By Uchenna Nnadi
Nigeria currently has 36 states (federating units) that are mostly unwieldy and economically not viable as they depend mostly on borrowing, begging/grants and monthly feeding bottles from the Abuja Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC).
Why would any reasonably intelligent person or group be advocating for an additional state in Nigeria in the above scenario and at this economically critical period? So why should Adada State be urgently created?
Where is this proposed Adada State? It is situated in the current Enugu State within the contiguous space containing the largest seven LGAs in the Southeast, bordering Anambra, Benue, Ebonyi and Kogi states. The seven LGAs are Igbo-Etiti, Igbo-Eze North, Igbo-Eze South, Isi-Uzo, Nsukka, Udenu and Uzo-Uwani. These seven LGAs are also called Nsukka Division, Igbo Nsukka or Nsukka Cultural Zone.
In the zone, Nsukka urban is the 531st (15th in Nigeria) largest built-up urban area in the world in 2023, and 386th (7th in Nigeria) built-up urban area in the world by land area (source: Demographia World Urban Areas, 19th Annual publication: 2023-08). Historically, Adada State creation Bill was first presented in the National Assembly in 1983, and the justification and viability of Adada State have been persuasively presented in different fora at different periods. But for this discourse, we will take different route.
Adada State is part of the 20% that generates the 80% economic well-being that Nigeria requires. It is the potential and actual food security hub of Southern Nigeria. For instance, it is this proposed Adada State that is currently crashing the astronomically high price of tomato. Adada State, if created, will unleash its potential through the proposed University of Agriculture fashioned after the Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture Food and Environment of Hebrew University of Jerusalem together with other institutions and processes with the underlying philosophy of honesty and industriousness.
The university will unleash the blue economy of the premier river port in Southeast at Ogurugu with its Institute of Fishery and Aquatic Studies. The dam to be situated near the Naval Base at Ogurugu will provide power supply and irrigation for a large part of the state and Kogi State.
During the Head of Stateship of General Obasanjo and the Presidency of Alhaji Shagari, Adani Farm Settlement consecutively came first in the National Agricultural Fairs in Kaduna as the best rice producer in Nigeria. Nature and geography conspired to strategically situate Adada State both as the Eastern-Northern Nigeria gateway and sufficient fertile arable land with springs, lakes, swamps, streams and rivers. And like Atlantic and Pacific oceans, the proposed state is the destination of many economic rivers and streams. Its gateway status positions the state as numero uno in distribution supply chain logistics. Peace Mass Transit Group among a few others has been profitably exploiting this. It was this that attracted the proposed Dry Port and Trucks Transit Park at Obollo Afor.
Nature also bestowed clement weather to the proposed state, second only to Jos (Plateau State) in Nigeria. As is its clement weather so is the general attitude of the indigenous people of Nsukka Division: honest, humane and industrious people. These made the place irresistible for Zik of Africa to settle down and anchor the restoration of human dignity by siting both his residence and the University of Nigeria at Nsukka. I take this to be the highest potential of the state, which needs to be properly activated through focused grooming and guidance that has been missing after the Eastern Nigeria Government era. The success of its people as apprentice in Igbo Apprenticeship System across economic centres in Nigeria and beyond attests to this general wholesome attitude of the people.
To optimize its human resources and raise its human development index to number one in Africa, the following institutions would be handy to work it out with other key stakeholders: UNN, Federal College of Education, Ehamufu; Bishop Shanahan School of Nursing and Midwifery, School of Health Technology, Nsukka; National College of Education, Nsukka; Enugu State University of Medical and Applied Sciences, Igbo-Eno; Federal Polytechnic, Ohodo, and the proposed Adada State University of Agriculture, among others.
The gateway status of Nsukka Division has traditionally been exploited to give the Division the highest clusters of aggregation hubs for food and cash crops in Southern Nigeria. The planned modern Exchange Commodity Market will arise together with functional commercial grains silos, among other things, in order to optimize the traditional aggregation hubs of the area and serve as quality national grains reserves and Export Hub. Through UNN, the state will be the virtual commodity and financial centre of Eastern and Middle Belt of Nigeria.
Two industrial axes in the division include Obollo Afor and Nsukka urban. These industrial layouts working with proposed Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones at Igbo Etiti, Igbo-Eze, Isi Uzo and Uzo Uwani have the potential of being our own Taiwan and Hong-Kong, with the basic development infrastructures, policies and programmes put in place. Put in context, historically, it is only a full-fledged state that can give this focused commitment to Fully Integrated Development Plan for Adada State.
Despite the chaotic ethnic and religious polarization in Nigeria, Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeọgwụ and Christopher Okigbo are still remembered as Nigeria’s national figures or heroes, at least in the military and intellectual circles, respectively. Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeọgwụ and Chris Okigbo were both killed in Nsukka Division. The proposed Adada State will develop these sites as international centres for the memories of these two national figures, both as socio-economic tourism centres and as monuments of “Never Again” shall Nigeria indulge in such tragedy.
The crude oil at Uzo Uwani is already being produced, while the massive coal at Ezimo and gas reserve at Ehalumona (Ehandiagu) and Obollo Eke are yet to be exploited (though they are part of the OPL – Oil Prospecting License 905). Pure white sand (silica-SiO2) is abundant for glass manufacturing businesses at Opi and Nkpologu. Clay deposits are also abundant in the proposed Adada State, particularly at Mbu and Agu-Eha for bricks manufacture and other industrial uses.
The Omambala river at Ogurugu, Obina river at Adani, Adada river, Amanyi and Ebonyi rivers among others can provide enough dams for electricity and irrigation for food and cash crops production and processing. Adani Farm Settlement already proved this. For instance, the Omambala river at Ogurugu with the Institute of Fishery and Aquatic Studies will provide sufficient export of blue economy products as well as ameliorate the perennial flooding in that area and parts of Kogi State.
These rivers gave the Division an Ogurugu river port for the evacuation of oil palm produce during the colonial period. The famous Adani Farm Settlement was based on Obina river, while the defunct Adada Cattle Ranch arose on the shores of Adada river.
Currently, the Division is the second largest source of garden eggs, tomatoes and chili peppers after the Northern Nigeria’s source of supply. The Division has the largest private sector oil palm plantations in the Southeast, now threatened by insecurity and lack of policy support. Boosting the private sector economic ecosystem is one of the primary means of stabilizing food insecurity in the country, and also a reason for the state.
University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), situated in the division, is the first Land Grant University in Africa. This means that UNN is equipped with agriculture and engineering know-how and structures that the Division can utilize through Town and Gown programmes to transform the area into agro and industrial global hub. This has been articulated in greater details in Igbo Nsukka Vision of UNN. UNN will therefore collaborate with the State University of Agriculture to harvest the abundant commercial, technological and agricultural blessings of Adada State.
Nsukka honey is one of the global best honey given its unique blends and unpolluted flora. For instance, cashew and shea butter honey are highly sought after blends. The Division lies in cashew belt and strips of shea butter, among other diverse flora of the zone. Traceability and global Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) will enable Nsukka honey and cashew production and processing for export in large scale throughout the year.
Nsukka Yellow Pepper (Ose Nsukka) has met all the requirements to be pronounced a geographical indication product, save for national legislative Bill being awaited. The planned provision of water, storage facilities and other modern agro-infrastructures will take the production and processing of Nsukka Yellow Pepper (tomato, garden egg and other similar fruits and vegetables) to a very high level of huge export earning.
The example set by Wilson Group confirms that Nsukka Division has enormous potential for vertical and horizontal integrated industrial ecosystem. Wilson Group has enormous oil palm plantation. It utilizes (processes) virtually all products from palm trees in its factory, save for palm wine. This shows that primary production, industrial processing (manufacturing) and distribution are so suitable in Adada State that Nigeria cannot afford to delay the creation of the state any longer, and confirms the economic capacity of Adada State.
It is therefore sad that despite all the above fairy-like potentials of the Division, it is still the poorest in Enugu State, while Enugu State has 6-7 out of 10 persons being multi-dimensionally poor in the latest data of National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and BudgIT publications. This final report card together with all the other above points constitute the reasons and justifications of why the state needs to be urgently created to realize these potentials and arrest the skyrocketing food inflation, unemployment and poverty.
Mr Nnadi is the Director General of Nsukka Chamber of Commerce, Industries, Mines and Agriculture. He wrote from Nsukka.
