The proposed five further states for the South-East have been rejected by Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, the youth section of the largest Igbo sociocultural organization.
Nigeria’s House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review reportedly suggested the establishment of 31 new states on Thursday.
Nigeria now has 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, and if the idea is approved, the country will have 67 subnational administrations.
Okun, Okura, and Confluence states from Kogi; Benue Ala and Apa states from Benue; FCT state; Amana state from Adamawa; Katagum from Bauchi; and Savannah states from Borno and Muri State from Taraba are the new states, according to the proposal.
Additional regions include Gujarat and New Kaduna in Kaduna State; Tiga and Ari in Kano; Kainji in Kebbi State; and Etiti, Orashi, Adada, Orlu, and Aba in the Southeast.
Ibadan from Oyo, Lagoon from Lagos, Oke Ogun/Ijesha from Oyo/Ogun/Osun States, Ogoja from Cross River State, Warri from Delta, Ori and Obolo from Rivers, and Torumbe from Ondo are also featured.
Youths from Ohanaeze, however, claimed that the plan would further marginalize the South-East region.
Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, the National President of Ohanaeze Youth Council Worldwide, told reporters in a statement released Friday that Ndigbo people have been complaining about being left out because they only have five states, compared to certain other parts of the country that have six or seven.
According to Okwu, the fact that the representatives were now only suggesting five extra states for the South-East when other areas had more would only make matters worse.
In order to prevent the South-East’s animosity from getting worse, he asked the National Assembly to abandon the plan.
“When he read the news about the Reps’ proposal for state creation we were delighted. However, on clear scrutiny of the proposed states, we identified a clear further marginalization of the South-East.
“Our zone has been crying for an additional state since the return to democracy in 1999. But it has always been scuttled by those who are happy with having Ndigbo subjugated in this country.
“We find this current constitution amendment process as an ample opportunity to right that wrong, but we are seeing the contrary,” Okwu lamented.
According to him, any sincere attempt to bring the nation together should begin with the creation of two more states for the South-East, followed by an equal number of states for each region to bring them all up to speed.
Okwu expressed his anger at the South-East members of the House of Representatives “for permitting such a proposal which is skewed against the South-East.”
For the purpose of maintaining national unity, he asked them to start over and fix the anomaly.
