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Boniface Okoro in Umuahia
Members of Aba State Movement have demanded the creation of Aba State as the sixth state in the South-east, allaying fears that its creation would lead to the collapse of the present Abia State.
At a press conference in Aba yesterday, the Aba State Movement maintained the demand for Aba State is about 70 years and predates others in the country.
Calling for massive support, both from Abia people and the entire South-east and Igbo nation, for the creation of Aba State as the sixth state, the group dispelled fears in some quarters that Abia would collapse if Aba State comes into being.
The proposed Aba State has nine of the 17 local governments of Abia State.
There are fears that being the economic house of Abia, if yanked off, the remaining eight local governments which make up the Old Bendem Division and currently, five local governments that make up Abia North Senatorial Zone, as well as three local governments in Abia Central Senatorial Zone, would collapse.
But spokesperson for the Aba State Movement, Chief Theo Nkire, dismissed these fears with a wave of the hand.
He asserted that the part of Abia that would be left out if Aba State is created would be economically viable, saying that the area was richly blessed with mineral resources and vast arable land for agriculture, and could therefore fend for itself.
“The richest part of Abia is Abia North, rich in diamond, rich in magnesium; we haven’t even touched our wealth in the northern part of our state.
“ It’s (North) far wealthier, far richer than the (Abia) South. In the Abia South, the concentration is on trade, on commerce, on industry. Nobody has talked about what is in that area (Abia North),” Barr Nkire said.
“There’s even gas. People don’t know. There’s so much untapped resource in Abia North.
“So we’re not believing, like they say, that creation of Aba State will lead to the collapse of the present Abia State.. There’s no way, there’s no way Abia would collapse,” he declared.
He recalled that some of the states recommended for creation alongside Aba in 1983 include Adamawa, Jigawa, Katsina, Kogi, Taraba and Enugu, noting with great pain that only Aba had not been created.
“The area called Abia today is made up of two whole divisions. The Old Aba Division and the Old Bende Division. During the colonial administration, these were two existing divisions on their own.
“All of us on that whole were the province. If you go to the North today, most of those Divisions are states of their own. Most of those colonial divisions have become states.
“So why are we tied together here when we too deserve to be separated?, he queried. “And people talk about size, population. Population is no issue. Land mass is no issue. The issue is what would the people want? How can they sustain themselves?
“And I’ve told you that we have cultural affinity, all nine local governments here.
“And we’ve had that before the white people came here. We are not a creation of colonialism. We’ve always been together.
“We are gathered here to address why Aba is that 6th South-east State that we have been clanouring for. Aba’s case is different, distinct and unique, he said, explaining that committees set up by Ohanaeze Ndigbo, in 2015 and 2018, voted that Aba State should be created as the sixth state in the South-east.
“We are asking the National Assembly to confirm Aba State as the 6th South East State as none of the other proposals has these different, distinct, unique qualities than the proposed Aba State,” Nkire appealed.
He assured that Governor Otti was in support of the demand for the creation of Aba State.
