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Brothers Heritage

August 5th, 2010 admin No comments

Brothers Heritage

Anioma: Re-discovering our Cultural Heritage and Knowing Who We are

As a free born indigene my concern has often centered on how the good image of Anioma can be projected to the world well beyond the confines of Delta state and indeed Nigeria. My headache persists as a result of the continued relegation of Anioma to the background by other ethnicities both within and outside the Delta state for this reason; the Anioma people must begin by asking themselves where the people belong.

The revival of the cultural heritage as well as historical relevance of Anioma should be the duty of everyone. This must begin with whole lot of traditional rulers from this region and include every indigene. Already we know that anioma is blessed with abundant natural and human resources which is a necessity in achieving this.

We must renew our faith in Anioma. Organisation for the Advancement of Anioma Culture (OFAAC) has set the ball rolling which is very fortunate. I pour encomiums on this Organisation for this initiative but it must not end here as we must find a way of extending it to the very political aspect, this will see to the development of the region. However, one must not fail to congratulate OFAAC publishers of “Anioma Essence”

With Asaba as the political capital of Delta state, Anioma people must not be complacent. A lot more needs to be done. Our Urhobo, Ijaw and Itsekiri brothers have continued to express discontent over Asaba as the capital of the state. An Urhobo indigene once labeled Asaba as “a dowry paid by Ibrahim Babangida to his Anioma In-Laws. A call was therefore made by a group of people to Anioma indigenes to reconsider the relocation of the capital to one “true Niger-Delta state” outside the Anioma confines.

In another related development, when the issue of creation of additional one state for the South-East came up as agreed at the failed constitutional conference, a committee headed by Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu was set up. This committee rather than consider the most viable and oldest Anioma state in agitation declared that the creation of this state would mean an additional state for the South-south. Instead the committee began to recommend mushroom states such as Urashi State, Orlu State etc. Does this not amount to a betrayal from our sisterly Igbo states?

It is still fresh in my memory the reaction of Joe Achuzie who threatened that Anioma might pull out of Ohaneze if the South-East favour the creation of any state other than Anioma state. Do the Igbo see us as Igbo? If we have no place amongst the Igbo then the Igbo people have not only denied us but have betrayed us. We must therefore re-discover and go back to our root. This is the solution.

About the Author

Emeka Esogbue hails from Ibusa, Delta State, Nigeria. He is is a Historian and International Relations Analyst with lots of tremendous published and unpublished.