New state creation must address past injustices

The recent request for 31 brand new states to be created in Nigeria dominated the headlines. It did so because of the urgency of the matter and unending agitation for more states in some parts of the country due to obvious marginalization and alienation. While it will not be plausible to create additional 31 states in one fell swoop, there is the need to create one, two or three new states to address the blatant injustices of past state creation exercises mainly carried out by military leaders from the North.

Past state creation exercises did not reckon much with fidelity to ethnic and linguistic affinity and contiguity of those that form the states. In Gen. Yakubu Gowon’s 12-state structure of Nigeria on May 5, 1967 to thwart the Biafran revolution, independence or ‘rebellion,’ the Igbo nation was unfairly balkanized, maliciously and wickedly dismembered with many unduly ceded to Rivers State because of their oil and other mineral resources. Some others were shamelessly ceded to Benue, Kogi, Edo, Delta, and Cross River states.

The Igbos were not the only victims of this high-handedness that reminds one of the scramble for Africa by European nations in early 19th century. Some Yorubas were ceded to Kwara, Edo and Kogi states. The Ijaws were scattered all over the South-South states and some ceded to Ondo State. There may be other instances of the brazen dismemberment of ethnic nations or groups in other parts of the country, especially in the North, which this article cannot presently recount.

Another unforgivable sin of Gowon’s state creation exercise was lumping the Igbo into one state called East Central State whereas the Yoruba got Lagos State and Western State. The 12 states Gowon created out of Nigeria’s four regions, North, East, West and Mid-West, were: North-Western State, North-Eastern State, Kano State, North-Central State, Benue-Plateau State, Kwara State, Western State, Lagos State, Mid-West State, Rivers State, South-Eastern State and East Central State. From all indications, Gowon’s state creation was tilted against Ndigbo even though he struck a balance between the North and South, with each having six states apiece, which other state creators did not maintain. That disparity has widened the structural imbalance between the North and the South.

In the Eastern region, the Igbos were the majority ethnic group. But Gowon’s state creation gave that right to the minority ethnic groups by carving them into two states and making Igbo the new minority. This vicious mentality of Gowon’s civil war Nigeria can explain the continued marginalization of Ndigbo in Nigerian affairs with heightened intention in Nigerian politics, especially the presidency, where since after the war, Ndigbo had been intentionally and schematically excluded from ruling Nigeria at the centre. This can explain why the Presidency has eluded Ndigbo.

Other military state creators such as Gen. Ibrahim Babangida did his best to address the marginalization of Ndigbo from the two states Gen. Murtala Muhammed 19-state structure of the country, by giving us two additional states at once. Gen. Sani Abacha gave us one state in his state creation exercise. He would have ended the structural marginalization of Ndigbo if he had given us two states apiece as demanded. This was how the South-East region became tugged into five states and 95 local governments, the least of all the six geo-political zones in the country.

The other five geo-political zones have at least six states each and more local governments than the South-East. The North-West has seven states and many local governments. Kano State alone has 44 local governments and Katsina State has 34 local governments. The arbitrariness in state and local government creation must be addressed for Nigeria to move forward and fulfill its manifest destiny. No country can develop when a section of that country, one of the big three, is deliberately and structurally marginalized in the way and manner the South-East has been treated in the Nigerian federation since 1967 till now.

Since injustice to one is injustice to all, the injustices against the South-East and others must be addressed in the ongoing state and local government creation. Like in other things Nigeria, some people are already dismissing the new plan to create new states probably because of the unwieldy number of the requests. Granted that 31 states cannot be created in one fell swoop, the case for South-East should not be dismissed or waved aside simply because of the long list of the demanded new states.

The South-East case is peculiar and must be given urgent and special attention to correct the injustices of the past state creation exercises. A balanced federation requires that there should be equality of states among the six geo-political zones. The size of local governments may differ because essentially it is the states that should create local governments in its domain. Local government creation ordinarily should not be a function of the federal government in a real federal system of government.

The equality of states is further illustrated by each state, no matter its size, having three senators only. Some of those arguing against state creation are not altruistic. Some of them do so from the angle of selfishness and attempt to further marginalize the South-East region. That ‘we are okay’ attitude must be vehemently resisted by the people of South-East region. This is the right time to tell Nigeria that enough is enough over the continued marginalization of Ndigbo in the Nigerian federation.

The lopsidedness of Nigerian federation must be revisited for Nigeria to move forward like other working federations. Nigeria is still a work in progress. We are not yet there. We need economic and structural tinkering to put our wobbling national edifice in order. Nigeria as it is today must be recalibrated for it to realize its vision, mission and manifest destiny. Therefore, the Nigerian lawmakers at the federal and states must see the current constitution review exercise as a veritable opportunity to write their names in gold by making history as the set that broke the jinx of state creation by a civilian administration since 1999.

Let me remind them that the creation of Mid-West region was carried out by the parliamentarians of the First Republic. If they could do it then, it can still be done in our time. Let the present crop of Nigerian lawmakers emulate the parliamentarians of the First Republic. I strongly believe that it is doable. I call on President Bola Tinubu to rise to statesmanship and see that past injustices, as regards state creation, are fully addressed. Nigeria must be built on justice and not on entrenched injustices.