The Senator representing Enugu North Senatorial district, Sen Chuka Utazi has said that if the watchword in the selection of who becomes the governor of Enugu State in 2023 is equity and fairness, Nsukka geo-political zone should be supported to continue to hold the office of Governor for another eight years.
The issue of the Zone where the next governor of Enugu State should come from has been a contentious one in the build up to the 2023 elections with some people suggesting that since the three Senatorial zones have tasted the Governorship position it should now be thrown open.
Sen. Utazi in a statement made available to newsmen over the weekend, said the Nsukka zone has been marginalized in Enugu State not only in the distribution of infrastructure, but also in political positions.
He said the old Anambra State from which Enugu State was carved out had five zones delineated according to their population and considerations of constituency delineation.
“The five zones were Onitsha, Awka, Nsukka, Enugu and Abakaliki. This was the constituency configuration upon which the general elections of 1979 and 1983 were conducted. In 1991, Anambra State was splintered in a military-government state creation exercise, whereby Onitsha and Awka Zones became the new Anambra State and Nsukka, Enugu and Abakaliki Zones became the new Enugu State.”
He said In 1996, in yet another sleight of the military hand in state creation, Abakaliki Zone of Enugu State was carved out to fuse with Afikpo Zone of Abia State to become Ebonyi State. “This left, in Enugu State, Nsukka and Enugu Zones. It is to be noted that Nsukka Zone in this configuration, had about 53% of the population and over 60% of the land mass.
“The 1999 Constitution made provisions for three Senatorial Districts for each State to create a semblance of equality of States. The gerrymandering manifested as these Districts were being delineated. Enugu Zone, with less population, was split into two Senatorial Districts of Enugu West and Enugu East.
“To give flesh to the chicanery, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area, of Nsukka Zone, of Nsukka cultural pedigree, was excised and put into Enugu East Senatorial Zone, on the pretext that Isi-Uzo had Nkanu roots. Against all grain of political constituency delineation exercises where population was the critical consideration, number of Local Governments was used in the conspiracy against Nsukka.”
He said, “Until Nwodo became Governor in 1990, no Nsukka person had been Governor. Chief Jim Nwobodo had been in the old Anambra State. So had the highly revered Chief C. C. Onoh. Both were from Enugu Zone.
“With the return of democracy in 1999, Dr. Chimaroke Nnamani (1999-2007) and the gentlemanly Mr. Sullivan Chime (2007-2015), both from Enugu Zone did an unbroken 16 years at the helm of affairs as Governors of Enugu State. Indeed, during the tenure of my good brother and boss, Mr. Chime, the Deputy Governors were all from the same Enugu Zone, which as we have seen above, had been broken into two senatorial districts.”
The senator said after Enugu Zone did 16 years of Dr. Nnamani and Mr. Chime from 1999-2015, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi who started in 2015, from Nsukka Zone will complete eight years as Governor in 2023.
In his words, “Truth be told, Nsukka zone is shortchanged in the geo-political dynamics of Enugu State. It has also been marginalized. Very few infrastructures have been built there. The few that were sited there were taken away to Enugu Zone.
“A campus of Enugu State University of Science and Technology, in compliance with the original intendment of a multi-Campus structure of the University at design, that was sited in Adada – Nkpologu, in Uzo-Uwani Local Government was forcefully yanked away and relocated to Agbani, in Nkanu West of Enugu Zone.
“Apart from the University of Nigeria Nsukka, which Zik mercifully sited in Nsukka, no other federal presence of note is in Nsukka. And even at that, all the prime faculties and Departments of the University, Medicine, Medical Lab, Law, Business, Accounting, Estate Management, Architecture are all in Enugu. Nsukka does not have a single tertiary hospital to receive referrals from primary and secondary health facilities, resulting in avoidable deaths witnessed as the patient is being transported to Enugu. Although UNN is in Nsukka, but the University Teaching Hospital is in Ituku Ozara, in Nkanu, in Enugu Zone. Psychiatric Hospital, Orthopeadic Hospital, Dental School are all in Enugu Zone. For how long would our brothers refuse to empathize with us? It is undeniable that developmental activities of government in Enug State is lopsided against Nsukka.”
He further stated that it is this feeling of marginalization that is driving the clamour for Adada State. “We ask our compatriots from Enugu Zone to look critically at the issues of geo-political balancing in Enugu State and see whether Nsukka zone is not being cheated, and therefore a bold affirmative action be taken to redress the imbalance, not only in infrastructure and development, but also in spread of political positions.
“The powerful may glow in its power, but the oppressed will keep record of the wrongs done him. The victor may exult in his fame, but the victim will count the points of oppression. You cannot beat a child, and ask her not to cry.
“Nsukka zone demands that everything considered, that the Zone be supported to produce the flagbearers of all political parties of consequence in the race to the Governorship of Enugu State in 2023. We ask this in the spirit of brotherhood. It is the right thing to do. We ask for 16 for 16. It is fair. It is equality. It is equity.”
