There is an ongoing frenzy about state creation. It would seem that the 10th National Assembly is in a hurry to break the jinx on the inability of civilian-led government to create state, an exercise that the military had performed with fiat. That reality and the fact of prolonged military rule had stunted constitutionalism in the country. Nevertheless, in the present hive of activities on state creation, Anioma state has featured among states that may merit the gavel.
Therefore, I begin with the affirmation that Anioma land is west Niger Igboland. Therefore, Anioma people are Igbo or predominantly Igbo. In the last few years, the long-standing agitation for the creation of Anioma state has been resuscitated with increasing vigour after a period of suspended animation. The credit for the resuscitation goes largely to an Anioma son and politician, Senator Ned Nwoko.
The Anioma richly deserve to be given a state of their own, but the state, if or when created, does not have to be an integral part of the southeast, as being canvassed by Senator Nwoko and his allies. The Anioma area politically belongs to the old or defunct Midwest Region though the people are linguistico-culturally Igbo.
The old Midwest itself deserves to be recognised as a region with the two states in the area, Edo and Delta, divided into four including Anioma state. Today, the Midwest is the only post-colonial region divided into only two states. The other regions have been divided as follows: old northern region, 19 states; old western region, six states; old eastern region, now balkernised, five in the South-east and Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Rivers States in the littoral area.
The present South-South, so called, is a guilt work in cartography, as it stretches astride the east and west Niger territories. The four South-South states east of the Niger- Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa Cross River, and Rivers – should stand as a region with a new nomenclature, may be Coast Region.
The interests of the Anioma as a state would be better served in the Midwest to which they historically belong in contemporary times. It is important to emphasise the point that they are predominantly farmers without significant alternative means of subsistence. Therefore, they should remain where their farmlands would be secured. The southeast region made up of five states is territorially less than the old Midwest made up today of Edo and Delta States.
One of the major concerns of many Anioma people is that an Anioma state as part of the southeast would be endangered as they are bound to lose large expanses of their farmlands to bourgeois and petty-bourgeois lgbo elite of east Niger Igboland. This fear is not at all unfounded as the Igbo elite of east Niger origin are already acquiring larger and larger expanses of land in the Delta State capital city, Asaba, and environs.
The argument that the Anioma are lgbo and should therefore be part of the southeast is simplistic. Ethnocultural homogeneity has never been a precondition for progress anywhere. For example, Somalia as a country is ethnoculturally homogenous, but this has not guaranteed peaceful and harmonious group relations.
As a region in the Nigerian federation, the southeast is made up of five states which is the smallest number among the regions. This has been a huge concern to the people of the region, as it has been a disadvantage to the region in the disbursement of the fiscal revenue of the federation, in the provision of physical and social infrastructure, and in the distribution of political offices and appointments at the federal level. This disadvantage needs to be redressed, for the sake of justice, equity, and fairness. However, this should not be done by simply creating Anioma state and mechanically or mechanistically coupling it with the southeast.
The Igbo know themselves and their spread in Nigeria. They are, nevertheless, naturally not irredentistic, and should not be projected to be so. The right way to go is to create another state, the sixth state, within the southeast region.
To conclude, the Anioma people richly deserve a state of their own. But if the struggle for Anioma state succeeds, the state should remain in the South-South region. The people of Edo and Delta states should embark on the high programme of struggle for the recognition of the old Midwest as a geopolitical region or zone in the federation, with Anioma state as one of the states in the region.
Onyekpe is a Professor of history and fellow, Historical Society of Nigeria.
