The Anioma State Creation Movement has commended the Senator representing Delta North in the National Assembly, Ned Nwoko, for leading the agitation to create Anioma State out of Delta State.
The group said the idea — despite opposition from some quarters — promises political recognition, job creation, and economic empowerment for the Anioma people wherever they live.
In late October, the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Constitution Review approved the creation of an additional state in the South-East geopolitical zone.
According to a statement by the media unit of the committee, the resolution was reached at a two-day retreat in Lagos, where it reviewed 55 proposals for state creation across the country.
The session, chaired by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin, and co-chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, the Federal Government should create another state for the region.
In a statement on Monday, the movement’s Media Director, Osita Oganah, described Nwoko — who has been championing the call for the creation of the state — as “a focused and patriotic leader” whose efforts, it noted, had rekindled a decades-long struggle for fair representation of the region.
The statement added that some voices from the Anioma area, including civil society actors, traditional leaders, and members of the diaspora, also backed the movement’s position.
An indigene of Agbor resident in Abuja, Ngozi Okolo, said the senator’s influence and resources had advanced a cause that “will benefit everyone who is Igbo, irrespective of educational or financial status.”
Similarly, Dr Chukwuka Nwaka of Kwale described the initiative as the long-awaited “liberation” of Delta Igbos, adding that it marked “the end of a struggle dating back to the 1950s.”
According to Oganah, the Anioma people, who share linguistic and cultural ties with the Igbos of Anambra, Abia, Imo, and Ebonyi states, are distinct from other ethnic groups in the South-South region.
He said the proposed state naturally aligns with the South-East geopolitical zone and would help balance Nigeria’s zonal structure, as the South-East remains the only zone with five states.
“We cannot wish for a more focused and patriotic leader to lead us to the promised land of freedom, empowerment, and equitable recognition,” Oganah said.
In September, Ned Nwoko said the agitation for the creation of Anioma State was about correcting historical imbalances.
Nwoko, who had sponsored a motion for the creation of Anioma State in the National Assembly, stated this while addressing participants at the Igbo Unification Movement, a two-day event held in Asaba, the Delta State capital.
“The agitation for the creation of Anioma State is not about politics or personal ambition, but about correcting historical imbalances, and I have said over time that my dream is for an Ndokwa son or daughter to emerge as the first governor of Anioma State when it is created,” he said.
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