A one-day South-East stakeholders meeting, held in Enugu, has approved the creation of ‘Anioma’ state from parts of the South-South and South East geopolitical zones, saying that it would not only add to the current population of the South East region but increase its land mass.

The conference, organised by the Igbo Youths Forum on the way forward for Ndigbo, with the theme, ‘Creation of New State in South East’, which was attended by the chairmen and secretaries of state and local council chapters of the forum in the five South East states, stated that ‘Anioma’ state would also foster unity and development of the South East region.

The National President, Association of South-East Past Presidents-General (ASEPP), Omife I. Omife, in a lead speech, went memory lane on how the South East had been marginalised for several years by being the only geo-political zone with five states, while all other zones have six and above. He noted that the ongoing deliberation about state creation is an opportunity for Igbo to do their political home work well to determine the best approach to the issue.

Omife told the gathering that given the political circumstances in the country, the best option for the Igbo is to rally other Igbo in their demand for ‘Anioma’ state, which, according to him, began more than half a century ago. (The Guardian)