ANNANG HERITAGE PRESERVATION INC

POSITION PAPER IN SUPPORT OF THE CREATION OF ITAI STATE

 

 

INTRODUCTION

            The history of federalism in Nigeria is marked by stops and starts and what passes for power sharing between the center and the federating units is lopsided at best and dictatorial at worst. While units in other federations around the world assume a constitutional means of creation, the present Nigerian structures were often created through military fiat. This fact carries an inherent weakness and error. Among these are: the neglect of historical ties, the elevation of tribal considerations over economic realities, and the violation of the tenets of social justice. Given these facts, statehood in Nigeria as it is presently constituted does not represent agricultural specialties, geographic convenience or historicity; rather it is purely the product of the arbitrariness of negotiated regional rights granted under dictatorial regimes. Thus, those with voices at the policy table are more likely to walk away triumphantly as heroes. Such victory is demonstrated by the re-arrangement of the means of distribution of state resources and methods of administration. More than administrative convenience, the state structure in present day Nigeria is the unit through which the oil proceeds are shared. Therefore, Northern Nigeria with a little more than half the number of states, carry the largest share of the oil proceeds leaving the rest of the country to struggle for whatever crumb is left.

A casual look at the current state structure shows that three ethnic groups -Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba have a combined total of 88% of the total states in the federation leaving just about 12% of the remaining number to all minority ethnic groups.  The breakdown of the current structure is as follows: the Yorubas  now have six states (Lagos, Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo, and  Ekiti.  Minority ethnic groups in the former Midwest has two namely Edo and Delta). The Igbos  have five states (Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo.  The old Northern region now comprised 19 states for the Hausa-Fulani groups (Sokoto, Katsina, Nasarawa, Adamawa, Borno, Taraba, Kano, Kaduna, Kebbi, Gombe, Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Kogi, Bauchi, Jigawa, Yobe and Zamfara), while the remaining ethnic groups where the oil is derived and comprising more than fifty ethnic groups have only four:  Bayelsa, Rivers, Cross River and Akwa Ibom.

With the handing over of Northern Nigeria by the Royal Niger Company to the British Crown, 17 provinces were created including Ilorin between 1903 and 1945. These old provinces have now been made into 20 states if Ilorin is included. The rush to create these states represents the understanding that statehood brings development and a share of the national wealth. It is through the states that the federal government makes allocations, using the states the legislators to the Federal legislature are elected and through the state those who sit at the policy table in the various agencies of government are selected. It therefore follows that those who are denied statehood are denied representation and the benefits of citizenship.

OUR POSITION

Recognizing the foregoing facts, we the board and members of Annang Heritage Preservation Inc. living in several continents around the world take a stand as follows:

1.      That another state to be called Itai State with a capital to be located at Ikot Ekpene be created from the present Akwa Ibom State.

2.      That Ikot Ekpene has traditionally been the administrative headquarters of the Annangs and has a great history as such.

3.      That all old colonial provinces in Nigeria have now been made into states except old Annang Province.

4.      That the Annang and Ibibio group forming the fourth largest ethnic group in Nigeria and being of one stock and from whose land the oil is produced deserve more than one state in order to benefit from the wealth that is taken from their land.

5.      That in order to bring government and development closer to the people a new state for the more than one million people in the former Annang province is needed.

6.      That our right to constitute ourselves as a federating unit in Nigeria for the purpose of realizing our full citizenship is protected under the United Nations declaration on the rights of minorities and indigenous people.

We Remain:

Ezekiel Umo Ette, Ph.D. President (USA)

Michael Eshiett, MD; FRCP, Vice President (UK)

Bar, Uduak Ukpeh, General Secretary (UK