OGOJA area is one of the last
provinces in Nigeria that has not
become a state. Whatever the
reasons no one is sure. Most
under-developed areas of the
country that have become states have seen fast and significant
infrastructure, economic, and
political development overnight. For example, Akwa Ibom and
Ebonyi states of Nigeria. This
must be remedied to bring
psychological, educational,
economic and political
development to this part of the country that hasn’t seen any
significant development since the
colonial rule. The creation of then South
Eastern State or current Cross
River State has left this region
still largely untouched by any
meaningful economic or political
progress. The vast human and natural resources of Ogoja are
not being harnessed to benefit
the people of the area or Nigeria
for that matter. The human and
natural resources are wasting
away. For years, this area was
neglected by the Federal
Government because the area is
occupied by mostly minority
tribes. The area continues to
suffer from huge economic disparity, health, educational,
and poverty problems. No part of
the country should be left to
suffer such deprivation,
especially when the country has
the economic resources and the political wherewithal to address
the issue. The economic, educational, and
political gains made by the sons
and daughters of this area are
not significant enough to benefit
the citizens, so they continue to
suffer in silence and without a voice in their own country. This
imbalance must change so that
Ogoja people can engage and
participate fully in our new
democratic process. With the on-
going constitutional review, the National Assembly and the
Federal Government should
embark on the immediate task of
creating an Ogoja state during
this legislative session. This bold step will remove the
pains the Ogoja people have
suffered in educationally,
socially, emotionally, politically
and economically over time. Any visible development in the
area is credited to the early
Roman Catholic missionaries that
came to the area to serve the
spiritual needs of the people. They built schools, churches,
orphanages, and hospitals, most
of all they gave the people some
hope for a better future. The
current Cross River State is too
large to undertake any meaningful economic
development to benefit the
Ogoja people.For Ogoja people,
progress is standing still. Ogoja State should be created in
this administration because of
the political and economic
benefits it will bring to the
region as well as the nation as a
whole. Ogoja state would become the agricultural home of
the nation. The region is noted
for fertile soil and agricultural
produce such as yams, rice,
cassava and cocoa grown in the
area.State creation will bring immediate wealth, education,
health, economic, and political
resources to this neglected
region. The area will see steady flow of
goods, people and capital for
economic development and
growth. Better roads for
commerce will be developed and
maintained by the Federal Government and Ogoja State.
Ultimately, this will alleviate
poverty and the suffering of the
Ogoja people. Educationally, the new state will
create more primary, secondary
and higher education
opportunities to benefit the
citizens of this area. The area lacks health care
facilities to serve the people. This
will change because Ogoja State
will be able to build more
healthcare facilities and
increase access to healthcare resources for families and
children. For small scale
industries to develop there must
be electricity. Ogoja State will embark on rural
electrification project to allow
businesses and entrepreneurs to
invest in small scale industries
and to create jobs in the area.
Most importantly, it will focus attention on the areas of human
development that has been
neglected for generations. Participatory democracy
requires that all citizens must be
allowed to participate and
contribute to the economic and
political affairs of the nation,
share in the benefits and burdens of the country. The
creation of Ogoja State would
give its citizens some
participation and voice in the
political process of the country. It would also promote the
regional development of the
economic activities of the region,
promote interstate commerce, as
well as cooperation and sharing
of natural and human resources. In addition, it would create
favourable business environment
and spur economic development. The voice of the people would be
fully represented. The current
political landscape leaves most
of this area under-represented
and unappreciated.If the nation
is to keep its promise to the minority people of the country
and to live up to the true spirit
and aspirations of the
Constitution, then Ogoja State
must be created now. The ruling party in Cross River
State should welcome the
creation of Ogoja State because
the regional economy will benefit
all. Finally, this would encourage
sound economic and political development in the region and
ultimately give the people of
Ogoja a voice they never had
because equity, fairness, and
justice demand this change. Mr .THOMAS OGAR, a lawyer ,
wrote from CT, USA.
www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/why-ogoja-state-should-be-created-now/