By Prof. Oguejiofo T. Ujam

 

The 1991 state creation effort by the General Ibrahim Babangida military administration favoured old Anambra State in so many ways. But, while the state creation prepared Anambra State to have equal number of local government areas across the three senatorial zones, in Enugu, some patchwork was done to achieve a semblance of balanced senatorial districts.  

Of the 17 councils that make up today’s Enugu State, at the creation of the state, Enugu North Senatorial zone would have ended up with seven councils to host the highest number of Local Government Areas in the new state.

But, in order to avoid such lopsidedness, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area was moved into Enugu East Senatorial zone to ensure that both Enugu North and Enugu East ended up with six local government areas apiece. In the process, Enugu West was left with less number of Local Government Areas, two of which –Udi and Ezeagu-cover a large landmass.

Apart from Udi and Ezeagu, Awgu, Oji River and Aninri are the other local government areas that make up Enugu West Senatorial Zone. Within Enugu West Senatorial Zone, both Udi and Ezeagu used to belong to the old Udi Division, while Oji River and Awgu/Aninri constituted the old Oji River. The two blocs share their Senatorial seats interchangeably until Senator Ike Ekweremadu used impunity and garrison-style politics to disorganize the arrangement.

In Enugu North Senatorial Zone, before the excision of Isi-Uzo from Udenu Local Government Area, they were all under the Nsukka Division. The subdivision of Igbo-Eze North and Igbo-Eze South was done for administrative purposes. It was also argued that in the effort to make the new state achieve modest equilibrium, Igbo-Etiti was severed from Udi, just like Uzo-Uwani.

From 1991 to date, Igbo-Etiti, where the Nwodos hail from has continued to enjoy visible prominence as subsets of Enugu North Senatorial Zone. But, in the case of Isi-Uzo, through no fault of theirs, political exigencies continue to latch them towards their Nsukka historical background.

There was no other time when the socio-political situation of Isi-Uzo Local Government Area was a subject of intense debate than the current democratic dispensation, especially from 2015 to date. To a great extent, what helped to play up the tricky position of Isi-Uzo in Enugu State politics was the governorship aspiration of Senator Ike Ekweremadu.

Last week, the former Deputy Senate President, Ekweremadu, finally declared his interest to contest the 2023 governorship of Enugu State. Before that formal declaration, Ekweremadu had cleverly whipped up anti-zoning sentiments in the state by propping up the people of Isi-Uzo to start agitating to produce the next governor.

So, without knowing the hidden trap, some stakeholders from Isi-Uzo who forgot that they no longer belonged to Enugu North Senatorial Zone started attending political meetings with Nsukka people. By attending such meetings, especially that of Odimma Nsukka, Isi-Uzo leaders unwittingly played into the hands of the former Deputy Senate President, whose governorship ambition did not reckon with the zoning arrangement in Enugu State. 

As some of the misguided political leaders from Isi-Uzo continued to clamour that it was their turn to produce the next Enugu State governor, Ekweremadu and his supporters were emboldened in their campaign that zoning should be according to cultural zones instead of based on Senatorial zones.

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Isi-Uzo people will not claim ignorance of the fact that the narrow sentiments of kinship in the consideration of where the next Enugu State governor will come from after Governor Ugwuanyi, was an attempt to dress the governor in the ugly robes of a nepotistic leader.

However, what was lost on those Isi-Uzo leaders from the cacophony of voices over zoning was the fact that the ensuing confusion was targeted at Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, because it did not take long before the architects of the anti-zoning arguments started tracing Ugwuanyi’s maternal roots to Isi-Uzo. 

Now that Senator Ekweremadu has declared for Enugu governorship, it is left to be seen how far a divided Nsukka bloc would help him garner relevance in the forthcoming polls. The question which those overzealous politicians from Isi-Uzo would answer is whether they are for or against Governor Ugwuanyi as he rounds off his administration with a peaceful handover.

I do not know to what level Isi-Uzo has succeeded in alienating itself from Enugu East Senatorial Zone to which it rightly belongs. Equally of note is the attempts by some stakeholders from Enugu East who started agitating for the micro-zoning of the governorship to Nkanu East. Like the Isi-Uzo campaigners, the agitators for micro-zoning also contributed to the confusion in which Ekweremadu is basking.

But, one thing is clear, whether Isi-Uzo or Nkanu East gets the governorship ticket of any of the two major political parties, they must have to fall back on the bloc votes of Enugu East to ensure that the meddlesome interlopers against zoning do not have their way at the expense of Enugu East Senatorial Zone’s united quest for the governorship seat.

No matter how anybody views it unless Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi hands over to a governor that would sustain the climate of peace, unity, and progress in the state, his eight years in office would have been to no effect.

The beauty of zoning, which Enugu State has remained the chief apostle is that it eliminates the bitter acrimony, inter-communal hate, and litigations that trail governorship polls in the state.

In a question of weeks, it would be seen by all and sundry in Enugu State from which part or community, Senator Ekweremadu plans to get his running mate. If eventually, the prospective running mate to Ekweremadu hails from outside Isi-Uzo it would be clear that those who said it was the turn of the area to produce governor were only playing the devil advocate to Governor Ugwuanyi’s insistence on zoning.

On the other hand, if Ekweremadu chooses his running mate from any of the six Local Government Areas of Enugu North Senatorial Zone that would not only demonstrate his belief in zoning but also serve as evidence of his mischievous intentions and desperation for power.

There is no gainsaying the fact that Senator Ekweremadu has embarked on a lonely road to political infamy, but how far his ambition would unite or divide Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would show where Enugu people stand on the issue of zoning.

 

• Prof Ujam writes from Department of Pure and Industrial Chemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka