EMORANDUM ON THE REQUEST FOR THE CREATION OF OGOJA STATE PRESENTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE OLD OGOJA PROVINCE THROUGH THE MOVEMENT FOR THE CREATION OF OGOJA STATE TO THE PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER - IN - CHIEF OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, GOODLUCK EBELE JONATHAN AND DISTINGUISHED SENATORS / HONOURABLE MEMBERS OF THE FEDERAL HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF NIGERIA THROUGH THE SENATE PRESIDENT AND HONOURABLE SPEAKER, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, ABUJA – NIGERIA. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Table of contents……………………………………………............. 1 Map of the Proposed State……………………………………..……. 4 Summary and Conclusion……………………………………………… 5 1. OBJECTIVE…………………………………………...………… 6 2. GOING IT ALONE……………………………………..………. 7 3. THE STRUGGLE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE….……. 8 - Pre-Independence to 1967…………………….………………..… 8 - The Cross River State Movement…………….………………… 9 - The new Cross River State Movement………………………… 9 - The Ogoja State………………………………………….…... 9 4. THE CASE FOR AN OGOJA STATE - Self-Determination…………………………………………… 10 - Ethnic and Socio-cultural Affinity…………………………….. 11 . - Viability of the Ogoja State…………………………………... 11 - Land Mass……………………………………………….……. 11 - Agriculture and Agro-Allied Industries……………………… 12 . - Tourism…………………………………………...…………….. 12 - Mineral Resources…………………………………………... 12 - Hydro-Electric Power Potentials…...........………………………….. 14 - Population……………………………………...………………. 14 - Availability of Manpower…………………………………… 14 5. OGOJA STATE/OGOJA PROVINCE……….....……………. 16 6. PROPOSED CONSTITUENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS…..… 17 - The Local Government Areas…………………………….....………… 17 - The State Capital………………………………………........…………... 17 7. PRAYER………………………………………….............……………….. 18 ANNEXURE 8. LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS……...............…………………………. 20 9. SIGNATURES……………..………………………….……..........….…...... 21-28 SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION This request acknowledges the immense task before the National Constitution Review Commission and its States Creation Committee. A disturbing and persistent issue however, is the continued omission whereby the original twenty-four provinces of Nigeria, except Ogoja, have been accorded the status of State. Indeed, six other States derive from geopolitically inferior status than the old OGOJA PROVINCE. It is in the light of this identified sense of injustice and deprivation that we, the people of OLD OGOJA PROVINCE are humbly re- presenting this Request for the creation of an OGOJA STATE. In its present form, the Cross River State is made up of two major socio-cultural/ethnic groups namely; the Efik-speaking peoples of the Old Calabar Province, and the Ogoja peoples of the old Ogoja Province. The need to preserve and separately develop the identities and economies and economic potentials of these two groups of people dates back to the Pre-Independence struggle for the creation of the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State. The Rivers people gained semi-political autonomy with the creation, in1967, of the Rivers State. Thereafter, the continuing struggle by the people of Ogoja for self-determination had resulted in two frustrating alliances in such movements like the Cross River State Movement, and the New Cross River State Movement. In 1987, part of what used to be Calabar Province was carved out of the Cross River State. That part of Calabar Province now constitutes the present Akwa Ibom State. The case for the creation of two States from the present Cross River State has been thoroughly articulated in several documents and commissions. It is understood and appreciated throughout the country. We are humbly seeking OFFICIAL WILL to grant the OGOJA people an opportunity for self-determination and self-actualization. This memorandum has clearly shown, from facts and figures, that the proposal for an Ogoja State delimited within 16,380sq.km of rich agricultural land, and having a population of over 1.56 million people is viable. The largely untapped Tourism, Agricultural and Mineral Resources provide a reliable base upon which to build our State. The strong case for the creation of an OGOJA STATE revolves around the lack of a dominant ethnic group, the existence of a common administration heritage and the socio-cultural compatibility of the several small ethnic groups. Prior to the creation of the States in 1967, the factors of compatibility, affinity and development were paramount in the composition of Ogoja province. These factors were undermined with the lumping together of the Old Ogoja Province with Calabar Province to create the former South Eastern State (now Cross River State). It is the desire of the people of Ogoja to chart the course of their destiny in a separate State. In this existing association, our lot has been that of continued and unfulfilled expectations, inter-ethnic suspicions, frustration, deprivation and poverty. The authors of this request are fully conscious of the desire of other minority ethnic groups for self-determination. This request therefore is not in spite of these ethnic interests, but for the reinforcement of the ideal of group self-determination and actualization. We seek, indeed, to emphasize the OGOJA STATE AS THE FOCUS OF THIS REQUEST. The proposed Ogoja State would consist of twenty-one (21) Local Government Areas (with proposed headquarters):- 1. Obanliku (Sankwalla) 12.Obudu (Obudu) 2. Ogoja (Ogoja) 13. Afi (Edor) 3. Bekwarra (Abuochichi) 14.Ukelle (Wanokom) 4. Eastern Boki (Bateriko) 15.Yala (Okpoma) 5. Agbo (AgboCentral) 16. Ikom (Ikom) 6. Emina (Ekori) 17. Obubra (Obubra) 7. Yakurr (Ugep) 18. Bahumono (Ediba) 8. Utu gwang (Utugwang) 19. Mbube (Ekumtak) 9. Utanga (Utanga) 20. Bansara (Bansara) 10. Etung (Bendeghe) 21. Adun-Okum (Appiapum) 11. Western Boki (Boje) In the spirit of previous states Creation exercise, it is expected that the State capital would be old provincial Headquarters – Ogoja town. Finally, the Request for the creation of Ogoja State seeks to permanently remove the yoke of domination, alienation, and oppression from the fortunes of the people of old Ogoja province. Facts (1) Title of proposed State - OGOJA. (2) State Capital – Ogoja Town. (3) Population – 1. 56 million (Based on the 1991 National Census Results. Current Projections or Estimates suggest that the actual population of the proposed OGOJA STATE is now above 2. 1 million people). (4) Land Area – 16380 square kilometres. (5) Number of proposed Local Government Areas – 21 (Twenty One). The President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Distinguished Senators and Members of the House of Representatives, National Assembly, Abuja, Nigeria. Sirs REQUEST FOR THE CREATION OF OGOJA STATE 1. OBJECTIVE We the undersigned persons of Old Ogoja province, for and on behalf of ourselves and the neglected people of Ogoja are, gratefully seizing another opportunity to represent our request for the creation of an OGOJA STATE. Our submission herewith is the continuing struggle for self-determination and a fair share in the political and Economic development of Nigeria. The recognition of the subject of the creation of the creation of New States underscores the Head of State’s thorough understanding of the ever –present need to eradicate one of the most potent causes of instability in Nigeria. The people of Ogoja, 33 years after Independence, are still suffering from psychological social and economic bondage and neglect. All administrations have perpetuated this status quo of neglect and deprivation, all the past federal Government administration would appear to have colluded with forces of detraction to alienate the people of Ogoja from the political and economic development in Nigeria. Patiently, the people of Ogoja have constitutionally continued to resist all acts of omission and commission by the various administrations to constitute the area and people of Ogoja into a flash-point of instability in the constitutional development of this country. It is in the same spirit of patience and constitutionality that we are once more presenting our request for the creation of an Ogoja State. Our request seeks to bring into a most relevant and realistic geopolitical association all of the area and peoples of the old Ogoja province as today constitute that composite part of the Cross River State. Specifically, it seeks to bring into one State all of the area and people of Yakurr, Abi, Obubra, Ikom, Boki, Ogoja, Yala, Obudu and Obanliku Local Government Areas of the present Cross River State. 2. GOING IT ALONE Hitherto, the people of Ogoja had pursued the objective of self-determination and socio-economic development as a joint struggle with other minority groups east of the River Niger. At the end of each phase of the struggle, the people of Ogoja have been betrayed by our comrades acting alone, or in concert with the Federal or state governments or government agencies, to protect vested selfish interest. In the long and sometimes bitter struggle dating to the colonial era, the lot of our people has been that of betrayals by trusted friends, continued frustration, neglect, deprivation, poverty and underdevelopment. The lesson from the betrayals, and heir consequences of inhibited political and economic development in Ogoja, is the need to GO IT ALONE in the search for self-determination. The need to ensure a sustained and coherent struggle with terminal singleness of purpose is he imperative for an association that guarantees self- determination in a separate State within Nigeria. The objective of achieving political and socio-economic development can only be guaranteed by the Ogoja people, for the Ogoja people, in an OGOJA STATE 3. THE STRUGGLE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE 3.1 Pre-Independence to 1967 The struggle for the creation of the Calabar-Ogoja-River (COR) States out of the former Eastern Nigeria predates Independence (in 1960). The struggle, which started during colonial rule, sought semi-political autonomy for the minority groups of the Old Province of Calabar, Ogoja, and Rivers. With the creation of twelve (12) States in Nigeria in 1967 the COR State demand ended. In that exercise, the people of Old Calabar and Ogoja Provinces were lumped together in an intrinsically heterogeneous and amorphous south Eastern State to the disadvantage of the Ogoja People. The Rivers State was exercised for the Rivers people. 3.2 The bitter relationship between the four major ethnic groups which were soon to develop in the south Eastern State underscored the false basis of the forced political association. In the unbalanced, bitter and suspicious ethnic equation, the Ibibio, Annang, and Efik all three sharing linguistic and cultural affinity, effectively dominated the political and economic life of the State. It was only in the ratio of sharing of the largess of State that observers noticed any hint of difference among the Ibibio, Annang, and Efik. The area and people of Ogoja were either effectively excluded in the sharing or allowed only token and symbolic participation. 3.3 THE CROSS RIVER STATE MOVEMENT In the renewed struggle for a separate existence shortly afterwards, a Cross River State Movement was born. The partners in the movement, though cultural and ethnically different, the Efik and the Ogoja, shared only the common perception of discrimination in the South Eastern State. Their motivations for the Cross River State movement were therefore different. The Efik being the smallest in the fraternal trinity which included the Ibibio and Annang resented the disproportionate sharing of largess with their kit and kin. In the Cross River State the Efik hoped for a greater sharing ratio. For their part, the Ogoja had hoped for an association, the Cross River State, that guaranteed security against the socio-economic neglect and deprivation that was their lot in the south Eastern State. 3.4 The struggle for the creation of the creation of the Cross River State was undermined at the last moment when detractors, playing on the suspicions of the proponents, succeeded in compromising the over-riding objective of the movement. For various reasons, principal among which was the suspicion over the choice of State Capital, the case for the Cross River State was lost. Rather, the south Eastern State was renamed the Cross River State in an exercise that created seven additional states to produce the 19 States structure in Nigeria. Though recommended by the Commission (1975), the suspicions and betrayals within the movement once more frustrated the hopes of the Ogoja people for a fairer share in the political and economic development of Nigeria. 3.5 THE NEW CROSS RIVER STATE MOVEMENT In 1979, another petition for the creation of the new Cross River State (NCRS) was submitted to the National Assembly. The NCRS was described in that petition as comprising the people Calabar, Odukpani, Akamkpa, Obubra, Ikom, Ogoja and Obudu. A strong case for inclusion of Oron in the NCRS, itself a divisive and controversial proposition, was accepted by the movement for the creation of the NCRS. Despite internal upheavals and mutual suspicion within the movement, the proponents held together in the demand for the creation of the NCRS. Owing more to the ineffectiveness and inconsistencies of the Civilian Politics (1979- 1983), than to any faults in the movement, the NCRS was not created until the demise of the shangari Administration in December, 1983, following the Buhari Coup-d’etat. 3.6 THE OGOJA STATE Our first demand in 1986 for the Ogoja State was submitted to the Political Bureau, appointed by the Babangida administration. It was another start by the people of Old Ogoja Province in the continuing struggle for self-determination. The focus of that demand was the creation of two States out of the old Provinces of Calabar and Ogoja respectively. In 1987, part of Calabar Province was carved out to form the present Akwa Ibom State. The other part, together with all of Old Ogoja province now constitutes the present Cross River State. In its present form it is a yoke with a structure that is incompatible with the spirit of self-determination of the people of Ogoja. This request recognizes the deficiencies and weaknesses of past movements in the struggle for political and socio-economic identity of the people of Ogoja. The authors are also fully conscious that the continuous alienation of the people of Ogoja by the Federal Government has its roots in the ethnic, as well in the majority/minority politics of Nigeria. We therefore, seek to be carved out into an Ogoja State where ethnicity and the politics of numbers are rendered irrelevant and inapplicable, by the absence of a dominant ethnic group, and the existence of an old heritage of cultural and socio-economic affinity. Our request seeks to complete the process, started in 1967, of creating States from the former Provinces of the Federation. Further, we seek to emphasize the old Ogoja Province as the focal point of this request for a new State out of the present Cross River State. 4. THE CASE FOR AN OGOJA STATE 4.1 Self-Determination It is time for the people of Ogoja to take their destiny in their hands. Through persistent neglect and deprivation, the entire area referred to as the Old Ogoja Province has remained the most backward and least developed part of Nigeria. There is noticeably neither the State nor Federal Presence in the Old Ogoja Province; an area covering over 16,380sq.km. There is a complete absence of any industrial base in terms of government- owned factories and infrastructure. The private sector is mainly a roll-call of subsistent farmers, petty traders, and petty contractors. This situation contrast sharply with the position in the remaining part of the Old Calabar province where the list of government-owned factories and institutions include:- 1. CREL Factory 2. Calabar Cement Factory (Calabar) 3. Eastern Match Industry (Calabar) 4. Seromwood Industry (Calabar) 5. Calvenply (Calabar) 6. State Secretariat, and Headquarters of State-owned Parastatals (Calabar) 7. The Margaret Ekpo International Airport (Calabar) 8. The Seaport (Calabar) 9. The Export Processing Zone (Calabar) 10. The NNPC Tank Farm (Calabar 11. The Cross River University of Technology (Main Campus), Calabar 12. The University of Calabar (Calabar) 13. Military Installations – Army, Navy, Airforce (Calabar) 14. The College of Education, Akamkpa 15. Fruit juice, Odukpani 16. Poly Rub, Akamkpa 17. Flour Mill, Calabar 18. Tinapa Duty Free Zone 19. The Orascom Cement Factory (Calabar Zone). 4.2 Since the creation of the South Eastern State (much of which is now Cross River State), the dominant position of the indigenes of the Old Calabar Province in Government has assured them the firm control of the flow of capital and domination of the State’s economy. As a result, the private sector in Ogoja is non- existent 4.3 The tale of neglect spans all aspects of the life of Ogoja, from lack of roads to the neglect of existing ones; from the almost non-existent health care delivery system to the poor staffing of, and lack of learning or teaching aids in the community-built schools. 4.4 For too long, the Ogoja people have left their destinies in the hangs of others. For another chance, we are craving to be given an opportunity to run our affairs. 4.5 ETHNIC AND SOCIO-CULTURAL AFFINITY The people of Ogoja share a common heritage. The several small ethnic groups distributed over 16380sq.km. share ethnic and socio-cultural affinity. Above all, we enjoy a common administration from the colonial era. 4.6 The major dialectical groups include Bette, Becheva, Sankwalla, Bekwarra, Etung, Boki, Ejagham, Yala, Yache, Gabu, Olulumo, Yakurr, Mbebe, Bahumuno, and Agbo. None of these dialectical groups is big enough to dominate the others. Rather, Pidgin English is generally spoken as the dominant language of the people. The absence of a dominant factor among the ethnic groups, the common socio-cultural and administrative heritage, and the adoption of Pidgin English as a lingua-Franca all provide the solid foundation on which to build a peaceful and prosperous State. 4.7 VIABILITY OF THE OGOJA STATE (i) Viability Established The entire comprising the area and people of Ogoja was considered viable enough to be constituted into one of the 24 (twenty four) provinces of colonial Nigeria. It was viable enough to stay as a Province until May, 1967, when it was lumped with Calabar Province to form the Cross River State (the South Eastern State). Indeed, all of the former provinces except Ogoja Province were constituted into States. The decision for lumping Ogoja with Calabar in the South Eastern State derives more from miscalculations of the ethnic relationships, and a false perception of the compatibility of the ethnic constituents than from economic consideration. (ii) Land Mass The proposed Ogoja State lies between latitude 5degrees 40’N and 7degrees 00N and longitudes 8degrees E and 10degrees E: and form the northern half of the present Cross River State. It is bounded to the North by Benue State, West by Enugu and Abia State, to the South by Biase and Akamkpa LGAs. and to the East by the Republic of Cameroon. From all economic and demographic considerations, Ogoja Province is viable enough to be constituted into a State. With a land mass of 16,380 sq. km, Ogoja Province is larger than seven (7) States of the United States of America whose land areas range from 1,942sq.km. (for Rhode island) to 13,211 sq. km (for Massachusetts). Indeed, Ogoja Province is larger than or compares favourably with several member countries of the United Nations among which are the Bahamas (13,935 sq. km), and even Jamaica (11,424 sq. km). Infact, the proposed Ogoja State is larger than Lagos, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, Delta and Edo States and compares favourably in size with several newly created States. (iii) Agricultural and Agro-allied Industries The proposed Ogoja State with a landmass of 16,380sq. km possesses climatic, soil and vegetation conditions that provide tremendous agricultural and Agro-Allied industrial potentials. About 20% of the land area of the proposed State consist of forests located at the Southern parts such as Ugep, Obubra, Ikom, Boki, while, a large part of the Ogoja region consist of grassland or savanna at places such as Ogoja, Obudu, Obanliku etc.This variety of soils and vegetation makes possible the cultivation of an equally wide variety of agricultural produce ranging from food to cash crops. The food crops grown include Yams, Cassava, Cocoyam, and Maize, Beans, Rice, Millet and several market garden crops. While some of the cash crops that thrive well in the region include cocoa, rubber, palm-oil, kola nuts, bananas, plantains, coffee etc. The Cross River Basin (consisting of the Cross River flowing through Ikom, Obubra, Ugep areas and other smaller rivers & streams) offers a suitable agricultural potentials which together with the generally good cultivable land of the State can be harnessed for plantation agriculture and for Agro-Allied industries given adequate political and associated economic institutions through an Ogoja State. The Obudu Cattle Ranch provides immense facilities for livestock farming or ranching. The vast luxuriant grassland provides grazing pasture for a variety of livestock including goats, sheep and cattle. (iv) Tourism The Obudu Ranch Resort has become a foremost destination for local and international tourists. It is presently the number one tourist destination in Nigeria and with greater commitment on the part of stake holders, could become Africa’s foremost resort for tourism. With its breath taking amenities and infrastructure that are amply cushioned on the universally acclaimed generosity of the indigenous people within the area, this facility is indeed, world class and could be further enhanced for greater excellence. The Obudu Cattle Ranch is naturally endowed with an intrinsic capacity to yield at least US$100 billion annually from agriculture and tourism. Other resources include the natural land formations and forest which, in themselves, are assets to the development of Agriculture and Tourism in Ogoja. The Kanyang Wild Life Reserves, Agbokim Waterfall and the Alok Monoliths can be developed into havens with handsome annual economic returns to Ogoja State. So far, the skewed policies of the various administrations (since 1967) which derive from the ethnic perception of economic development have stultified the development of agricultural and tourist industries in Ogoja. (v) Mineral Resources The mineral resources base of Ogoja portends an economically viable State. Established mineral reserves include: (a) Crude Oil in Commercial quantity (tested and proven) at Ishi-Aya, Ibil and other surrounding areas in the Ogoja Local Government Area. (b) Limestones at Ugep to support a viable cement plant. The limestones would provide raw materials for a lime plant to service the steel, glass, paint, and agricultural industries. (c) Quartz/Basal/Quartzite in Obudu, Ogoja, Yala and Ikom; would support a glass and glassware industry. (d) Salt Deposits in Yala, Boki and Ikom; would adequately support the commercial production of common salt for the home and industry. The demand for common salt is underscored by the huge requirements of the petrochemical industries which are estimated at 500,000 metric tones annually from 1987. In addition, the salt deposits offer opportunities for the development of the Soda, Potash and Chlorine gas factories. (e) Gypsum, found in Ikom, Ogoja, Yala and Obudu; is an important requirement of the Cement industries; used in the making of plaster of paris; and is important in the production of fertilizers. All of the above minerals are important in the daily lives of the individual and the nation. The development of a State’s economy on the exploitation of these deposits will ensure viability and the overall development of the State. (vi) Hydro-Electric Power Potential The Cross River which rises from the Republic of Cameroon and flows into the proposed Ogoja State through Ikom, Obubra with an annual discharge (recorded over a period of 12 years (1972-83) of 10763.28 cubic metres (cumecs) at Ikom 16281 cumecs at Obubra combined with the Agbokim waterfall at Ikom is one of the greatest Nigeria rivers with great H.E.P potentials which with proper management & establishment of appropriate institutional framework with the governments of the surrounding Republic of Cameroon and other States and LGAs in Nigeria in the form of the establishment of a Cross River Basin (International) Commission is capable of producing electrical power necessary for the various industrial & economic activities boosting the agricultural and tourism industries, thus contributing immensely to national development. This is a fact which has been acknowledged by the appropriate authorities (NEPA) but has been ignored as part of the general neglect of the Ogoja region. (vii) Population In the helpless circumstances we have always found ourselves, population figures have always been under- estimated by majority group interests in order to perpetuate the negative geopolitics of development in Ogoja. In spite of this, the present population, estimated at 2,560,000 people, is distributed over 16,380 sq. km. of land. This allows a population density of 96 persons per square kilometer. The demographic factor of low population density (i.e. ratio of population to land mass) in Ogoja facilitates agricultural development, promotes good neighborliness, and enhances peace and stability. In terms of sheer population size, Ogoja is larger than 12 States of the United States of America with between 300,000 and 800,000 inhabitants. Furthermore, at a population size of over one million inhabitants it is larger than several member States of the United Nations viz: Bahamas (205,000), Barbados (251,000), Belize (137,200), Grenada (109,000), and Guyana (884,000). The population of the proposed Ogoja State compares favorably with those of Niger (1,200,000), Ogon State (1,600,000), and Rivers (1,700,000) States. (1963 population figures projected to 1980). This document acknowledges the 1991 population Census figures, but it also acknowledges the controversy surrounding figures in some areas, especially that of the present Cross River State. (viii) Availability of Manpower There will be no shortage of manpower for the services of an Ogoja State. Presently, there is a surfeit of University graduates in Ogoja. In the service of the Cross River State Government there are at least 30 top civil servants of the level 16 cadre and above. These are adequate to start off any administration. It is further estimated that at least 550 indigenes of Ogoja graduate every year from the University and other institutions of higher learning. Indeed, there is more developed and skilled manpower in the Old Ogoja Province than in several States of the Federation. At 1,560,000 (2.560,000 million current projections) inhabitants spread over 16,380 sq. km. of land there is a guaranteed labour force to satisfy the demands of the dominant occupation and invested, which is Agriculture. 4.8 the case or justification for the creation of an Ogoja State is predicated on unassailable arguments of self-determination and viability. We have humbly shown, from facts and figures around Nigeria and the world, that all considerations bear out the demand for an Ogoja State. As a people, Ogoja has a destiny. The arrival of this destiny, we believe, is only being delayed. We are, this time around, addressing our Request, not to politicians, but to the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. We are therefore, relying on the objectively and the proven sense of good judgment of the President himself. It is the desire of the people of Ogoja that the merit of our case which derives from humanitarian considerations be the guide in the consideration of our Request. 5. OGOJA STATE / OGOJA PROVINCE 5.1 The Signatories to the Request for an Ogoja State are fully conscious of the achievement of the Federal Government in changing the political structure of Nigeria. The main thrust of the argument in favour of the return to the 24 (twenty four) provinces had evolved around the identification, delimitation and grouping of compatible and culturally related ethnic groups in the Provincial system. Specifically, Ogoja Province as at 1967, was without Abakaliki and Afikpo, which had, hitherto, been the unrelated constituents of the then Ogoja Province. In an earlier restructuring exercise, Abakaliki and Afikpo had been excised from Ogoja Province in order to give effect and meaning to the compatibility, affinity and the development of the people of Obudu, Ogoja, Ikom and Obubra. 5.2 The lumping of Ogoja Province (described as Obudu, Ogoja, Ikom and Obubra) Calabar Province in the 1967 State creation exercise was a retrogressive step imposed on the people of Ogoja. From semi-autonomy in an Ogoja Province, we were forced into another era of subservience in an association with the Efik-speaking people of Old Calabar Province in what was called the south Eastern State. 5.3 As a Province, Ogoja enjoyed a political status that equals existing States namely, Bauchi (Bauchi State), Gongola (now Adamawa and Taraba), Borno (Borno and Yobe States), Benue (Benue State), Illorin, Kabba, Kano (Jigawa States), Katsina (Katsina State), Niger (Niger State), Plateau (Plateau State), Sokoto (Sokoto (Sokoto and Kebbi States), Zaria (Kaduna State), Abeokuta (Ogun State), Benin (Edo and Delta States), Ijebu, Ondo (Ondo State), Imo (Imo and Abia State), Anambra (Anambra, Enugu States), and Oyo (Oyo, Oshun States). 5.4 What the Ogoja people want now is semi-political autonomy to enable us to chart the course of our destiny. 5.5 We decry the loss of equality and self-determination by the annulment of the Ogoja Province in 1967. We decry the incompatibility inherent in our present association in the Cross River State. We seek to regain the opportunity we lost with the creation of the southern Eastern State in 1967. We seek the restoration of Ogoja to the status we occupied among the twenty four (24) Provinces of Nigeria prior to May 27, 1967. 5.6 There are two distinct groups in the Cross River State namely; the Efik-speaking people, of Old Calabar Province and the Ogoja people of Old Ogoja Province. The issue therefore, is clearly the creation of two States from Cross River State. The approximate geo-political boundaries are clear. We pray the Head of State to create the States along these boundaries. 6. PROPOSED CONSTITUENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS 6.1 The Local Government Areas Presently, the area of interest, which extends from Ugep in the south to Obanliku in the north consist of nine (9) Local Government Areas. The nine existing Local Government areas include, from North to South, Obanliku, Obudu, Ogoja, Yala, Boki, Ikom, Obubra, Yakurr, and Abi. Other major centres of population and areas to constituted into separate Local Government Areas include from North to South, Bekwarra, Ukelle, Afi, Eastern Boki; Western Boki;Agbo; Bansara; Mbube, Etung, Utugwang, Utanga, Adun-Okum and Emina. 6.2 Each of these suggested development areas is inhabited by at least 111,429 homogenous people with a common dialect; each area covers at least 1170 sq. km of fertile agricultural land; and further, the people of each area share a common socio-cultural and administrative heritage. We are, therefore humbly presenting a Request for the creation of twenty-one (21) Local Government Areas from these Areas. 6.3 At the end of the exercise, the proposed Ogoja State would consist of twenty-one Local Government Areas namely; Obanliku, Obudu, Bekwarra, Ogoja, Yala, Ukelle, Agbo; Eastern Boki; Ikom, Afi, Obubra, Yakurr, Emina Bahumono Western Boki; Utugwang; Mbube; Utanga; Bansara; Etung and Adun-Okum. 6.4 THE STATE CAPITAL We are fully conscious of Security and Economic implications in the choice of a State Capital. We are however, reconciled to the singleness of our purpose and the resolve to attain our goals, by offering our full cooperation to the Presidency and the Committee in the discharge of the requested State creation exercise. 6.5 In our diversity, we have found a common identity in being called, addressed, and treated as Ogoja people. In the State, as in the rest of the country, the calm, honest, and friendly disposition of the Ogoja man is characteristic. From the physical to the psychological profile, we are easily identified as Ogoja people. It is therefore, a unanimous proposition that the issue of a State Capital be considered within the context of the precedence, as well as the overall security and economic implications to the Nation. 6.6 Our Request, thus seeks an Ogoja State having twenty-one (21) Local Government Areas, with OGOJA Town as the State Capital. 7. PRAYER Whereas, we have clearly demonstrated a persistent and peaceful quest for a separate State for the people of Ogoja; Whereas, we have demonstrated with facts and figures that the Ogoja State is as viable as any existing State; Whereas, we have demonstrated, and the available statistics also demonstrate, the complete neglect of the area and the peoples of Ogoja by both the Federal and State Administrations; Whereas, we are satisfied that the destiny of the people of Ogoja can only be charted by the people of Ogoja for the people of Ogoja, in a separate Ogoja State; Whereas, the approximate geo-political boundaries of the Old Ogoja Province are clear; Whereas, there is unanimity in the quest for a separate State, having twenty-one (21) Local Government Areas; Whereas, through the political development of Nigeria, the people of Ogoja have made enormous sacrifices for the maintenance of peace and the territorial integrity of our Nation; Whereas, our Request seeks to permanently afford the Ogoja people the right environment for self- determination and actualization; We, the undersigned persons of the Old Ogoja Province and on behalf of the people of the Old Ogoja Province and ourselves, humbly pray the President and the National Assembly to favourably consider our Request for the creation of the OGOJA STATE. Thank you very kindly for the opportunity given us to address our Request to the President and National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Yours very sincerely, (For and on behalf of the People of the Old OGOJA Province). MAP OF THE PROPOSED OGOJA STATE IN THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREAS AND CONSTITUENT WARDS: 1. AGBO Itigidi, Adadama, Ekureku 1, Ekureku 11, Imabana & Ikpalegwa 2. YAKURR Bikobiko, Ijiman, Ijom, Ikpakpitt, Idomi. 3. EMINA Inyima, Ajere, Afrekpe/Epenti, Ntan, Abanakpai, Nkpolo/Ukpawen, Mkpani /Agoi and Assiga. 4. OBUBRA Appiapum; Ofumbongha/Yala, Obubra Urban. 5. EASTERN BOKI Bateriko, Beebo/Bumaji, Katchuan, Bunyia/Okubuchi 6. WESTERN BOKI Abo Boje, Ogep Osokom, Ekpashi Osokom, Kakwagom/Bawop & Oku/Borum, Njua 7. IKOM Ikom Urban, Yala-Ikom, Olulumo, Ofutop. 8. AFI Nde, Nta/Nselle & Nnam/Abanyum 9. ETUNG Northern Etung; Southern Etung 10. BAHUMONO Ediba, Ebom, Afafanyi/ Igonigoni, Usumutong 11. UTANGA Utanga, Basang, Becheve 12. ADUN-OKOM Adun, Ochon, Ofodua, Ovonum, Ababene, Appiapum 13. OBANLIKU Bebi, Bishiri North, Bishiri South, Bisu; Basang, Busi, Bendi 1, Bendi II, Becheve & Utanga 14. OBUDU Urban 1, Urban 11, Ipong, Begiading, Afriaba/Betiaka, CONSTITUENT WARDS 15. OGOJA Urban 1, Urban 11, Nkum Iborr, Nkum Irede, Ndok. 16. BEKWARRA Afrike, Abuochiche1, Abuochiche 11, Gakem. 17. YALA Okpoma, Yahe, Okuku, Echumofana, Gabu, 18. UKELLE Wanokom, Wanihem, Wanikade, & Mfuma / Izilaga 19. UTUGWANG Utugwang North, Utugwang Central, Utugwang South, Alege/Ubang; Ukpe 20. MBUBE Idum, Ekumtak, Odajie, Egbe, Ojirim, Ogberia, Nkim 21. BANSARA Bansara, Mfom 1 & 11, Nwang, Mbok, Emandak. © Francis Mogu, 2010 Designed by Kehance.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 14:34:20 +0000
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