By Chidi Chukwutem
There comes a moment in public life when resistance ceases to be strategic and instead inflicts harm, harm to justice, to public trust, and to the credibility of leadership itself. The question of Anioma State creation has reached such a moment.
What the times demand is not renewed contestation or subtle obstruction, but restraint, cooperation, and wisdom. It is time for political actors to sheath their swords and allow a lawful, constitutional process to take its natural course. Let Anioma State creation be.
The aspiration for Anioma State is neither confrontational nor subversive. It is not directed against any people or institutions, nor is it an attempt to undermine the authority of existing leadership in Delta State.
Rather, it is a peaceful, historically grounded, and constitutionally legitimate quest by a culturally coherent people who have consistently chosen dialogue over disruption and process over provocation.
For decades, Anioma communities have pursued this objective through memoranda, consultations, legislative engagement, and alliance-building within Nigeria’s democratic framework.
They have neither threatened violence nor weakened institutions, nor sought shortcuts. Such political maturity is not a threat to anyone’s influence or legacy; indeed, it is one of democracy’s greatest strengths.
Those who continue, openly or discreetly, to oppose the creation of Anioma State must now confront a more profound question of statesmanship: what concrete injustice is being prevented by denying a people their own state after years of lawful and sustained advocacy? Political convenience is not a moral argument.
Administrative familiarity is not a principle of justice. Long-standing historical arrangements, however enduring, are not immutable when they no longer advance equity or efficiency.
Nigeria’s own constitutional evolution offers clear guidance. The federation has expanded and adjusted repeatedly, not to weaken national unity, but to strengthen it.
State creation has served as a tool for reducing friction, improving representation, bringing governance closer to the people, and broadening political participation. Anioma State would simply extend this established logic.
It would erase no identity, threaten no culture, and diminish no existing state. Instead, it would correct a long-recognised imbalance.
Beyond the imperatives of justice, the benefits are tangible for all stakeholders.
First, the creation of Anioma State would ease administrative and political pressures within Delta State, enabling more focused governance, clearer development priorities, and reduced intra-state competition for resources and representation.
Second, it would unlock new political and economic opportunities, new institutions, expanded leadership spaces, increased federal presence, infrastructure growth, and employment.
These dividends would extend beyond Anioma to neighbouring regions and the national economy.
Third, it would strengthen national cohesion by affirming that Nigeria remains responsive to peaceful, constitutional demands. At a time when the federation faces deep tests of trust, granting a legitimate request pursued responsibly would send a powerful message: that moderation and patience are rewarded, not ignored.
Fourth, for political leaders, supporting Anioma State creation is an investment in legacy. History distinguishes between those who obstruct change to preserve comfort and those who guide it to preserve stability. The latter are remembered as nation-builders.
Opposition, whatever its label, must be examined honestly. Stability is not sustained by unwarranted resistance; it is sustained by fairness and justice.
The greater risk to cohesion lies not in permitting Anioma State creation, but in continued resistance to a widely supported aspiration pursued through lawful means.
This appeal is therefore directed to political leaders, influential elites, traditional authorities, and institutional gatekeepers.
If constitutional steps are followed, if a referendum reflects the will of the people, and if the National Assembly grants approval, then continued opposition ceases to be principled and becomes indefensible.
The Anioma people ask only that the process be allowed to conclude without bad-faith interference.
This is the time to sheath your swords, not in surrender, but in wisdom. Let Anioma State creation be: for peace, for development, for inclusion, and for the credibility of Nigeria’s democratic promise. Let it be so that governance comes closer to the people.
Let it be so that patience, responsibility, and faith in the system are vindicated. Let it be so that Anioma, having waited long and acted well, may finally take its rightful place within the federation on equal footing.
Let Anioma State creation be.
