-News and Interview
Chief Adviser to the governor of Delta State, Senator Ighoyota Amori has opened up on the agitation for the creation of Ethiope State from Delta , noting that, the people of Delta Central will benefit a lot. The Senator who also spoke on the developmental strides of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, advised those seeking to unseat the governor come 2027 to burry their ambition, that the governor will just walk into the government house because there is no vacancy until 2031.
Amori, in an exclusive interview with our Editor-In-Chief, Mark Orgu, in Asaba during the week, assures the people of the state of meaningful development.
Excerpts
Speak to us on the creation of new states and the proposed Ethiope State
Agitation for the creation of new states is something we inherited from our past leaders and it won’t stop because almost every region wants creation of new state. But, the truth is that, there are benefits attached to a new state. Take for example, when we were in the Western region; there were three regions in Nigeria then, Northern region, Western region and Eastern region. And There was an agitation for the creation of mid-west region out of the western region. So, in 1963, there was a plebiscite and mid-west region was created formally.
That was the real state that was created constitutionally since the existence of Nigeria. All other states have been military fiats. But when you look at it very well, Midwest region brought development closer to the people. Recall that before the creation of Midwest region, the three universities were in the western region, precisely, Yoruba land : University of Lagos, University of Ibadan, and the University of Ife. There was none in the mid-west. Some of us probably wouldn’t have attended university or went to university because of distance.
But, in 1973, I wrote application to enter the university of Ife, and Ahmadu Bello university. The result or , the reply to my application came after admission has closed, it was by post office. so by 1974, I applied to the university of Benin where I was given admission because I went there straight. I just went straight and submitted my application and I was admitted-that was possible because of the creation of Midwest state. That was the tendency of having a state in the mid-west. Behold, we have our own university , we have our own television, we have our own newspaper, we have good roads, we have our own capital and others. These were benefits not gotten when we were in the western region but we got it in the Midwest region comprising Edo and Delta province ,which was later known as Bendel State, but in 1991, Delta state was created and Asaba made the capital .
Let it be said that, it was majorly the Urhobos who agitated for the creation of Delta State out of Bendel. They were the promoters, and were highly involved in the process. Delta is comprising majorly, the Urhobos, Isokos, Ijaws, Itsekiris and Ndokwas. That is why you see the symbol of delta to be five fingers. The reason for the Urhobos championing the creation of Delta state then was that, the capital will be in Warri but the military again moved it to Asaba against the wishes of the Urhobo people. Unfortunately, Anioma people wanted a state for themselves, and were not interested in joining the new Delta, in fact, they felt entitled to their own state, but what the military did was to bring everybody together and pushed the capital to Anioma, which, today, is still an issue of concern.
Do you support Anioma to secede from Delta State
They too wants Anioma State
As an Urhobo man, do you really want Anioma state to be, don’t you think there is strength in diversity ?
They want their own state, likewise the Urhobos. Let me tell you, Is not today, not even me, it started long ago before the creation of Delta state, when they started agitating for the creation of Anioma state, and that has not changed till date.
So, are you saying, it’s overdue,
Yes,both Anioma and Urhobo people want their own state, and nobody is opposed to each other. Anioma can have their own state in peace, and it has never been an issue between the duo.
Sen. Ede Dafinone is agitating for Ethiope State creation rather than what other people are saying, Urhobo state, what is the complicity here.
It’s not very correct to say that the distinguished Senator representing Delta Central is proposing the creation of Ethiope State, he is not the promoter of the idea. Him, being the highest legislator from Delta central have to support the agitation emanating from the peoplebut he is not the author of the name, Ethiope State. It is a collective idea of the people, supported by the legislators from both Delta central in the state and federal.
Now, the argument for the proposed name of state creation has happened to us before where we argued so much about the capital too; oh, the Urhobo state, some believed, why the Urhobo state, why not give it Anioma. In most cases, states were or are not created and named after tribes , it should be named after a region. For example, the Edo state today is not a Benin state, Edo is a geographical expression, Ogun, Lagos , others, they were not created based on tribe. We still do not have Hausa state or a Yoruba state or Igbo state or Kanuri state ….So, flowing from that argument, the legislators said, let us first put the name forward, when the time comes, we will decide on it whether Ethiope State or not. So, the easiest name to support is Ethiope state.
The reason for the Ethiope is, Ethiope rivers cover most of delta central; Sapele is covered by Ethiope, Ethiope west is covered by ethiope, Ethiope east is covered by ethiope, so, you see rivers ethiope covering the large part of Delta central. Sapele, Uvwie and Okpe are not exempted. There is this flow and there is no argument that the name does not cover the Delta central areas. That was why the legislators arrived at Ethiope State.
For clarity purpose, can we now say the proposed name came from the lawmakers.
Is not even from the lawmakers, it was an agitation proposed by our people and the lawmakers have to put their signatures on it. Senator Dafinone is just anchoring it, because the creation of another state in Delta has been on for a long time before Dafinone became a senator.
So, if the creation of Ethiope State scale through, would the map capture the south
For now, no. Delta south people are also agitating for their own state. You see, there are some people who called it Warri state while other opposed it. They’re saying, you can call it your own state, fine, but don’t include us who are Urhobos.
Will the Isoko people be included in the proposed Ethiope State?
That is for them to answer. The Ijaws are calling for their own state, and most of the Ijaw people want to be in Bayelsa, they don’t want to belong to Delta.
2027 and the solidarity walk for President Tinubu and Omo-Agege
I am not going to speak on other people’s ambition, because it is their rights to contest for any position in an election but in 2027, there is no vacancy in Asaba, also in Aso Rock too. It is already a done deal. Governor Sheriff Oborevwori will just walk back to government house in Asaba. He will be governor till 2031 and after that, any other person can take over.
Speak to us on the infrastructural development of the governor
The governor was elected to serve the people and that is exactly what he is doing. He has turned the entire state into a construction sites. He is a manager of resources and I can tell you that, everyday, the governor is dishing out contracts and focusing more on governance.
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