naptu2:
Nairalanders have often asked, "What is the South-South? Who created the South-South Zone"? This thread answers those questions.

The South-South is a geopolitical zone in Nigeria. It represents the southernmost part of Southern Nigeria. It is a geopolitical region and like other geopolitical regions of the world, it is not dependent on compass points. There's no Middle East or Far East on a compass, yet these are regarded as regions of the world, just as there is no Midwest or South-Central on a compass, but these are geopolitical regions of the United States.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Far_East
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwestern_United_States
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Central_United_States


The South-South is one of the 6 geopolitical zones in Nigeria and the 6 zones are: North-Central, North-East, North-West, South-East, South-South and South-West. The zones are not recognised in the constitution, but they are recognised by several acts that have been passed by the National Assembly. These acts require the president to appoint people from all the 6 geopolitical zones into several commissions and boards.

Examples include the National Pension Commission
https://www.pencom.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/THE-PROVISIONS-OF-THE-PENSION-REFORM-ACT-2014-GOVERNING-APPOINTMENTS-TO-THE-BOARD-OF-THE-NATIONAL-PENSION-COMMISSION.pdf

And the Nigerian Communications Commission.
https://ncc.gov.ng/documents/128-nigerian-communications-act-2003/file

The idea of the 6 geopolitical zones was developed by former Vice President Dr Alex Ekwueme and former Ogun State Governor, Chief Bisi Onabanjo, when they were in prison between 1983 and 1985. Dr Ekwueme was the brain behind the idea, while Chief Onabanjo made contributions.

The basic idea was to provide equality between the regions of Nigeria. During the 1st Republic, Northern Nigeria was bigger than the other 2 regions (East and West) combined and there were always fears that it would dominate the country. Dr Ekwueme decided to address this issue by creating a balance.

Furthermore, minority ethnic groups were always complaining that they were being dominated by the 3 big ethnic groups and so his idea was developed in such a way that the minorities would have a voice.

In his idea, there would be an Eastern Region which would be mainly made up of the Igbo ethnic group and a Western Region that would be mainly made up of the Yoruba ethnic group. There would then be a South-South Region that would be mainly made up of the southern minorities.

There would also be a North-Western Region which would be mainly made up of the Hausa and Fulani ethnic groups and a North-East Region which would be mainly made up of the Kanuri ethnic group. There would then be a North-Central Region that would be mainly made up of the minorities in the North.

Dr Ekwueme presented his ideas to former President Shehu Shagari when he left prison. President Shagari had previously suggested something similar, but he told Dr Ekwueme that he had abandoned the idea because people did not accept it.

Dr Ekwueme then presented the idea at the 1995 Constitutional Conference. The idea was rejected, but the head of state, General Abacha, liked and accepted it.

In this interview Dr Ekwueme explains how and why he came up with the idea. The interview was conducted and published a few years before his death and it was republished after his death.




https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/11/ekwueme-bisi-onabanajo-plotted-six-geopolitical-zones-prison/


Pictures below: (1) The 6 geopolitical zones. (2) Dr Alex Ekwueme. (3) Chief Bisi Onabanjo.

The same way Alex Ekwueme had a feeling of self control for the southernmost minority tribes in Nigeria, that’s the same way every Igbo in Biafra has the belief that the minority tribes in the southsouth must control their areas and resources in Biafra. It’s already in the proposed constitution and political structure of new Biafra.

SILVERLINES:


I will never be moved by the so-called insightful story. Either south-south or south east oooo that wan no concerns me Biafra is the only message I long to hear now. Biafra nation will united the people of the South-South and East in one body

thieves want to unite with the south south because of oil but are refusing to unite with the north

naptu2:


"No law or acts recognise it"

Go back and read the first post, I posted links to the acts/laws that recognise it.

Take your time and read slowly. I addressed this issue in that post.

Look, there may be laws that require the President to appoint people from certain areas.

My point is that those areas are not recognized as anything 'special' in the constitution

SILVERLINES:


I will never be moved by the so-called insightful story. Either south-south or south east oooo that wan no concerns me Biafra is the only message I long to hear now. Biafra nation will united the people of the South-South and East in one body

the south south has their own nation called "Niger Delta Republic"..as proposed by Isaac Adaka Boro get that into your head and stop day dreaming..hope you been listening to Governor Wike on this issue recently?

gidgiddy:



Look, there may be laws that require the President to appoint people from certain areas.

My point is that those areas are not recognized as anything 'special' in the constitution

Why are you repeating what I wrote in the original post? I wrote that they are not recognised by the constitution, but they are recognised by several acts of the National Assembly. Is that not what I wrote??

The zones are not recognised in the constitution, but they are recognised by several acts that have been passed by the National Assembly. These acts require the president to appoint people from all the 6 geopolitical zones into several commissions and boards.

Examples include the National Pension Commission
https://www.pencom.gov.ng/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/THE-PROVISIONS-OF-THE-PENSION-REFORM-ACT-2014-GOVERNING-APPOINTMENTS-TO-THE-BOARD-OF-THE-NATIONAL-PENSION-COMMISSION.pdf

And the Nigerian Communications Commission.
https://ncc.gov.ng/documents/128-nigerian-communications-act-2003/file

jerryunit48:
Can someone take a Look at the map again and tell me how Cross River State is not part of East ….

Have you seen the devilish politics?

Those obsessed with Igbo hate think they can fool the rest of us who know how the name South-South actually came to be. Ekwueme DID NOT COIN IT!! Sorry you are wrong.

"In this interview Dr Ekwueme explains how and why he came up with the idea. The interview was conducted and published a few years before his death and it was republished after his death."

Ever8090:
Oh my God!!..this is very very insightful and helpful, I have been confronted with this issue on several occasions by the children of unnecessary hate who love shifting blames and always looking for others to take responsibility for their own actions that failed to backup their current material for hate against others.
First it was the issue of construction of a railway from Nigeria to Niger Republic, the music coming out from the east was that, Buhari conceived and gave birth to the idea, but it was letter reveled that it was Good luck Jonathan's concept after all!'
Another issue that is still lingering is that of accusations against the people of Benue state on massacre of Igbos on river Benue bridge during the civil war when it was actually the Nigerian army who was at war with them that commited the act..this same people will never mention their own deadly activities against the minority tribes in the south during the war e.g "go-Niger" "gaa Naja" a festival in Kalahari Kingdom to remember one of the atrocities by the Igbo soldiers against them during the war.

Note:I am not an Hausa/fulani or a Yoruba..

It’s like you took part in the 1966 pogrom against Igbos and other easterners in Benue state where people put poles into the vag..na of pregnant Igbo and other eastern women fleeing from the far north, till the pole emerged from the mouth.

Benue people had since apologized for the gruesome murders and said never again. But it’s like you are a midget.

Someone did not read the interview and came up with a ridiculous claim that has been proved wrong in the interview. He is confronted by it and his response is to come up with another claim that has already been addressed by the title of the entire thread!

How can anyone take such a person seriously.

READ THE FRIGGIN TITLE!

By the way, how can the idea that someone proposed something that is noble and who had good intentions when he proposed it, be something that will lead to hate??

I am now going to allow myself to be entertained by the jesters.

MrTemple:
D Igbos ve always meant well for this country.

South South got more voices after that idea.

The same way the Igbos will mean well for the Ijaws, Kalabaris, Itshekiris, Ibibios, Efiks, Ogojas, Anangs, etc, etc ethnic groups, in Biafra.

Ever8090:
Oh my God!!..this is very very insightful and helpful, I have been confronted with this issue on several occasions by the children of unnecessary hate who love shifting blames and always looking for others to take responsibility for their own actions that failed to backup their current material for hate against others.
First it was the issue of construction of a railway from Nigeria to Niger Republic, the music coming out from the east was that, Buhari conceived and gave birth to the idea, but it was letter reveled that it was Good luck Jonathan's concept after all!'
Another issue that is still lingering is that of accusations against the people of Benue state on massacre of Igbos on river Benue bridge during the civil war when it was actually the Nigerian army who was at war with them that commited the act..this same people will never mention their own deadly activities against the minority tribes in the south during the war e.g "go-Niger" "gaa Naja" a festival in Kalahari Kingdom to remember one of the atrocities by the Igbo soldiers against them during the war.

Note:I am not an Hausa/fulani or a Yoruba..

once they want to tell a comfortable lie they will attach an igbo man's name to help market it. How can someone in a prison battling for his life will thinking how to create a region, instead of how to free himself from illegal detention? So ekwueme created SS region and ceded his own igbo people into it along with oil communities that should be under control of SE ? At what point did he command such executive powers.

The reason history was removed from the curriculum is to allow anybody to wake up early in the morning and begin to say anything just to suit his or her narrative and that of their paymasters.

UtuokeAlcoholic:
Even Nigeria itself is man made creation. Real definition of hypocrisy. You want your own country and forcing other people into your so called country just as Nigeria is forcing you to stay. Since you don't want to stay in Nigeria, let others who don't want to stay in your so called country be.

Have you conducted a referendum in those areas to know that they don’t align with Igbos or you are clinging to the voice of few Igbo haters. Tomorrow you will say that Yorubas in Kwara or Kogi are not Yorubas because they in the northern divide. Nzeogwu from the same Anioma in Delta State did a coup and you people call it Igbo coup.

Please note that aikyg has provided further proof by referring us to the pre-conference summit that was held in 1994.

aikyg:


Here is an excerpt from the original article written in 2010:

At the Mkpoko Igbo pre-Conference summit in Enugu in April 1994, a document that called for the creation of six geo-political zones, the zoning of top political offices (especially the presidency) and rotation of power among the six zones was fashioned out.

There would be three zones in the North, including a separate zone for Northern minorities, and three in the South, including another separate zone for the Southern minorities.

The Igbo elite mandated former Vice President, Dr Alex Ekwueme, to lead the presentation of this agenda at the Conference, with Chief Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu and Dr Sam Mbakwe as his able lieutenants.

Ekwueme did a fantastic job, but the North, which opposed the geo-political zones and zoning of the presidency, accused him of trying to break up the North and whittle down its influence, which was not far from the truth, anyway. This was one of their reasons for dumping him for Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.

It was also due to the efforts of another group of Igbo intelligentsia led by retired Commodore Okoh Ebitu Ukiwe that led General Sani Abacha to create Bayelsa and Ebonyi states on October 1, 1996 , while also approving the geo-political zones, even though it is not (yet) in the Constitution as the Igbo recommended.

[img src=https://ibb.co/37GYX0h] [/img] [img src="https://ibb.co/6YbT5b8"][/img]

Those consumed by Igbo Hate can keep fooling themselves. The title betrays the clear deliberate intent of the OP and that is the point! Ekwueme proposed an idea (6 geopolitical zones not south-south zone). Now a hate filled soul distorted the impute of the proposal to further a jaundiced tribalistic post. Those who think they can get away with such deceit should know it won't work.

chidiebube107:
Rubish they south-east whether they like am or not

.
Mumu. We south/south reject you south East. We don't need you greedy Igbos. God forbid we belong and be part of Igbos. Is better we stay on our own or believe in one Nigeria ��.

I guess u didn’t read the whole thread . U just went straight to the map to look at the zones . Well the zones were created because of language or tribe and not because of location . They left cross river out of south east cause of the language . If not borno and yobe would have been part of the other states there and would be called north north instead of separating them into northwest and north east

jerryunit48:
Can someone take a Look at the map again and tell me how Cross River State is not part of East ….

Lifestone:
To me, as long as the South are still divided the balance of power will not be achieved. The North today still see themselves as a unit and continue to vote and act in similar pattern.
The power of a united South was evident in the Asaba declaration on the ban on open grazing, and we can see its effectiveness
Whether this can be achieved, time will tell.

The problems of southern unity was kindled by Nnamdi Azikiwe in 1959/1960. Hence the south east has always voted against Yoruba interest. Yoruba are not interested in any political alignment with the south east.

However, if it becomes expedient, we may agree with the south east. An example is the issue of ban on open grazing.

SILVERLINES:


I will never be moved by the so-called insightful story. Either south-south or south east oooo that wan no concerns me Biafra is the only message I long to hear now. Biafra nation will united the people of the South-South and East in one body

. Taaaaaaaa. U Igbos only need we the good people of South/south because of our oil . but we reject you guys. Nothing will ever join us together. God 4bid it. Igbo's are too greedy

This is what I told him. They separated north east from north west too for the same reasons. More than 85 percent of the northwest are full blooded hausa while north east comprises of Kanuri and other minorities

Commentor:


What does that mean?

Not like they speak same language or have same culture.

Tell me how the north remained one? When they divided it into three

eldoradoxx:
If i may answer no.3, South South is still referred to as East because it emerged from the old Eastern region which was broken up during the war. At independence Eastern region was made up of today's States of Enugu, Anambra, IMO, Abia, Ebonyi, Cross River, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa. During the war it was broken up into States by the Northern military junta. It was similar treatment Old Western region got during the Awolowo-Akintola crisis that finally led to the first military coup. Old Western region was made up of today's Ogun, Ekiti, Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Delta and Edo with Lagos being just like today's Abuja - Federal Capital Territory. Tafawa Balewa decided to split Awolowo's West by carving out a Edo and Delta into what he called Midwestern Region. All these while they insured that the North remained one bloc

AHAHHAHA JOKE OF THE DAY

onuman:


The same way Alex Ekwueme had a feeling of self control for the southernmost minority tribes in Nigeria, that’s the same way every Igbo in Biafra has the belief that the minority tribes in the southsouth must control their areas and resources in Biafra. It’s already in the proposed constitution and political structure of new Biafra.

When I tell these people that they should be careful what they wish for they say u are efulefu. That's how this restructuring they are shouting I know that give them 20years they will start regretting and blaming the north

Ironically, they are accusing the same people that helped them of wanting to dominate them.

Talk of ungratefulness.

UtuokeAlcoholic:
But all the regions in the south (South West, South East and south south) carry the nomenclature "SOUTH". Why there is a weaken or no sense of unity among them.

There's already inherent disunity among the Southern units. My concern was the Northern parts, where a section like the Middle-Belt has been caged into a "unity" imposed by Hausa-Fulani feudalists against its will, and needed to be extricated by giving it a separate identity.

chidiebube107:
Rubish they south-east whether they like am or not

And you're part of Nigeria, whether you like am or not..

Lifestone:
To me, as long as the South are still divided the balance of power will not be achieved. The North today still see themselves as a unit and continue to vote and act in similar pattern.
The power of a united South was evident in the Asaba declaration on the ban on open grazing, and we can see its effectiveness
Whether this can be achieved, time will tell.

Don't mind them. It's the greed of a few of the so-called south south leaders plus the stupidity and shortsightedness of their youth that's responsible.

Coldie:
When I tell these people that they should be careful what they wish for they say u are efulefu. That's how this restructuring they are shouting I know that give them 20years they will start regretting and blaming the north

To be fair, the south South idea was a just idea.

To be able to attract more investment and attention to the minorities of those regions rather than hiding them under the looming Igbo umbrella.

The problem is ungratefulness and some people not knowing who their real friends are.

It doesn't change the fact that restructuring and South south creation are good ideas.

CSTRR:

To be fair, the south South idea was a just idea.

To be able to attract more investment and attention to the minorities of those regions rather than hiding them under the looming Igbo umbrella.

The problem is ungratefulness and some people not knowing who their real friends are.

It doesn't change the fact that restructuring and South south creation are good ideas.

Tell me what you want the FG to restructure in the south east?

onuman:


It’s like you took part in the 1966 pogrom against Igbos and other easterners in Benue state where people put poles into the vag..na of pregnant Igbo and other eastern women fleeing from the far north, till the pole emerged from the mouth.

Benue people had since apologized for the gruesome murders and said never again. But it’s like you are a midget.

lies..lies...lies and emotional blackmail is a trade you people are so conversant with..which Benue people apologize what!!!....this tactics is no longer working on people again sir... everybody around the world hate igbos that is the illusion you people carry in your head every existing day you are bless with ..

greensandy:
Some people are born to blame everyone else for their great grandparents' mistakes. They always think they are wiser than others in all scheme of things. Open your eyes and heart to see the reality of life dot com.

"There is no doubt at all that there is a strand in contemporary Igbo behaviour that can offend; by its noisy exhibitionism and disregard for humility and quietness" -Chinua Achebe

and is that a crime ?

South/South, South East and South West are just one of the many instruments the North uses to keep the South divided