From IKECHUKWU NNADI, Nsukka
Recently, the member representing Nsukka/Igbo-Eze South Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Hon. Chidi Obetta, asserted that if any state would be created out of the South East to bring it at par with other zones with six states apiece, that State would be Adada.
Obetta, made the assertion at a recent 2nd Town Hall Meeting with his constituents at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN.
Nsukka is the only old province yet to become a state despite its large population and landmass, he stated, disclosing that he had co-sponsored a bill to amend the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to effect the creation of Adada State.
Besides Adada, there are also clamours for the creation of other states out of the present South-East, including Etiti, Olu, Equity, Aba, Anim, among others.
But Obeta declared that “If there is any state that should be created from the South East, the first should be Adada State.”
“Since 1979, the people of the South East have endorsed the creation of Adada State. If you look at it, Nsukka is the only old province that has not become a state,” he revealed.
“Abakaliki, Awka and Owerri have all become states but as you can see, Nsukka Zone still remains a senatorial District. With our large population and landmass, huge agricultural potential ( Nsukka is one of the South East’s food baskets) and mineral resources, we deserve to become a state.”
It would be recalled that in October last year, Justice Nelson Ogbuanya of the National Industrial Court, Owerri Division asserted that among the four proposed states in Nigeria’s Southeast region, Adada stands out as the most desired and legally supported choice.
He described Adada as a State with a unique cultural homogeneity and the oldest unresolved request for state creation in Nigeria.
Justice Ogbuanya made his case for Adada State during a guest lecture titled “Navigating the Constitutional Conundrum for Creation of Adada State: Interrogating the Prospects, Demystifying the Challenges, and Strategizing the Advocacies.”
The lecture took place at the 2024 Nsukka Journalists Forum (NJF) Convention in Nsukka, Enugu State.
Justice Ogbuanya encouraged the public not to be dissuaded by the challenges involved in constitutional amendments for state creation.
Furthermore, he cited the successful elevation of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria to the status of a Superior Court of Record under Section 254C of the Constitution as an example that constitutional amendments are achievable.
He argued that Adada State’s creation would be a significant step towards ensuring equity in state distribution and providing all citizens with a sense of belonging.
This is coming after almost a decade after what seemed like taking a deep slumber with regard to the agitation for the creation of Adada state in the South East geopolitical zone.
However, in December 2020, the bill for the creation of Adada state passed the first reading on the floor of Senate. The bill which was championed by the Senator representing the senatorial district, Senator Chuka Utazi attracted a lot of commendation and support from all well-meaning indigenes of the zone. Since then, there have been fireworks, both overt and covert on how to realize this feat.
Challenges facing the agitation
However, despite the genuine agitation for the creation of Adada by virtually all the South East zone, there seems to be daunting challenges to this movement.
Recently, the Adada State Creation Movement cast doubts on the integrity of the report submitted by the Ohaneze Ad-hoc Committee on State Creation, which favoured creation of Aba state rather than Adada State.
Paul Njoku, a member of the committee had revealed through a publication that its report favoured the creation of Aba state. But the Enugu State secretary of the movement, James Ugwu, in a statement in Enugu, recently accused the committee of acting in bad faith.
According to him, “The assignment given to the Ohaneze Ndigbo by the Governors’ Forum includes reading through all the documentations emanating from the state creation agitations, such as reports by the Willink Commission of 1957, “Case for ENUGU (WAWA) STATE of 1970 and also from the creation of Old Enugu and Ebonyi States.
“There is a document written in 1970 and signed by the then leaders of the South East that divided the South East into North and South, equal in size and population. Presently, the Southern Igbo has three states namely: Anambra, Imo and Abia, while the Northern Igbo has only two states: Enugu and Ebonyi.
“One of the reasons why the South East is crying against national imbalance is because we have only five states while other geopolitical zones have 6 and 7 states. In view of the above, will there be justice if Aba state is created thereby making the Southern Igbos four states and leaving the Northern Igbos with only two states?
“Paul also talked about economic viability of Aba and the land mass. You will notice that Adada has more land mass than Aba. It is also laughable to hear my friend saying that Aba has more manpower and educational institutions than Adada which has been housing the first indigenous and prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka.
“You may again need to know that we have a lot of natural resources such as oil and mineral deposits untapped. In terms of local government areas, the arbitrariness in local government creation is what denied the Nsukka district headquarters from giving birth to up to six LGAs. It is the only local government district headquarters that is not a state capital in Nigeria. It is also the largest local government area in Nigeria today.”
Ugwu said during submission of documents to the Ohaneze committee, the Adada team had intimated the Ohaneze Committee that a decision had earlier been taken on the first choice of the South East on state creation.
“We had referred the Committee to a 10-man committee of Senators and House of Representatives mandated by the Southeast caucus of the NASS after a meeting of political leaders, past and present governors, political appointees, leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo, leaders of thought and other opinion leaders in South East to select the most qualified state out of all the agitations from South East.
“This Committee, after scrutinizing the entire documents, decided to go it democratically by voting amongst themselves. The result of the vote was as follows: Adada, 5; Orashi, 3; Aba, 2, and Njiaba, 0.”
According to him, by this vote, the Southeast had made her first choice clear, adding, “Therefore, the first choice state to be created from South East is Adada State. It is important to note that until another round of a similar meeting mentioned above is convened and voting by NASS members of South East extraction, Adada State remains the first choice of the entire South East.”
He described the report as a scandal and disclosed the matter had been reported through a petition to the Office of the President -General of Ohaneze Ndigbo.
He said the right person to have received the report is the President General of Ohaneze, who in turn, would have sent the report to the Governors’ Forum on receipt and review of such report from the ad-hoc Committee on State Creation.
He reiterated that, “No state creation request from the South East can be more qualified than Adada State. Adada met all the requirements as contained in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and Part 1(1) (2) of the Creation of State and Boundary Adjustment (procedure) Act Cap.C37 LFN 2004.
“All the National and States Assemblies members, Elected LG chairmen and councilors from the proposed Adada State signed. Leaders of the traditional rulers all endorsed the document of request, even though the endorsement is not a condition precedent.
“If the ad-hoc Committee or the Ohaneze Ndigbo had any reason to change the earlier decision reached by the leadership of the South East, they have to reconvene another meeting of south east leaders.
“Until that is done and another vote cast, Adada State remains the first choice state for creation from the South East.”
Why Adada state should be created
Though the agitation for the creation of Adada state has been as old as old district itself, many leaders, experts and traditional rulers in the zone have thrown their weight on this project. Former Executive Chairman of Igbo-Etiti local government area of Enugu state and a member of the Adada state Movement, Chief Nnanwike Nwodo has said that Adada state creation is one of the biggest project of Enugu North Senatorial district.
Reacting to the negative publication on the Adada state creation, he said that this is the right time to pursue the actualisation of the struggle.
Nwodo’s statement, which was entitled “Nsukka people put the records straight,’’ reads: “It has become obvious that some enemies of the struggle have resorted to the below-the-belt tactics to scuttle the agitation.
“These detractors, perhaps have interest in another state agitation in South East which unfortunately could not meet constitutional requirements unlike the request for Adada State.
“It has been established that the impression being created in the minds of the public that no agitation for new state met the constitutional requirement is not factual; at least not in respect of the proposed Adada State.
“The request for the creation of Adada not only met the constitutional provisions but remained the most consistent and the oldest agitation.
“In recent press publications and testimonies before the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendment, the Enugu State Actualisation Committee and Movement for the creation of Adada State, copiously supplied data and records to establish that their submissions were current and updated.
“If there were other reasons to be manufactured why state creation is put on hold again, well that is welcome but certainly not on inability of agitations to meet constitutional stipulations on state creation.
How it all began
The request for the creation of Adada state came to lime-light in 1983. Ironically, it was by Yunusa Kaltungo from Bauchi State in the Federal House of Representatives. The same request keeps recurring. After the collapse of the Second Republic, the request was againrepresented before the Mbanefo Panel on State and Local Government Creation and Boundary Adjustment in 1996. It did attract a favourable disposition of the committee. But the creation of Ebonyi State was favoured. In 2005, the Obasanjo administration convoked a conference to reform political issues in Nigeria.
The Political Reform in its submission unanimously agreed to create an additional state in the South East. At its deliberation in the National Assembly, the request for Adada enjoyed full support. In 2006, the South East Caucus of the National Assembly, under the leadership of Senator Ken Nnamani, inaugurated a ten-man committee of senators and House members from the five states of South East led by Senator Ifeanyi Ararume. They held a meeting in Owerri on March 26, 2006, hosted by former governor Achike Udenwa. Four other demands were made: Aba, Adada, Njaba and Orashi. The committee elected to use voting to determine which one to choose. Voters were drawn from past and present governors from the zone, speakers of state Houses of Assembly, leaders of Ohaneze Ndigbo among others. The results, which are there for your investigation, were Adada, 5; Orachi, 3; Aba, 2, and Njaba, 0. For your information, Adada is the oldest request ever and the most persistent in the old Eastern Nigeria.
The socioeconomic benefits of Adada state creation
In a chat with one of the prominent indigenes of the zone, Chief Chukwunonso Odo, he explained that “the proposed Adada state is made up of densely populated seven local government areas: Igbo-Etiti, Uzo-Uwani, Isi-Uzo, Nsukka, Udenu, Igbo-Eze north and Igbo-Eze south. Its population is over 49% of the current Enugu state. The cultural affinity, unanimity of purpose to live together and quest for self-determination ignited the request for its creation. In fact, since 1906, the proposed Adada State has been administered as one unit either as a district or a province. This is the only old province in the entire eastern Nigeria that is not yet made a state.”
Explaining further, Chief Odo said: “Politically, Adada State creation will bring internal political balance within the Igbo of the South-East geopolitical zone and a balance between the South East and other five geopolitical zones. The Igbo land is divided into North and South. This was emphasized in 1970 during the demand for Wawa State. These divisions have equal landmass and equal population. At present, there are three states in the Southern Igbo wing namely: Abia, Anambra and Imo. The North has only Enugu and Ebonyi states. Creation of Adada will bring equity to the political equation both in the South East at large and its internal structure.”
On whether the proposed state will be able to sustain itself, Chief further stressed that,”the proposed state has both skilled and unskilled manpower. The University of Nigeria is sited there. Other higher institutions abound. Nsukk Urban alone has over 200 private and public schools. The area also has abundant fertile land for commercial farming. Rivers Adada Amayi, Ugbene and Obina can give the entire Nigeria food if irrigation facilities are put in place. The giant World Bank Rice and Ada Rice, all located at Uzo Uwani, are just a tip
of the iceberg. There is also the famous NALDA Farm in Agu Ukehe in Igbo Etiti, and the Enugu State Irrigation Farm at Ette Igboeze north; Okpuje Federal Piggery Project to mention a few. Adada can boast of abundant production of rice, yam, cassava, maize, beans, cashew fruit, palm oil plantation and other cash crops.”
“In the area of tourism, there are lakes, springs and waterfalls in Nsukka, Igbo Etiti and Igbo Eze South local government areas. In the area of mineral resources, Adada has many oil fields at Nsukka. Crude oil production has commenced at Igga, Ukpatu in Uzo Uwani and in Ehalumona. Ezimo in Udenu has a large deposit of coal, kerosene and glass.”
Chief Odo, however enjoined the people of the zone to throw their weight and work much harder towards actualisation of Adada state creation.
