For the people of Greater Awgu, what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. Claiming to have formed the three legs on which Enugu State is standing today alongside the old Nsukka, and Udi divisions, the people of Greater Awgu believe that they have been marginalized in today’s political equation of Enugu State.

According to the National Director, Strategy and Mobilization of Greater Awgu Leadership Forum (GALF) and former Senatorial candidate, Lagos West, in the 2007 general elections, Chief Martin Onovo, the Greater Awgu people have been treated unfairly in the state as all the things that are due to them have not been given to them.

The GALF director told Daily Sun that each time the opportunity to delineate constituencies comes up in Enugu State; the Greater Awgu people have always been marginalized, saying that they have taken enough of that and would, therefore, not allow the recent Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) delineation of federal constituencies in the state to follow the status quo.

Onovo who is also the National Leader of Strategic Union of Professionals for the Advancement of Nigeria (SUPA) disclosed that because of how their people have been marginalized in the past, they may consider pulling out from the Adada State project and pitch their tent with those clamouring for Equity State.
He, therefore, urged Governor Sullivan Chime to ensure that the Greater Awgu people get their due in the state as they will no longer watch their marginalization to continue. Excerpt:

Our pains in Greater Awgu
Enugu State today is made up of 17 local governments out of which three formed what is called Greater Awgu. The three councils are Aninri, Oji River and Awgu. Now, originally these three local governments made up the old Awgu Division; in the pre-independence era there was only three divisions in what we called Enugu State today. So, originally at independence, Enugu State was standing on three legs, and Enugu State is unstable today because one leg has been deliberately destroyed and that leg is Greater Awgu and that has created serious political irregularities, dysfunctions and injustice in Enugu State which must be corrected immediately.

Out of the three divisions, we have Awgu Division, Nsukka Division, and Udi Division; these were the three divisions as at independence. During the 1975\76 local government reforms, instead of getting four local governments, we were cheated and we got three, the other two divisions got seven each and that is the local government structure as at today. But each time there is an opportunity to delineate constituencies it becomes an opportunity to further marginalize the Greater Awgu people because even if we accept the present local government structure which is already inequitable because in three divisions, two divisions got seven each, one division got three, which is less than half of what the other divisions got.

So, you can see the fundamental disjuncture this has created.
Now, during the last creation of senatorial districts, it became another opportunity to further marginalize Greater Awgu; our very, very good brothers in Udi were carved out with us into Enugu West when we became half of a senatorial zone, a very artificial creation; instead of following the natural constitutional requirement and making the three old divisions senatorial zones, we now became half of a senatorial zone. Now, if we are half a senatorial zone that makes up 15 or 17 per cent from the 83 per cent we were politically.

Now, the greatest tragedy and this is deliberate; it is not a mistake, is this current INEC delimitation of constituencies. Out of the eight existing federal constituencies, Greater Awgu has only one, INEC offered five more to Enugu State, and instead of giving Greater Awgu three to correct the existing imbalance, Greater Awgu is offered none, zero; now with none we are going to have a total of 13 federal constituencies and Greater Awgu is going to have just one; that is going to make up seven per cent from 33 per cent, this is the highest level of fratricidal injustice because the people who are doing this things are our brothers; now that situation must not be allowed again.

Our oppressors
It is clearly institutionalized and we have never been governor, we have never been deputy governor; so, apparently our brothers when we support them or when they appoint themselves or when they rig the elections and declare themselves governors, they discount us completely; as we talk today, out of one minister, two ambassadors in Enugu, none is from Greater Awgu; the governor is not from Greater Awgu, the SSG is not from Greater Awgu, how can we be properly represented? This is extremely unfair; of the 36 state permanent secretaries, only three are from Greater Awgu; 12 special advisers, only one is from Greater Awgu; what is the basis of dividing these things? If you are dividing this fairly based on the local government structure we should get much more, we should get about seven; if you divide on the basis of local governments, which is even unfair, if we use the old appropriate divisional structure, which is the natural division in Enugu then we should have 12, but out of 36 you gave 12 to each side; that would have been the 36, but we have three, how do you explain that, the marginalization of Greater Awgu is so obvious, so infuriating, so annoying, and our people cannot continue to accept it, as we talk today, federal appointments, state appointments, even ordinary state civil service tax recruitment, heavily tilted deliberated against the Greater Awgu people.

INEC delineating of federal constituency
Definitely, you will make an input, but if you are not in the superior political positions to determine the outcome apparently that is what happens because as I speak with you, the one federal constituency that was apparently recommended for Enugu West is going to Ezeagu; so in Udi, one local government is one federal constituency, Ezeagu, one local government is one federal constituency, then Great Awgu, three local governments under an unfair structure with one federal constituency and don’t forget that the governor is from Udi. So, apparently he is benefiting directly from the marginalization of Greater Awgu, but the governor can claim that he did not start the marginalization, but he shouldn’t continue it and it is his responsibility to correct it, and if he does not correct it, he has failed in his political responsibility; injustice to any one is injustice to all.

What Greater Awgu people are demanding
We are demanding immediately that this is an opportunity to correct historical political marginalization, this opportunity, out of the five, if we are given three, we will have four, four out of 13, that will keep us at 30 per cent, which is still not fair, so, we are saying give us three, start now to correct it, this is an opportunity, it’s not after you have done the deed you say well it’s too late or we will correct it in future, this is the right time, this is the opportunity to correct the marginalization, it is now.

Our forum
Definitely, the Great Awgu Leadership Forum, the membership is from the three local governments. For example, I am from Aninri, the chairman is from Oji River, the secretary is from Awgu, the women leader is from Oji River; so, it is on behalf of our people in Greater Awgu because we have been one and we’ve been a united group, we’ve been homogenous and that is one of the constitutional criteria for constituency delineation, but apparently just for political gerrymandering instead of giving us a senatorial zone which we thought was obvious and fair, we did not think that anybody was so politically depraved as to do the kind of gerrymandering that is very unjust and provocative. So, this is the misjudgment on our part by assuming that our brothers will be fair.

Apparently our brothers have no interest in this sphere and they have continued it. Look at the current structure of appointments, I have demographic data of employment in IMT, only seven per cent are from Greater Awgu, the three local governments, Greater Awgu is supposed to make up to 33 per cent; only seven per cent and you think that is not deliberate, that is deliberate. If it were 30 per cent, you will say okay plus or minus, but it is not, we are supposed to have fairly 33 per cent, but we got seven and if this current constituency delineation goes through we will become a permanent seven per cent based on that structure. So, what we are saying is that all political positions, opportunities, appointments, both federal and otherwise should be shared according to three old divisions; that is what is fair and just. So, all these spurious and irregular formulations are deliberate and you can see that the result has shown that they are deliberate because it is those who are in charge that are benefiting.

Our position on state creation
Well, the position of the Greater Awgu people is being reviewed because some of our people think that if a state is to be created it’s an opportunity to leave our brothers who have decided to be unfair and patricidal; yes, some of our people think that we should join the state government and support Adada State movement, but the downside of that is that if we join the state government and support Adada State movement, now it is this same Udi division people because it is the same old Nsukka division that is supposed to be Adada State. So, they used what is convenient, now it is convenient to say Adada State, but our brothers in Udi division, since they do not accept us as brothers there is a strong current that we should move away from them and go to Equity State and that is being reviewed currently at the highest level of the leadership of the Greater Awgu to determine a final position, but these are the key factors that our people are looking at, if your brother rejects you, denies you and plans to kill you, it makes sense to run away.

Our marginalization and past administration in Enugu
This is very important, as we speak today, the greatest claim of the Enugu State government is that it is building the old Awgu road. Now, that claim is 12 years old and as we talk today, grading is not complete and this is dry season and interestingly our local government, it’s not a state government project, it’s a joint venture project, our local government is contributing our money and yet the project is making no progress, they will come here and tell you that the road is completed; go and drive on it, grading is not even completed and there was enormous amount, I won’t remember the specific details in the 2009 budget for this road and ordinary grading is not completed and the dry season is running out and next excuse you will get is that it’s because it’s rainy season and then the 2010 budget will pass.

And our local government, we have been contributing to the road, so you see that even our local government money is being taken away, so I think that there is some level of extreme greed, extreme insensitivity, and fratricidal disposition on the part of our brothers because otherwise why would you do this to your own brother; you take away appointments, you take away infrastructure, you even take away our self-esteem, by continuing to denigrate our people; in the education sector, what is happening, it was once the Greater Awgu man became the VC of ESUT and he didn’t last there for two months, Prof Anikpo. Our people in the civil service are being jumped, their juniors are jumping them to become their seniors, you cannot tell me that these are isolated cases, there is a deliberate policy to keep, denigrate and dehumanize the Awgu man and this is not acceptable and it must stop.

We have raised this alarm over a decade now; we have been raising this alarm, just look at the data; who is behind it? I suppose those who are benefiting from it, it’s obvious, as we speak, Udi division has one ambassador, has SSG, has governor, has deputy governor; so somebody is benefiting immorally, unjustly. How is the person benefiting? By depriving others and that is why it is unjust because the definition of justice is to give one what is one’s due; it is injustice against us because we are not getting our due, we are part of this state and the governor should not make himself a governor of Udi, the governor is governor of Enugu, but the way he is going he is making himself the governor of Udi.