Former Delta state Governor Sen. Ifaenyi Okowa has pointed fingers at Senator representating Delta North Senatorial district Sen. Ned Nwoko for deceiving the good people of Northern Delta state which are known as the Anioma people on the Anioma state creation proposal. In a video posted on Facebook on Wednesday, April 22, by Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Delta state governor, Osaai Ovie Success, Okowa can be seen addressing APC stakeholders in Oshimili South local government of the state regarding his ambition to contest for Senator representing Delta North Senatorial district in the upcoming elections.
Sen. Okowa said no true son of Anioma including he is against the creation of Anioma state but then Senator Ned Nwoko is not fighting the creation of the state the right way but instead he is deceiving the people of Anioma to ‘do the wrong things’. He also questioned the ongoing discussions by the legislature making the creation of Anioma state to be ‘unrealistic’. “One thing that I have refused to publicly speak about and I need five minutes to address it: the issue of Anioma state.
They have made a lot of misconceptions. There’s been a lot of misrepresentation in social media concerning Anioma state. No Anioma son, I don’t believe that there’s any Anioma son that’s opposed to the creation of Anoma state, not me as people try to portray. But the Anioma that we seek must be the Anioma that the people collectively wish for.
And the Anioma we wish for, the collective will of the people is the Anioma that’s made up of nine local governments in Delta north that will be resident in the south south geopolitical zone, with Asaba as the headquarters. An Asaba daughter fought for us, and today we have the headquarters of Delta state in Asaba. today, somebody who does not understand how it came about, suddenly you want to wish away that headquarters. It’s terrible and it ought not to be because common sense should have told him that what he’s doing is wrong.
We know the importance of the headquarters. And by God’s grace, Asaba is growing beyond bounds. Nobody will stop the growth of Asaba again. It’s important that when we are pursuing something, that’s why I talked about consultation, a consultative presentation, you must be in touch with your people. You must know what the majority want.
But when you believe that you know it all, you will go the wrong path. I want to categorically make it clear that if you know the timetable of the legislators, you will know that we are already a quarter to go. Talking about state creation now obviously is trying to deceive you. We don’t want any deceit. Anioma State, by the special grace of God, we will continue to decide but when it’s going to come it will be a collective decision of our people.
And those of us in Anioma and the sitting government will collectively stand up and say we want this. And it is possible.” The proposed Anioma State is a long-standing initiative aimed at creating a new state from the current nine local government areas in Delta North, Nigeria, with Asaba as the proposed capital. Led by Senator Ned Nwoko, the movement seeks to bring together the Igbo-speaking people of Delta State for better representation, with strong legislative backing, though with debates over its geopolitical alignment.
The state is intended to include nine local government areas (LGAs) in Delta North: Aniocha North, Aniocha South, Ika North-East, Ika South, Ndokwa East, Ndokwa West, Oshimili North, Oshimili South, and Ukwuani with Asaba the current Delta state capital it’s designated capital.
