I am not from the area of Delta State called Anioma, comprising the Igbo speaking areas of the state. I don’t need to be one before supporting a just cause and that is why the clamour for the creation of Anioma state is as sweet as the name sounds, good land. I have always felt this affinity with the people and the reason is not far-fetched.
By Fred Anene Nduka
I am not from the area of Delta State called Anioma, comprising the Igbo speaking areas of the state. I don’t need to be one before supporting a just cause and that is why the clamour for the creation of Anioma state is as sweet as the name sounds, good land. I have always felt this affinity with the people and the reason is not far-fetched.
My Ogbaru blood shares a lot in common with the Anioma people of Ika North, Ika South, Oshimili North and Oshimili South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, the proud descendants of Eze Chima. The shared heritage includes similar Igbo dialects, the preeminence of Ófór in traditional Igbo worship, Egwu akwa ocha, Egwu amala, masquerades, Ofe nsala, the Nkwo/Eke/Olie/Afor (four) markets days and choice of Igbo names.
A new awakening never seen before is happening all over the Igbo speaking areas of Delta State. A spontaneous and organic support for the creation of Anioma state has gripped the hearts and minds of these Igbo communities. From Agbor, Igbanke, Ukwuani, Ubulu Uku, Umunede, Asaba, the story is the same of a people grimly intent on asserting and pronouncing their Igbo identity through the creation of Anioma state.
The age-long agitation for Anioma state, starting in the 1950s under the leadership of Dennis Osadebe, the first Premier of defunct Midwestern Region, has witnessed the giddying oscillation of state creation in Nigeria. The people, through various representations and fora have remained steadfast that one day Anioma state will come into fruition. Senator Ned Nwoko has, with aplomb and uncommon gusto, picked up the gauntlet and taken the demand for Anioma state to another level where the prospect of its realisation is real.
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The perceived identity crisis, denials, subjugation and marginalisation of the great Anioma people are being laid to rest and now a stirring of freedom is pervading the entire Igbo speaking areas of Delta. More frequently we hear these our brothers and sisters proudly declare they are Igbos, Igbo bu ofu, etc. And of course, that’s what they are, scions of full-blooded Igbo sons and daughters.
Senator Ned Nwoko, the champion and arrowhead of the current push for the realisation of Anioma State, is on a mission hence firing on all cylinders. The ecstatic crowd at the public hearings for the constitution review, the massive show of support by the local and traditional institutions, the support by other Senators to this just request by the people of Anioma is a gladdening spectacle and a hope beckoning to the horizon. The creation of Anioma state seems fait a compli despite the shenanigans of internal saboteurs to derail the coming into fruitage of Anioma state.
The Anioma people want the state to become part of South East, to join their kit and kin, the Igbos across the Niger. This is homecoming of a sort and nothing could be more audacious considering the stereotyping and trauma in the recent past suffered by the Aniomas during and after the Nigerian Civil War of 1966. Added to above scenarios are the divide-and-rule, gerrymandering, punitive boundary demarcation and the scorched earth policy against anything with the trappings of Igbo because of the war.
But how will this affect the South East in its current make-up? Nothing in the negative as the South East will become bigger in size and have more mineral endowments to its kitty. Anioma state will complete the number of states in south east to six bringing it at par with some other zones in the country. This will also increase political representation in the National Assembly for the people and put paid to the rightful indignation of marginalisation by the Igbos over the years.
What’s more heartwarming is the integration, once again, of brothers and sisters long separated not by choice but by the aftermath of the Nigerian civil war where a group of people that fought together to preserve their own people were pitted against one another as enemies by the forces that sought their extermination. The Niger Bridge between Asaba and Onitsha will now assume its full symbolic meaning as a footpath joining two communal entities than a fortress of separation.
Anioma state would be coming back to South East as a full-blooded member of Igbo nation, raising its shoulders high in sprightly glee, equal to any member of South East family. The new state will add pedigree and strength to the South East, politically, economically and socially. The traditional and the cultural similarities will further the homogeneity and intermingling between a people of the same stock. Anioma people are one and same with the rest of the Igbos but only separated by artificial boundaries.
Ohanaeze’s role is greatly cut out for it in the emerging scenario and should step in, if not too late, and prioritise the demands for state creation in Igbo land. Which of the proposed states, if created, serves the larger interest of the Igbo nation so all resources are directed towards its realisation instead of dissipating efforts at empire building by individuals who want personal fiefdoms and never mean well for the Igbos. Anioma ticks all boxes as the sixth state in South East.
In a sustained burst of collective fervour and energy, the people of Anioma have avowed that its destiny resides in the overall Igbo nationhood. And in Senator Ned Nwoko, the Anioma people and Igbos in general, have a dynamo, a moving force, a force multiplier taking the people to a new Anioma State.
South East is bigger, better and more bounteous with Anioma state.
Fred Anene Nduka, a public affairs analyst wrote from Lagos
