Kalu Calls For Creation Of Two More States In The South

"Top News In Nigeria" As cries of marginalisation continue to resound in Southeast states, former Abia state governor, Orji Uzor Kalu, on Sunday, urged President Goodluck Jonathan to ensure the creation of two more states in the South to balance the Nigerian equation. He said this would ensure equity and fairness for all Nigerians and put an end to the crisis of marginalization that has bedeviling the country for a long time. ”We are talking of equity. With the present 36 states structure, the North enjoys 19, while the South has 17.To strike a balance, two states should emerge from the South to give Nigeria 38 states, and also achieve a 19\19 balance.” He also called on the President to send an executive bill to the Senate to correct the anomaly, saying it is a very important step towards sustaining the unity of the country. ”We may not have to go through all the long haul of constitutional grammar. This is a national emergency. The Southeast must get another state, and one from the South-South, possibly Anioma, from the Old Mid-west ”At amalgamation in 1914, Nigeria was made up of North and South. The Richards Constitution of 1946 divided us into three regions, one in the North, two down South. This went on to Independence in 1960.By 1963, when the First Republic came, The Midwest region was created  to make it three in the South, one in the North. General Yakubu Gowon quickly balanced it when he came up with 12 states in 1967.Six up, six down. No victor, no vanquished,” Kalu Said.