…Warns Against Re-Mapping of Akwa Ibom
By Daniel Abia
As discussions intensify at the public hearings for the review of the 1999 Constitution, the Obolo State Creation Movement has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to consider the creation of Obolo State, citing the region’s difficult terrain and developmental challenges as strong justification.
Speaking in an interview with Vanguard on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, the President General of the Oro-Obolo People’s Union, Dr. Sampson Ngerebara, described the request as one of the most genuine demands for state creation in Nigeria. He noted that communities in Eastern Obolo — which span parts of Rivers State and five local government areas in the Oron region of Akwa Ibom — have remained underdeveloped due to their coastal and hard-to-access terrain.
“State creation remains the fastest route to meaningful development in areas like ours,” Ngerebara said. “Our coastal terrain makes it difficult for infrastructure and social services to reach us. A new state would help address these gaps.”
He expressed concern over what he described as attempts by certain interests to alter the historical map of Akwa Ibom State, and called for caution to ensure the Oro-Obolo people are not excluded from ongoing constitutional processes. He referenced the original boundary map reportedly lodged with the office of the Attorney General as the legitimate guide for such discussions.
Dr. Ngerebara lamented that communities along the Eastern Obolo coastline face perennial flooding, coastal erosion, and ocean encroachment — issues that have caused serious damage to lives and property over the years.
On the viability of Obolo State, he noted that Andoni LGA in Rivers State contributes significantly to the state’s oil revenues, while the combined landmass of Eastern Obolo and Oron spans about 10,000 square kilometers. According to him, the proposed state has an estimated population of 1.5 million people and possesses both human and natural resources needed for self-sufficiency.
He also decried the long-standing political marginalization of the Oron people. “No Oron indigene has ever been elected as governor of Akwa Ibom since its creation, despite the wealth generated from our land,” he said.
Dr. Ngerebara concluded with a passionate appeal to President Tinubu:
“Mr. President has spoken about creating more states to bring governance closer to the people. We trust in his leadership and believe he will give genuine requests like ours the attention they deserve.”
He emphasized that the Obolo people — spread across Andoni in Rivers and multiple LGAs in Akwa Ibom — share a common ancestry, and meet all constitutional requirements for statehood.
The post ‘Only Obolo State can bring development to our coastal communities’ appeared first on Vanguard News.
