Some concerned Nigerians, yesterday, took diverse positions on a fresh bill currently being listed for presentation before the House of Representatives seeking creation of three additional states in the South-West region of the country, namely Oke-Ogun from existing Oyo State, Ijebu from existing Ogun State and Ife-Ijesa from Osun State.
The bill is being sponsored by the lawmaker representing Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency, Osun State, Oluwole Oke, which he titled: “A Bill for an Act to amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).”
It seeks an amendment to the First Schedule, Part I of the Constitution by introducing new states and reducing the number of local councils.”
However, a chieftain of All Progressives Congress (APC) from Osun State, who is also a renowned journalist, Dr LiadiTella, commended Oke for coming up with such a bill, which he said, would balance the injustice that has been done to the South-West region in state creation over the years.
However, an elderly politician from Oke-Ogun, who begged not to be named, said: “If the oppression being vetted by Ibadan to the other parts of Oyo, and Oke-Ogun particularly is to be considered, then we would agitate for Oke-Ogun State. However, can an Oke-Ogun State be economically viable? The answer is no. No, because even Ibadan that is cheating other zones in Oyo is also asking for Ibadan state. The reason agitation for state creation is coming up is because of bad governance. So, I don’t think it’s viable to create an additional state. If my name is quoted, our people will not understand and they will tag me as an enemy.”
Also, a former Commissioner for Transportation in Lagos State, Prof. Bamidele Badejo, while welcoming the idea, said those who placed economic viability alone into consideration will knock the proposed bill.
“For me, I will support Oke and the bill,” he said.
But taking a different approach, Anthony Kila, a Jean Monnet professor of Strategy and Development, who is also an international Director of Studies at the European Centre of Advanced and Professional Studies, wondered what the Osun lawmaker is thinking before coming up with such a bill when Nigeria is down economically and poverty is written almost everywhere.
According to him, “there are a lot of things on economy and politics that the National Assembly can deliberate on now other than state creation. We, therefore, want Oke to really break down what he meant and what is the advantage of creating more states now?
The don also argued that the leap Nigeria had under the regional government is far better than what it had when states were being created.
A former Deputy Director of the Central Bank, octogenarian BashorunOlorunfunmi, disagreed with the Osun lawmaker, saying: There is no explanation that can justify state creation at least for now in Nigeria. If at all Oke wants to be fair, he should have also made a case for the South-East in the bill, which is also not tenable anyway.
However, putting a hard knock on Oke, a former National Vice Chairman of PDP South-West zone, Dr Eddy Olafeso, said he wondered if the Osun lawmaker understands what is before Nigeria and the solution our challenges require?
“I will be surprised if that bill scales through, otherwise it shows the level of characters we voted for to represent us at the National Assembly.”
Meanwhile, President, Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), YerimaShetima, also kicked against the proposal as he suggested that most of the existing states that are not viable should be cancelled and merged with viable ones if possible.
He said this is the time Nigeria and Nigerians should be talking of decentralising power and make the Federal Government less attractive and not state creation.
