I don’t think any Nigerian will argue the fact that among the six geo-political regions of the country, the South East remains the most neglected, the most marginalized and indeed the most abhorred in the country. The marginalization of the South East runs deeper than what is presented at the outside and derives from the mindset of other component units in Nigeria to ensure the South East is maximally reprehended for daring to opt out of the incongruous polity where everything is adopted by the component units to gain stronger hands over other component units. It is a fact that the South East has the least number of states, least number of local government councils, least number of senatorial, House of Representatives, house of assembly and councillorship seats among the six zones of the country. It is unarguable that the South East has the least number of federal parastatals and establishments, the least mileage of federal roads, the least number of federal appointees and receives the least allocation from the federation account; the wellhead of public revenue in Nigeria and the main corpus of the fractious and acrimonious group-living that has dominated the Nigerian

With five states, the South East trail the South West, South South, North Central and North East regions by one state and trails the North West by one state. The South East is said to have less local governments than the two states of Kano and Jigawa! One is using this as a yardstick to measure how badly the South East is being treated among the component parts of the country. Because revenue and slices from the national cake are allocated based on these very artificial and highly whimsical considerations, it is understandable why the South East feels rightly that its woes and predicaments are man-made and strategically created to deliberately short-change the zone. And to understand the disadvantage the South East suffers from this shortfall, one just needs to calculate the monthly revenue accruable to an average state with commensurate number of local governments. When the calculation is extended to all manners of revenues, appointments and sundry benefits attached to the largely uncoordinated balkanization of the country into various states and local government by the successive military juntas that have taken turns to rape the country and promote their largely Byzantine interests, one will be in a better position to appreciate why the South East cries unendingly about persecution.

I don’t want to dwell on why this deficient position came to be as this has been well explored in previous literature by various interests that seek a redress to this state of lopsidedness. But one can state that the need for an additional state in the South State has come to dwarf all other demands for the rectification of this man-made anomaly that has targeted at a people that have demonstrated the most penchant to work with all tribes and tongue to realize the lofty goals of Nigerian nationhood. It is such that the demand for what has come to be an ‘additional state for the South East’ has wrongly become the easier way to describe the solution to the regime of marginalization of the South East. At present, it captures the demand of the South East for equity, even when it is only a tokenistic appreciation of a deep-rooted and multi-layered policy of state cheating against a people that demonstrate deep love for national cohesion.

The demand for an additional state in the South East, while it had remained hot and topical for long is no more realistic as it was when that anomaly was created. While it has passed through various spasmodic twists and bends, it has remained unrealized because the other groups in Nigeria are not just ready to redress this injustice. At best, they are willing to play around the issue and resume their business of grabbing enough for their people. We have had several conferences, several presentations, several empty assurances and several interventions on the need for the country to do the right thing and give the South East its commensurate number of states and local governments. With each false hope comes an added frenzy by combatants who want to have the envisaged state for themselves and their people. But each effort has rebounded and ended like a poor wick of an ill-tempered fire, leaving the South East as distraught as before they started and the region still trails others in the number of local governments and states as well as the accruable revenue from that arrangement.

But the pertinent question remains why the South East should limit their demand to just an additional state when that will still leave them with a deficit with the North West? What actually makes it imperative for the North West to have seven states and for others to see equity in their having six states? Do the other four regions contend themselves with just six states when the North West has seven states? If so much importance is attached to the number of states a region has and the regions are structured equally with each other, why should the North West have seven regions while the others have six? Who actually decreed that through the stroke of military fiat, one zone should have more states, get more revenue, get more federal representations that the other zones?

It is therefore right and proper that the South East should modify their campaign for an additional state and the other four zones should start their own demand for an additional state each to bring the zones in parity with the North West. Also, the local government structure should be modified to use population as a credible benchmark to create local governments or to create equal local governments for the states. This is the only way to ensure equity in the present Nigerian state. I don’t, for one, believe in the continued balkanization of the country into several unviable chips but since it had been made the determining factor in the distribution of state resources, I have no choice but to embrace this convenient structure and it is on this that I state that the South East must have additional two states while the other four states must have their additional state for each zone to have equal number of states. I believe that this position is supported by equity in a nation where so much premium is placed on this structural imperative. In a nation where bare-faced lies like that which posits that Kano, which ordinarily has less population that Alimosho Local Government in Lagos, has the highest population among the states in the country, just for the pecuniary benefits of this falsity, nothing but a system that encourages equal access and distribution of the country’s resources suffices until we see the need to ensure that this nation is organized on the paths of probity, justice and fairplay.

It is disheartening that the cache of politicians in the South East today are rather engaged in an enervating rat race to corner the envisaged ‘additional state’ where they hope to dip their carnivorous fangs and pillage the envisaged resources that would accrue to that state. They are blind to the fact that with an additional state, the South East still trails the North West. They are blind to the fact that even an additional state would not assuage the deficient number of local councils in the South East. They are more concerned with the selfish underlay of that additional state that they refuse to see a bigger picture, which by the way, will give their selfish intents a boost and give the people of the South east the much denied equitable treatment in the carnivorous Nigerian polity.

All said, let the South East have its two states and commensurate local councils and let the other four regions have their additional states and let all those that should make this happen ensure this is done as quickly as possible. Or let this nation dissolve into six vibrant regions and collapse the states into these regions. This ensured greater development in the first republic than the howling scam that obtains at present.

Peter Claver Oparah

Ikeja, Lagos.

E-mail: peterclaver2000@yahoo.com 

Robot  Villager

# 1 I don’t think any Nigerian will argue the fact that among the six geo-political regions of...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 05.08.2008 22:23

Tempest  Villager

# 2 There you go again with our normal idle thinking of having to sit down and expect "revenue and slices from the national cake" as you put it. If I may ask you, which "revenue and slices from the national cake" are we talking about here? Is it the oil money? The ones that we got all these past years, has it changed the face of Aba or Onitsha? Can't we ever think of how to be self sufficient and improve our immediate environment with the resources we have? When you walk around in Europe and the North America, I am sure you see a lot of cities that do not have any natural resource and yet they look so wonderfully built! Have you ever asked yourself how did they do it? When you start complaining for marginalisation etc have you asked, all those Aba and Onitsha traders, do they pay tax? Do you know how much their tax would run into given the fact that almost every indigene of theses areas has a shop? Or are they also marginalising their state? And BTW, did you just say: I don’t think any Nigerian will argue the fact that among the six geo-political regions of the country, the South East remains the most neglected, the most marginalized and indeed the most abhorred in the country To make a statement like this, I can only presume that you are either not a Nigerian or not living in this globe because even many non-Nigerians know about the ND question. I strongly believe that it is time for us to think out of the box. Instead of perpetually grumbling about "national cake" baked somewhere else and distributed free, (which perhaps is why our leaders consider it as 'awoof') we should start coming home to find out how we can create a meaningful life with what we have. And This is not only for the South East. We need to support and follow the steps of our Northern brothers in their resolve to revisit agriculture (even if they are pushed into thinking this way from the insults they have received from others – The end justifies the means). The moment we can feed our people, that is the moment our development will begin; plenty states or not. Posted by Tempest| 06.08.2008 03:36

i-go-better  Villager

# 3 ---------This My Reply Was Mistakenly Posted To Another Article----------------------------------------------------------------------- I vehemently hate injustice anywhere. But I will certainly cringe at supporting the creation of more States in any part of THIS Nigeria. Imagine creating another State in the S/East only for the Ubas, Nzeribes, Ofors etc to take unfettered control of its socio-political cum economic distribution platform! A situation where who holds a political post down to as lowly and elementary as Local Government Councillorship is determined by these nitwits and fraudsters, should not be encouraged by creating more comfort zone fiefdoms in the name of a State for them. Let all efforts be geared towards filtering off these gangsters from the Polity. State creation would then become necessary and desirable Posted by i-go-better| 06.08.2008 08:35

denker  Villager

# 4 Peter, Gbam for a job well done....as long as we gonna continue enduring the pathetic momentary constellation of unfair, unjust and inhuman based diabolical structure in nigeria i wholeheartedly support and validate your call for two additional states for south east....let the fight go on, my bruder! Posted by denker| 06.08.2008 12:17

Ogi  In Purgatory

# 5 This is a simple matter. All regions must have equal states, failing which we should revert to regionalism (6 regions). Why should North East have 7 and others 6, and even 5 states for the Igbos? Every good willing person should condemn what is wrong and support what is right. Posted by Ogi| 06.08.2008 12:41

felix  Villager

# 6 =Tempest;4295079899>There you go again with our normal idle thinking of having to sit down and expect "revenue and slices from the national cake" as you put it. If I may ask you, which "revenue and slices from the national cake" are we talking about here? Is it the oil money? The ones that we got all these past years, has it changed the face of Aba or Onitsha? Can't we ever think of how to be self sufficient and improve our immediate environment with the resources we have? When you walk around in Europe and the North America, I am sure you see a lot of cities that do not have any natural resource and yet they look so wonderfully built! Have you ever asked yourself how did they do it? When you start complaining for marginalisation etc have you asked, all those Aba and Onitsha traders, do they pay tax? Do you know how much their tax would run into given the fact that almost every indigene of theses areas has a shop? Or are they also marginalising their state? And BTW, did you just say: To make a statement like this, I can only presume that you are either not a Nigerian or not living in this globe because even many non-Nigerians know about the ND question. I strongly believe that it is time for us to think out of the box. Instead of perpetually grumbling about "national cake" baked somewhere else and distributed free, (which perhaps is why our leaders consider it as 'awoof') we should start coming home to find out how we can create a meaningful life with what we have. And This is not only for the South East. We need to support and follow the steps of our Northern brothers in their resolve to revisit agriculture (even if they are pushed into thinking this way from the insults they have received from others – The end justifies the means). The moment we can feed our people, that is the moment our development will begin; plenty states or not. The problem here is not only with the distribution of more resources (which the South East is entitled to since it contributes more to the national treasury than some regions with greater number of states) The issue being discussed also involves political representation in a union that cant boast of brotherhood amongst the component Regions ...States help to determine the level of political representation a region gets in the national level. Normally every state in Nigeria produces 3 senators. The net effect of this sort of gerrymandering where the delimination of contituencies by the electoral body forces regions with fewer states to produce fewer political constituencies/ representatives is politically devastating. In federal politics, regions with higher representatives can easily come together to lord their interests over those with fewer polical representatives. We see that today in the relationship beween the north and others in the National Assembly. I dont know wether you calmed down to read this : It is a fact that the South East has the least number of states, least number of local government councils, least number of senatorial, House of Representatives, house of assembly and councillorship seats among the six zones of the country. It is unarguable that the South East has the least number of federal parastatals and establishments, the least mileage of federal roads, the least number of federal appointees and receives the least allocation from the federation account; the wellhead of public revenue in Nigeria and the main corpus of the fractious and acrimonious group-living that has dominated the Nigerian With five states, the South East trail the South West, South South, North Central and North East regions by one state and trails the North West by one state. The South East is said to have less local governments than the two states of Kano and Jigawa!.....And to understand the disadvantage the South East suffers from this shortfall, one just needs to calculate the monthly revenue accruable to an average state with commensurate number of local governments. When the calculation is extended to all manners of revenues, appointments and sundry benefits attached to the largely uncoordinated balkanization of the country into various states and local government by the successive military juntas that have taken turns to rape the country and promote their largely Byzantine interests, one will be in a better position to appreciate why the South East cries unendingly about persecution. It is all good to talk about producing wealth and not just sharing it but we shouldnt make it look like the only time the country can do this is when some regions cheat others by inflating their population while using the military to garner more states..Obviously Regions have proven more productive than States in terms of generating wealth and helping the amalgamating units develope at their own pace, but those who prefer states to regions and forced down that valeu into the constitution should endevour to practice this doctrine in a waythat no part of the country is deliberately and contineously cheated Posted by felix| 06.08.2008 16:08

Nokia  Villager

# 7 =Tempest;4295079899>There you go again with our normal idle thinking of having to sit down and expect "revenue and slices from the national cake" as you put it. If I may ask you, which "revenue and slices from the national cake" are we talking about here? Is it the oil money? The ones that we got all these past years, has it changed the face of Aba or Onitsha? Can't we ever think of how to be self sufficient and improve our immediate environment with the resources we have? When you walk around in Europe and the North America, I am sure you see a lot of cities that do not have any natural resource and yet they look so wonderfully built! Have you ever asked yourself how did they do it? When you start complaining for marginalisation etc have you asked, all those Aba and Onitsha traders, do they pay tax? Do you know how much their tax would run into given the fact that almost every indigene of theses areas has a shop? Or are they also marginalising their state? And BTW, did you just say: To make a statement like this, I can only presume that you are either not a Nigerian or not living in this globe because even many non-Nigerians know about the ND question. I strongly believe that it is time for us to think out of the box. Instead of perpetually grumbling about "national cake" baked somewhere else and distributed free, (which perhaps is why our leaders consider it as 'awoof') we should start coming home to find out how we can create a meaningful life with what we have. And This is not only for the South East. We need to support and follow the steps of our Northern brothers in their resolve to revisit agriculture (even if they are pushed into thinking this way from the insults they have received from others – The end justifies the means). The moment we can feed our people, that is the moment our development will begin; plenty states or not. Mr Tempest, or should i call you Mr nigeria. Before barking like a dog, you have to first of all take your preaching to your northern hausa masters (if you are not one of them) that seized and are responsible for sharing the so called national cake. Yes, the national cake is the oil in Niger Delta. Do your beloved nigeria have any other national cake apart from Niger Delta oil to share among it's citizenry?? Forget about that your Europe and North America. Get every region in nigeria (that's if it will survive being ONE in the next two years) to have equal number of states first, and then we can look up to what ever you are proposing in Europe and North America. Don't be so quick to look the other way while injustice that are been perpetrated by your nothern masters are still going on and you expect all to toe the line of your whatever Europe and North American proposal. Every region must have equal number of states before any other thing. Go and tell them to reduce the number of states in their region or more number of states should be added to other disadvantaged regions to catch up with their own region. If not, what ever you are preaching here is absolutely rubbish. After all no other region in your beloved nigeria can match the Easterners/Igbos in job creation outside of your so called national cake/oil. Have you ever thought of the fact that the North America and Europe that you are quick to mention are far much better in justice for their people than what is obtain in your luggard's cage nigeria?? You talk about following the steps of your northern masters?? Stop sounding funny Mr Tempest. Which of their steps do you want others to follow?? Who is fooling who here?? Go tell them to hands off the national cake/oil first before barking about their fake resolve to revisit agriculture. If shops in Aba and Onitsha are not paying tax as you put it, tell me which shops in other regions of nigeria are paying tax. Just one?? Posted by Nokia| 06.08.2008 16:19

draftman  Villager

# 8 This is typical whinning of this Ibo pp. Obviously, you are looking at the issue from one lens, instead of what is good for our country. Creating another states is just another way to have more politician to steal. The Ibo pp should be glad they get some states, as they are non-nigerian by their own admission. So, take what we give you and shut up, you do not deserve five states as the traitors, unpatriotic, agitators, troublemaker, and the weakest link of our beloved country. If you don't like what we gave you, just pack up and leave. We ahve heard all your complaint and we say NO! Your pp do not which our country well, you live in Nigerian under protest, we do not trust Ibo pp with more power in our country, they can go to their biafra. Posted by draftman| 06.08.2008 16:30

Nokia  Villager

# 9 =draftman;4295080158>This is typical whinning of this Ibo pp. Obviously, you are looking at the issue from one lens, instead of what is good for our country. Creating another states is just another way to have more politician to steal. The Ibo pp should be glad they get some states, as they are non-nigerian by their own admission. So, take what we give you and shut up, you do not deserve five states as the traitors, unpatriotic, agitators, troublemaker, and the weakest link of our beloved country. If you don't like what we gave you, just pack up and leave. We ahve heard all your complaint and we say NO! Your pp do not which our country well, you live in Nigerian under protest, we do not trust Ibo pp with more power in our country, they can go to their biafra. Simply put. You leech on the wheels of Igbo people's progress deserve to be tied to the stake and shot at no other place but on your head, 10 times. Posted by Nokia| 06.08.2008 17:27

NWANZA  Villager

# 10 =draftman;4295080158>This is typical whinning of this Ibo pp. Obviously, you are looking at the issue from one lens, instead of what is good for our country. Creating another states is just another way to have more politician to steal. The Ibo pp should be glad they get some states, as they are non-nigerian by their own admission. So, take what we give you and shut up, you do not deserve five states as the traitors, unpatriotic, agitators, troublemaker, and the weakest link of our beloved country. If you don't like what we gave you, just pack up and leave. We ahve heard all your complaint and we say NO! Your pp do not which our country well, you live in Nigerian under protest, we do not trust Ibo pp with more power in our country, they can go to their biafra. You are truly a window through which we see the mindset of the North, and the reason your leaders do the things they do to bury Nigeria in fraud. From Gowon 12 states to the current 36 states, it is evident that injustice was intended and perpetrated. I really admire you candid approach to solving the Igbo problem - Liberation. Hopefully, your leaders will be wise enough to cut BIAFRA loose or face a much more dangerous and deadly war. The warning signs are all over the place, and you are one of the few that see it. Please be the evangelist and spread this gospel of Igbo liberation from Nigeria. Posted by NWANZA| 06.08.2008 18:13

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