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Basil Okoh

Nedum Nwoko, the Senator representing Delta North Senatorial District flew a kite recently by writing to chieftains in his district and publishing his advocacy for the creation of Anioma State. The proposed Anioma State which is comprised of all of Delta North will be made to “join” Eastern Nigeria to complete six states for the Igbo.

The problem is that much of Anioma are not historical Igbo’s and all, without exception, are united in their rejection of any political association or arrangement with the Igbo. The vehemence of that rejection is exemplified in a storied political meeting that nearly ended in fisticuffs. Ned Nwoko, the senator for Anioma district should have known that story.

But Nedum Nwoko is obviously rabble rousing and raking up old dirt on his Anioma state proposition. Outside of his remarkable expertise in dealing with teenage titties, Nwoko has no political adroitness to bond him to his electorate. So he’s now floundering, casting around and reinventing old and settled issues and presenting them as new. This is all to bring himself to public attention and relevance.

The entire Anioma territory was part of the old Western Region and can never be politically affiliated with the East. The Igbo themselves have rejected the proposition of using Anioma, part of the old Western Region to make up for the six states that are due to Igboland.

Clueless to the politics of the people he represents at the senate and lightheaded with so much money, Nedum Nwoko must be out for some mischief beyond the stated interest for Anioma State.

The decades long agitation for Anioma State was led by accomplished bureaucrats like Dr. George Orewa, who at the time, was Nigeria’s foremost expert on local government reform. The movement stirred endless discussions among intellectuals, professionals and the general public of the region.

During the many engagements with politicians all over the country, Anioma State movement was represented by the best heads from among them. So Nedum Nwoko should not make believe that he is doing anything new or making fresh contributions to the discourse on Anioma State. All have been said and done by better endowed advocates for Anioma.

The Anioma people should have a clear perception of the politician called Nedum Nwoko. The Nwoko family of Idumuje Ugboko is a well regarded and great family. The Nwoko’s are the ruling house and provide Kingship for Idumuje Ugboko. The world knows Demas Nwoko, one of the greatest artists to come out of Africa and a foundational member of the renowned Zaria School of Arts. There was also Professor Nwoko a retired academic who became king of Idumuje Ugboko.

However all family members may have the same pedigree but cannot be endowed with the same sense of purpose and nobility. Nedum Nwoko, a member of the expanding league of the idle rich in Nigeria, has proven himself to be an iconoclast and a dissenter, albeit a very rich one. Wealth and good sense are not always great companions. So we are dealing with a senator who is a contrarian and disrupter of the politics of not only his own Idumuje community but also the entire Anioma region.

Nedum Nwoko as senator representing Delta North aught to have studied and mastered the history of the Anioma State Movement and should be speaking with residual knowledge of the struggle of his people for a state of their own. He should be infused with the knowledge of Anioma peoples’ old and steadfast stand rejecting any political association with the Igbo. The issues raised by the movement are well documented and stored in so many public records.

Again, our collective memory on the matter affirms that the Anioma people have a settled commitment never to be yoked with Igboland in any political arrangement. So many abrasive confrontations have followed Anioma encounter with the Igbos, particularly when the Onitsha people expressed the abiding interest to join their kin in a future Anioma State. The entire Igboland went gaga as a result of that expressed interest.

The Idumuje’s are historical migrants from Ottah in the old Agbor Kingdom. So Idumuje are by extension part of the Agbor diaspora. So we believe that Ned Nwoko’s proposition for Anioma to join the Igbo in a mutually hated political union must have provoked harsh condemnation from the many Chieftains of the senatorial district and also the many veterans of the Anioma State struggle. Nwoko should deserve his comeuppance for this travesty of promoting falsities on his people’s will.
@basilokoh.