By SUNDAY BASSEY

As the countdown to the 2023 general election begins, the Oron National Forum (ONAF) in Akwa Ibom, says the governorship slot should be zoned to the area for equity, justice and fair play.

Addressing a news conference on Friday in Oron, near Uyo, the National President of ONAF, Mr Ante Ante, said that the people of Oron had been short-changed since the return of popular democracy in the country.

Ante, who addressed reporters in conjunction with the Oron Women Action Group and Oro Youth Movement, stressed that equity, justice and fairness must be followed for enduring peace to be achieved in Akwa Ibom.

“We hereby reiterate in unequivocal terms, the long demand of Oron people to be given the opportunity to serve the state as governor because no son or daughter from our area has held the position since the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987.”

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the news conference was part of events to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the unveiling of the emancipation blueprint of the Oron ethnic nationality, popularly known as “Oro Bill of Rights.”

Ante told political leaders in Akwa Ibom to convene a public discourse urgently, to discuss crucial issues that were central to peaceful co-existence in the state.

“We strongly call on all Akwa Ibomites and well-meaning people in this country to give their patriotic support and sincere commitment to this just agitation and demand of Oron people to govern Akwa Ibom in 2023.”

Ante noted that the state was “founded on the basis of an ethnic tripod of Ibibio, Annang and Oro, hence governorship of the state must rotate on the principle of the tripod’’.

He said that while the Ibibio and Annang had taken their turns in producing governors, the Oros had been denied an opportunity to rule the state.

“It is disheartening to note that Oron which accounts for over 80 per cent of crude oil produced in Akwa Ibom State have been wantonly neglected and excluded in the democratic governance of the state,” he said.

The ONAF president alleged that Oro people had been marginalised in terms of infrastructural development and siting of key economic institutions in the state.

He said that the recent relocation of the Ibaka Deep Seaport from Oro land to another part of the state was a clear indication that the Oros were being neglected and abandoned.

“The project was conceived 21 years ago by Gov. Victor Attah as part of the industrialisation plans of the state. It was designed to be sited at Ibaka in Mbo Local Government Area with the deepest nautical depth east of the Niger.

“Many years after conception and contrary to the expectations of Oro people in particular, and Akwa Ibom in general, the state government has surreptitiously changed the entire concept of the project to short-change Oron people,” said Ante.

Also speaking, the President of the Oro Youth Movement, Mr Edet Eyo, stated that if the demands of the group were not met, the 2023 elections would not hold in Oron, noting that they had prepared to take their destiny in their hands.

He alleged that Oro had been subjected to all forms of marginalisation and injustice by the Ibibio and Annang ethnic groups, including preventing them from occupying the office of governor since the creation of the state.

Eyo said that Oro people would no longer be taken for granted in the governance of Akwa Ibom.

NAN reports that the Oros are made up of five local government areas of Oron, Mbo, Urueoffong Oruko, Okobo and Udung Uko.

The area is situated in the Eket Senatorial District of the state. (NAN)

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