It’s time for equity — Ohanaeze tells Tinubu, demands new states for South-East, South-South
…Warns against marginalisation of Southern Nigeria
Ohanaeze Ndigbo, the apex socio-cultural organization for the Igbo people, has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to correct the historical state creation imbalance in Nigeria by establishing two new states in the Southern region.
The Deputy President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, who made the demand through a press statement issued on Sunday in Abakaliki with a title “A Call for Equity: Proposed 31 States Must Acknowledge Southern Needs” said there was the need to make up the states in the south to 19 to bring it to parity with states in the north.
In a statement titled “A Call for Equity: Proposed 31 States Must Acknowledge Southern Needs,” Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, the Deputy President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, expressed opposition to the House of Representatives’ recent proposal for the creation of thirty-one new states.
Isiguzoro described the proposal as “an exercise in futility” and a display of immaturity, lacking credibility and failing to meet the necessary constitutional requirements for state creation.
He praised the House’s Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, for rejecting the flawed proposal, which Isiguzoro stated would only “compromise the integrity of our legislative institutions.”
Isiguzoro stressed that the Northern region, with its 19 states, holds an unfair advantage that has led to systemic inequities in the country.
He said, “The political and economic advantages enjoyed by the North, due in large part to its nineteen states, must be counterbalanced by the creation of two additional states in the South.”
Ohanaeze proposed that the South-East, which currently has only five states, should receive one of the new states to achieve parity with regions like the Northwest, which has seven states.
The group also recommended that the second state be created for the South-South or Southwest regions to address the Southern regions’ historical grievances. Isiguzoro concluded, “The time has come for President Tinubu to take decisive action.
The creation of these two additional states is not merely a policy recommendation; it is a clarion call for justice, equality, and national unity.”
