A Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, has faulted the agitation for the creation of additional states in the South-East, insisting it would not solve the problem of the region.
Rather than create more states, Agbakoba, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, said the National Assembly should amend the constitution or put together a completely new one that would return Nigeria to regional governments.
The lawyer expressed the view in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the House of Representatives recently passed for second reading a bill seeking the creation of Etiti State out of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states from the South-East geopolitical zone.
The bill was jointly sponsored by Godwin Ogah, Miriam Onuoha, Kama Nkemkama, Princess Nnabuife and Anayo Onwuegbu.
However, speaking with NAN on Sunday, Agbakoba said though an average person from the South-East would support an additional state in the region, anyone who could see the big picture could tell that the creation of additional states would not guarantee development.
He said, “This agitation will arise because it is on the basis of the number of states that federal allocation flows.
“So the fact that the South-East has five states means to them that they are losing revenue and that is a one point of view and also an emotional point of their agitation.
“However, a pragmatic developmental point of view, which I go for, is that even if you create a sixth state in the South-East to give them a sense of belonging, will this new state in addition to the 36 states take us towards the path of development?
“Will it reverse the hunger, insecurity, poverty and unemployment in the land? Absolutely not.
“We need to move away from state creation to a regional system of government.”
