Creating a state is not a platform for speculation, showmanship, or individual ambition. It is a solemn national responsibility that requires honesty, transparency, and unwavering respect for the collective will of the people. Anything short of this disrespects the history, culture, and unity of Anioma
By Jude Bruno Amamosa
The discussion over Anioma State has taken many twists in recent weeks, yet one truth stands firm: the widening gap between the aspirations of the Anioma people and the narrative being advanced by Senator Ned Nwoko. His so-called steady release of statements has been anything but steady. It has been erratic, puerile, and riddled with contradictions. Each message appears less an effort to clarify than a bid to pressure Anioma people into accepting the agenda of a representative who has repeatedly failed to reflect their interests, revealing a troubling tendency to distort facts and manipulate reality for personal political gain.
From the start, Senator Nwoko dismissed genuine concerns as misunderstandings. Such trivialization overlooks a simple fact: Anioma people are fully aware of their history, understand their identity, and appreciate the implications of any geopolitical rearrangement. They will not allow their future to be decided through vague statements, half-truths, or political theatrics.
When Delta North lawmakers and the nine council chairmen took a firm stand, insisting that Anioma must not be ceded into arrangements that compromise its identity, Ned Nwoko’s media operatives immediately sought to twist their statement. A clear and unambiguous position, grounded in law and the interest of the people, was distorted into a narrative that never existed. This deliberate misrepresentation exposes the real nature of the campaign. It is an initiative propelled less by public interest than by personal ambition, reckless disregard for heritage, and political opportunism.
Anioma’s place in the South-South is neither accidental nor recent. It is embedded in history and heritage. Any discussion of changing this reality requires wide consultation, transparency, and strict adherence to the law. Unilateral declarations or political theatrics cannot substitute for that
Even more troubling is Ned Nwoko’s impulsive and flagrant attempt to cede Anioma to the South-East. This is not simply a political miscalculation. It is an insult to the collective sensibility of the Anioma people. It undermines ancestral history, erodes cultural traditions, and threatens the unity that has long bound the territory together. His actions amount to a brazen effort to override the lived experience and heritage of an entire people for personal or political gain. It is a move that cannot and should not be tolerated.
The position of the State House of Assembly members, the nine council chairmen, and the Asagba Traditional Council reflects the legitimate hopes, aspirations, and collective will of the Anioma people. These voices are anchored in history, cultural authority, and civic responsibility. They speak for communities that will bear the consequences of any decision regarding self-determination. Ned Nwoko’s disregard for these voices is not simply reckless. It is a direct affront to the identity and unity of Anioma.
The recent endorsement by the 98 ward chairmen of our party, APC, only underscores the disconnect. Party enthusiasm cannot override the Constitution. Sections 8 and 9 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, clearly vest the authority to propose and prosecute state creation with elected legislators, state assemblies, and, in the final analysis, the referendum process. Their opinions may reflect loyalty to Ned rather than the collective interest of Anioma, but they carry no legal weight in determining Anioma’s destiny.
Equally concerning is the claim that the location of the proposed state is irrelevant. Identity, culture, and political belonging are not items for casual rearrangement. Anioma’s place in the South-South is neither accidental nor recent. It is embedded in history and heritage. Any discussion of changing this reality requires wide consultation, transparency, and strict adherence to the law. Unilateral declarations or political theatrics cannot substitute for that.
A clear pattern has emerged. Public concerns are dismissed, statements are twisted, and constitutional realities are drowned in political grandiloquence. Far from lending legitimacy to the Anioma State project, these actions reveal the dangerous ambitions of those who seek to impose their will at the expense of the people.
Anioma is entitled to honesty, transparency, and an approach that upholds its identity and legal rights. The people require engagement, not manipulation, truth, not artifice, and reverence for their heritage, not the undermining of their unity.
Creating a state is not a platform for speculation, showmanship, or individual ambition. It is a solemn national responsibility that requires honesty, transparency, and unwavering respect for the collective will of the people. Anything short of this disrespects the history, culture, and unity of Anioma.
•Opinions, positions or thoughts expressed here are personal and strictly of the writer)author and do not represent the views of The Daily Crucible.
