Following the ongoing Constitutional Amendment review, balkanized communities in four states of Southeast and South-South has teamed up for creation of ENOA State.
ENOA, is an acronym derived from the initial letters of the clans that make up the proposed State, that is, E – Etche; N- Ndoki; O – Omuma/Oyigbo and A – Asa.
On Thursday, 27th May 2021 – the proposed ENOA State was presented live during the South-East Zonal Public Hearing of the Review of the 1999 Constitution held at Protea Hotel, Owerri, Imo State – chaired by Senate Committee.
During the presentation done by the President General of Asa Development Union, ADU, who doubles as the Committee chairman, Dr. Onwubiko N. Dike – he made case for the creation of ENOA State.
According to him, Etche, Omuma/Oyigbo, Ndoki and Asa – are People with same ancestral origin balkanized, into diverse subgroups of the States bounded within their neighbourhoods by draconian governmental policies.
In 1978, Justice Mamman Nasir, National Boundary Commission ceded 17 Asa and Ndoki communities to Rivers State; Ohaobu and Akpala-Ndoki Communities were wrongly delineated and placed under Akwa Ibom State.
Equally, many Asa communities were wrongly delineated and placed in Osisioma, Aba North, Aba South and Ugwunagbo Local Government Areas.
Also, many Ndoki Communities were wrongly placed in Obingwa Local Government Area in Abia State.
Outside from coming together as a block no longer dispersed and without voice, ENOA State, if created will unite the people, who are of one common ancestral and genealogical background.
Speaking further during the presentation, Dr. Dike revealed that the local government councils who make up the proposed state has whatever it takes to become a state. He presented the map of the proposed state which consist of fifteen (15) LGAs.
Dr. Dike revealed that, likewise his presentation, committees in other regions involved in the proposed state has, also, done the presentation in their respective states during the constitutional review.
“On Thursday, we did a presentation of proposed ENOA State and same thing was done in Rivers State,” Dr. Onwubiko said. “Adding that about 50 copies of booklet which documented the proposed ENOA state has been sent to Abuja.”
Why ENOA State?
ENOA State would be of immense benefit for the present generation of aforementioned clans that would make up the proposed state.
As well as posterity, they will no longer be enslaved, swallowed and submerged by the teaming majorities who circumstantially have an overwhelming advantage over the minority communities.
The creation will also adequately address obviously vexatious socio-cultural and political polarization of ENOA people.
With 15 local government areas, the proposed state will address utter and gross marginalization of the people in socio- political positions vis-a-vis socio-political index for aggregate economic development and participation.
While the above points are valid, the creation of the state will also attract development in ENOA areas with her huge potential resources in agriculture, oil and gas and other natural endowments.
It will also alleviate unemployment among the youths of ENOA who can hardly access employment opportunities in the existing structures due to the massive marginalization experienced and to reduce poverty in the area.
And creation of ENOA State will adequately address human resource development particularly youths empowerment.
While the creation of ENOA State is a thing that should be looked into and realized, fact-check by this platform showed that the minorities has been deprived even the basic amenities from their host state government.
Many communities in Asa, Abia State has no motorable roads. The communities are being littered with abandoned projects, erected by the Niger-Delta Development Commission (NDDC) and other abandoned projects by the state government.
Checks by this platform proved most of the abandoned projects if completed will be a plus to the host communities.
Also, in Rivers State, places like Oyigbo and Etche, they hardly experience the presence of the government. In fact, the government only remembers they exist during an election.
Indeed, they are being treated like minorities both in politics and basic amenities which is due to them.
Facts About Proposed ENOA State.
ENOA: The acronym ENOA is derived from the initial letters of the clans that make up the proposed State that is:
- E – Etche
- N- Ndoki
- O – Omuma/Oyigbo
- A – Asa
The People:
Made up of the people of Etche, Ndoki, Omuma/Oyigbo and Asa (ENOA) who have same ancestral origin and speak same language with similar tradition.
Historical and Political Affiliation:
Before Nigeria was split into States, the people of the proposed ENOA State, that is Etche, Ndoki, Omuma, Oyigbo and Asa were under one Customary Court Area at Obehie.
Population, Climate and Location:
The proposed ENOA State has a population of about 6,422,578 people with a land mass of about 6,356.5 square kilometres. The proposed State is located within the forest belt of Nigeria with a temperature that ranges from 20°c to 36°c.
ENOA State would be bounded with Abia State in the North and North East, Imo State in the North West, Rivers State in the South East and South West and Akwa Ibom State in the East.
Economy:
Richly and abundantly endowed with lots of mineral resources such as Oil and Gas, Gold, special sand for making glass wares and huge agricultural resources such as palm produce, timber, oranges, cassava, yam, pineapples, cucumber, etc; has 220 functional oil wells (with millions of standard cubic feet of gas per day), two (2) Accelerated Gas Gathering (AGG) Plants, two (2) manifolds, six (6) flow stations and 90 capped oil wells.
Tourist Attraction:
Potential tourist centres include Azumini Blue River, Obeaku Beach, Asa-Ugbo Bekee Beach, Otamiri Confluence Beach, Obete Beach, etc.
Manpower:
ENOA State is highly endowed with adequate, vibrant and resourceful manpower that will productively, conveniently and effectively pilot the affairs of the proposed State.
