CONTROVERSY OVER NEW STATES CREATION

One of the issues that split members of the National Conference throughout last week is the issue of creation of additional states in the federation. The report of the Conference Committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government reportedly suggested the need to create an additional state for the South-Eastern part of the country. Obviously, that did not go down well with delegates from other sections of the country.
In the course of the heated debate, some delegates said it was wrong for the committee to recommend just one state for the whole South-East. The committee, during its sittings, got 22 requests for states creation, but after painstaking deliberation, the conference approved 18 states.
It would be recalled that, during the public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution, the National Assembly Committee received over 140 requests from different sections of the country that demanded for their states. NASS, particularly the Senate, had conflicting positions on the issue of states creation. For instance, chairman of the NASS Constitution Review Committee and Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, was first quoted by the media as saying that the issue of states creation had been foreclosed; however, he later denied the statement.
First of all, we wish to stand by the agitation of the people of the South-East who are demanding for one more state in order to correct the political imbalance in the present geopolitical structure in the country. But beyond that, it is equally imperative to state that any section of the country that meets the constitutional, political, economic, population, etc, requirements should be given fair consideration as long as it is in line with our national interest.
One of the key requirements for state creation, according to the committee, is that the section making such demand must have proof of economic vibrancy, as well as cultural and historical antecedents.
In Nigerian history, only military regimes created all the 36 states of the federation, plus the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja. No civilian government has created any, not because it is incapable, but because it is usually cumbersome for a democratic government to create states owing to its stringent requirements and procedures.
Once, we rightly acknowledged on this page in July last year that, “In Nigeria, the arduous task of altering the constitution under a demand of necessity to suit agitations for states creation, as well as sundry demands, has been tested and found to be controversial, incongruous and inconclusive. There are sentiments that technically denote anti-state creation stance”. This has hardly changed.
The oppositional argument about creating new states in the absence of lack of economic viability of existing states is reasonable. But we dare contend that the non-viability of the existing states should not be solely tied to lack of viability; rather, it should be essentially blamed on poor mismanagement and visionless leadership.
We urge well-meaning Nigerians to maintain open minds on this issue. State creation is a potential and strategic weapon for correcting national political imbalance, inequity and injustice in our dear country. The issue must therefore be treated with nationalistic and patriotic dispassion.