that Prof G.G. Darah was in this team. I took the time to study the provisions of the constitution and said to the governor when I had the opportunity, “Sir, why are we wasting energy on state creation? The framers of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, never intended for anyone to achieve additional state creation under its provisions.”
Over the years, I have been proven right. Every legislative assembly has used the issue of state creation to keep the polity distracted—an exercise in futility. The recent statement from the House of Representatives that no request for state creation before it met the constitutional requirements saddened me. Not because I believed state creation was viable, but because valuable time and resources were being wasted on what I knew to be a non-issue.
Even if state creation were genuinely on the table, the pursuit of Anioma State this time around has been marred by division and disrespect—particularly the online vitriol directed at elders by social media hirelings of those who should have been leading the process. A process that required unity and strategy was instead reduced to chaos. Worse still, there was no formal request for Anioma State before the House of Representatives. This is a critical fact. Were our representatives working at cross purposes with our senator? Did our senator provide leadership for his fellow legislators at the federal and state levels? Each of them has a vital role to play in any serious state creation request. Yet, what became obvious was a resounding NO.
This was not a sincere effort—it was a solo run for vanity, a blatant exploitation of our collective sentiment for an Anioma State. A textbook example of political jobbery. How else do you explain the insults hurled at anyone with a differing opinion? How do you explain the absurd notion of Anioma being placed in the South East? How do you justify the blatant disrespect toward the state governor, a former governor (an Anioma indigene), and a former senator? No one could correct or guide the senator. Instead of leading a coordinated push for state creation, he was busy attempting to hijack the party structure in the district—an effort that failed woefully due to strong resistance.
The Senate alone cannot create a street, let alone a state.
It has been a season of disgrace for the senator representing Delta North—the core Anioma constituency. What did he need the party structure for when he had none to become a candidate and win an election in the first place? This remains a mystery to me. To top it all off, what kind of sincere leader of a state creation movement crosses party lines in the middle of the struggle? Is that who the Anioma people are—fickle and unserious? No. That is not my Anioma people.
We are a faithful, respectable and loyal people. We are strong, focused, and unwavering. We fight justly and win decisively. We do not kpobonekpobone (act recklessly). Senator Ned Nwoko-Daniels misled the people, and they deserve to know the truth. That is the purpose of this piece.
