|By Adejumo Adekunle-
…Ibibio, Obolo communities trade words over land, identity claims
…Lawmakers promise to reflect public inputs in Constitution review
Clashes erupted in Calabar, Cross River State, on Friday as groups from Akwa Ibom State locked horns over the controversial demand for the creation of Obolo State during the South-South Centre B Zonal Public Hearing on the amendment of the 1999 Constitution.
Pro-Obolo and anti-Obolo factions arrived in large numbers at the venue, engaging in shouting matches and jostling for space to display banners and posters that conveyed their contrasting demands to the lawmakers and dignitaries present.
Banners opposing the creation of Obolo State read: “We Say No to Obolo State on Ibibio Ancestral Land,” and “Don’t Create Obolo State.” In response, supporters of the proposed state carried posters with messages like: “Please Create Obolo State,” and “We’re Marginalized. We Own Oil Wells But No Development.”
The pro-Obolo campaigners called for the carving out of eight local government areas—including the five that make up Oro Nation in Akwa Ibom: Oron, Okobo, Uruefong Oruko, Mbo, and Udung Uko, alongside Ibeno, Eastern Obolo, and Andoni in Rivers State—to form the proposed state. They alleged decades of “mindless marginalization” by the dominant Ibibio ethnic group and demanded autonomy for improved development and recognition.
President General of the Oro-Obolo Peoples’ Union, Engr. Ngerebara Sampson Adumu, urged the National Assembly to consider their case. He said Obolo State, with a population exceeding 1.3 million and vast oil reserves, had both the human and economic capacity to thrive.
“The claims of Ekid-Ibibio ownership over Obolo, particularly Ibeno lands, are unfounded in law and history,” Adumu stated. “We are not settlers. We have lived along the Atlantic coast for centuries with a unique culture shaped by our maritime heritage and early European trade relations.”
But anti-Obolo campaigners, mostly from the Ibibio community, challenged the claims. Chief Umoh Ime, one of their leaders, insisted the Obolo people were originally fishermen from Rivers State who were only settled on Ibibio lands through ancestral benevolence.
“They cannot claim lands that don’t belong to them. We shall never cede any part of our land for a state to be created inside our state,” he warned.
Reacting to the heated exchanges, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Constitution Review, Mr. Kingsley Chinda, emphasized the importance of public engagement in the constitutional reform process.
Chinda, who is also the Minority Leader of the House, said the zonal hearings were designed to give Nigerians the opportunity to shape a Constitution that truly reflects their identity and aspirations.
“We are speaking directly with the people who elected us so they can own this Constitution,” he explained. “In this zone, we’ve heard from Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River states. Their inputs will be taken back to the National Assembly for consideration.”
He added that any amendments endorsed by the National Assembly would be forwarded to the State Houses of Assembly for further legislative action.
The session saw participation from multiple groups across the South-South. In addition to the Obolo campaign, delegations from Rivers State also demanded the creation of Bori and Atlantic City States. Another movement from Cross River State renewed the call for the creation of Ogoja State.
As lawmakers prepare to synthesize these submissions, the growing intensity of statehood demands underscores the deep-seated ethnic, territorial, and developmental tensions that continue to shape Nigeria’s constitutional future.
