For those wondering how the Southeast geopolitical zone is marginalized, Chief Osita Chidoka, Chancellor of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership and former Minister of Aviation, has at least one graphic example.
The zone, which has only five states and 96 Local Government Areas, has lost an estimated ₦17.4 trillion in accruable revenue over the past 29 years due to the absence of a sixth state.
This staggering figure, adjusted for inflation and devaluation, is at least one marker of the region’s ongoing economic and political marginalization, Chidoka allege.
Fewer states and LGAs impact not only federal allocation but also political representation at the federal level.
Costs of Marginalization
Mr Chidoka said, “The absence of a sixth state in the Southeast is not just a political oversight but a direct financial loss for our region.”
The former minister said this loss “is unsustainable, and it is time for us to come together and take the necessary steps to stop these ongoing losses.”
Chidoka’s views were expressed in a statement released on his behalf by his special assistant on media, Ikechukwu Okafor, during the just-concluded Otu Oka-Iwu (Association of Igbo Lawyers) event on December 13.
He then advised the zone’s political leaders to follow the constitutional process to press their demand for the sixth state.
The creation of states in Nigeria has tough and stringent constitutional requirements.
According to Section 8(1) of the 1999 Constitution, a formal request to create a new state must be submitted to and supported by at least a two-thirds majority of the Senate and House of Representatives chambers of the National Assembly.
“Approval through a referendum, where at least two-thirds of the people in the affected area must support the creation of the new state.
“Approval by a simple majority of all states and their respective Houses of Assembly; and final approval by a two-thirds majority of both chambers of the National Assembly.”
Chidoka says, “Now is the time for the Southeast to formally request the creation of the sixth state, following the prescribed constitutional process. This is the only way to stop the representation and federal allocation losses.”
He urged Southeast leaders to play national politics, put aside internal differences, and work together to secure the region’s future.
“We must stop crying about the absence of the sixth state and instead focus on what is required to make it a reality. The Southeast must place the burden on the Nigerian state to officially recognize our need for equitable representation, resources, and political power,” he concluded.
Sixth State Already In The Works
Nonetheless, applications for a sixth, seventh, or even eighth state have been submitted to the National Assembly before Mr. Chidoka’s recommendation.
Senator Ned Nwoko from Anioma State, for example, has been championing the creation of Anioma State as the sixth state of the Southeast. Other proposals from the Southeast region include Adada, Orlu, and Etiti states.
If Anioma is created, that would add 9,000 square kilometres of land mass to the Southeast, already the smallest region by land mass but the most densely populated per square kilometre in the country.
The Southeast was the epicentre of a hard-fought war of independence in the late 1960s, which failed. Since then, political leaders from the zone have decried the region’s systematic marginalization.
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