Ned Nwoko, the senator representing Delta North at the National Assembly, has maintained that the Southeast has been marginalized and that creating a 6th state will assuage their agitation.
Ned, during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, pointed out that the Southeast is the only region with five states, unlike other regions, except for the Northwest, which has seven states.
The lawmaker expressed confidence that the Federal Government would create another state out of Delta State to give the South-South a 7th or a 6th for the Southeast.
He said, “The creation of Anioma State is very possible. The need is for self-determination. Let me tell you this, I represent 9 local government areas.
“My constituency is made up of 9 local government areas. Out of this 9 lgas, 6 of them are oil and gas producing. We’re predominantly agricultural people. Some of it has been devastated by oil pollution.
“But to have a state is something we have been clamoring for for over 50 years. We the Aniomas are proudly Igbos.
“We’ll be the 6th Ndigbo State. The fact is that the Federal Government is going to create one State. They’re going to create the state to assuage the Igbo because they’ve been marginalised.
“South East is the only part of Nigeria that is marginalised. South East is the zone in Nigeria with just 5 states. Others have 6 states except for North West that has seven.
“You don’t call that being marginalised? And if you listen to the youths who are agitating in IPOB or ESN, what are clamoring for?
“They’re talking about being marginalised. And one of the ways they’re being marginalised is having fewer states than others.
“And we, the Igbos from the other side of the river, they call us Bendel or Western Igbo, if we have a state that could become the 6th state in the South East or seventh state in the South South, the fact is that an average Igbo person will feel, ‘okay, something has been done for us’.”
