he Nigerian government under the leadership of Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’Adua through the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate, recently set up a Constitutional Review Committee (CRC). It is widely anticipated that the core of the committee’s duties would be the creation of additional States as administrative units of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. If this happens, it would be the first time in the history of the country for a civilian administration to have successfully created any State and local government councils as the second and third tiers of government in Nigeria. But even a casual appraisal of the history of – and the constitutional requirements for – the creation of States in Nigeria, presents insurmountable legal and political hurdles. This is besides the usual complicated geo-ethnic and selfish political interests that underpins the demand for more States by different groups.     

 The government of Yar’Adua may either have set for itself a highly impossible task, or it has deliberately created a political smokescreen to divert attention away from the colossal failure of the administration – once again – with regards service delivery. As a political gambit, Yar’Adua and his cohorts may be using it as a means to commandeer loyalty and support to win a second tenure for him in 2011, as the president continues to struggle for acceptance by the Nigerian populace. The establishment of the CRC has already elicited a great degree of controversy by the various political interest groups across Nigeria. This strongly accentuates the hypothesis of an orchestrated political strategy by the Yar’Adua led government. Even the Ogoni ethnic group – which is largely seen as the symbol of true revolution within Nigeria – has been caught in this atmosphere of anxiety for their own State within the Federal Republic. Our monitoring of the situation in Ogoniland confirms that farmers, fishermen, women, traders and transporters within the territory have been living each day in the expectation of the formation of an Ogoni State. This expectation was further fueled by rumors that the 2008 Independence Day speech by the president was going to include an announcement about the establishment of an Ogoni State, with the State Capital at Bori. The pervading atmosphere in Ogoniland is thus one of overwhelming expectation which is exacerbated by the on-going agitation for a State for this minority group, against the fact that their lot within Nigeria has been a sustained act of subjugation and oppression in spite of the wealth of crude oil that lies beneath their soil in the region.  The latest political move is spearheaded by the Ogoni State Movement (OSM), under the presidency of Gbene Cyrus Nunieh – the first Ogoni lawyer, Mrs. Janet N. K. Osaro Edee (Vice President; John Larwisa a Secretary-General and Barisuatam Deeyeh as the International PRO, Barr. Ezekiel Nkpornwi (P.R.O. II), others are Barr. Emmanuel L. Ebeh (Legal Adviser) Dr. Emma M. Gbenenye (Treasurer), DR. Nimbari B. Anokari (Publicity Secretary), but he passed away in the December 2008, and we do not have any information if he has been replaced. Following an internet debate amongst Ogonis living or studying abroad as well as those at home, the OSM is collaborating with both the USA branch of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), and the international wing of the National Union of Ogoni Students (NUOS), which is based in Chicago, USA. If the statue and influence of the individuals and groups supporting this agitation is used as a yardstick, it appears that the current demand for an Ogoni State is a reflection of a possible political eclipse by some mainstream politicians and an equally powerful section of Ogoni activists.  The push for a State for the Ogoni people is projected as one of the boldest political steps that the Ogonis have initiated since the hanging of the Ogoni 9. “I am very happy that every Ogoni man under the sun has come on board and united for this cause”, says Barisuatam Deeyeh – a frontline member of the OSM, as well as a MOSOP leader in Nigeria and an associate of the late Ken Saro-Wiwa. His excitement either implies that the demand for a State is concomitant to the same cause that Saro-Wiwa and others died for, or it should be seen as the beginning of another interesting chapter in the Ogoni struggle. It is thus of utmost importance that the OSM and its followers clarify this sensitive trajectory to the ordinary people in Ogoniland, so that the masses can be clear about the connection between the State and the struggle that brought them into world focus.  As fraught as the move for an Ogoni State may seem, the expectations keep mounting that the creation of the State would serve as a panacea to the plight of the Ogoni people and the mounting anticipation is already brewing conflict amongst the rank and file of the Ogonis – so much so that people who hid together in the bushes from the fierce and marauding troops of General Sani Abacha, are on the verge of parting ways politically. This ideological contention keeps increasing as Ogoni activists and intellectuals put their pens to paper to tout polemics and theories on the merits (by far the majority) and demerits of an Ogoni State. Ogonis at home and those in the Ogoni Diaspora have all come on board to create an overwhelming discourse around the creation of an Ogoni State. The debate, in some cases has degenerated into the flexing of political muscle, with the odds highly stacked against those who reason that the planned Ogoni State within Nigeria may not necessarily address the structural and inherent imbalances in the nightmarish Nigerian Federation. As we re-open and re-assess this debate, let us consider some pertinent questions that have been asked elsewhere and whose recurrence cannot be overemphasized. A host of questions arise that need to be answered. What kind of State are the OSM and their associates soliciting from the Nigerian government? Whether it is at all possible for the group to have a State exclusively for the Ogoni ethnic nationality within Nigeria? To what extent will the Nigerian type of States (36 geo-administrative divisions) address the demands of the Ogoni people? What would happen to the demands stipulated in the Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) if an Ogoni State is – or is not – created? Who are the political leaders who would administer the affairs of the proposed or anticipated Ogoni State, and would they be any different from the average Nigerian politician? Is this the first time that any group would be asking for a State within the Nigerian federation: if yes, why had no group agitated for a State in the past and if no, why was it not created then? Did Ken Saro-Wiwa hide the demand for an Ogoni State within the Nigerian federation under his widely reported and well articulated international and local campaign? What did Saro-Wiwa say about the prospect of the Ogoni State or what kind of State did Saro-Wiwa propound as the solution to the Nigerian quasi-federal system? Accurate and forthright responses to these questions would also assist us to assess the real intentions of the agitators for a State, some of whom have even gone as far as arguing that an Ogoni State is the prerequisite for the continuation of oil exploration in Ogoniland by any company. Until these questions are answered we cannot determine if the move is actually part of a broad solution that would address the perennial suffering of the Ogoni ethnic nationality within Nigeria, or another strategic political adventure by those hoping to become relevant and eventually office bearers in the proposed State.