10/07/2025
*PRESS RELEASE*
*ORON UNION DECLARES HER FULL SUPPORT FOR THE CREATION OF OBOLO STATE*
The Oron Union, the apex socio-cultural and political organization of the Oron Nation, hereby declares its firm and irreversible support for the demand for the creation of *OBOLO STATE* a collective aspiration of the indigenous people of Oron, Okobo, Urue-Offong/Oruko, Mbo, Udung Uko, Ibeno, Eastern Obolo Local Government Areas in Akwa Ibom State, and Andoni in Rivers State—bound by shared heritage, geography, language, culture, and a common destiny.
The quest for state creation is not new, After-all, The people currently inhabiting these areas are people who at one point or the other demanded for a state creation.
Our forebears actively participated in the struggle for the Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers (COR) State in the 1950s, a movement that eventually led to the creation of South Eastern State (now Cross River State) and Rivers State. Further agitations brought about the creation of Akwa Ibom State in 1987. These milestones birthed new centers of development and identity. Today, in the spirit of justice, equity, and inclusion, the Oro-Obolo people demand a state of their own.
After extensive consultations and consensus among the affected communities, the Oro-Obolo people have resolved to unite under one name—Obolo State. The Oron Union unequivocally supports this demand and will not retreat from this position.
Despite contributing immensely to the national economy through our vast oil and gas resources, we remain tragically underdeveloped. For 38 years, we have endured:
(a) Total exclusion from key infrastructure projects, including universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education.
(b) Poor education systems with dilapidated classrooms, lack of science teachers, and children sitting on bare floors.
(c) Neglect of coastal access roads, lack of dualized highways, and no connection to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road despite our coastal location.
(d) Continued marginalization in political representation, with Oro-Obolo people never having produced a governor or enjoyed fair appointments.
(e) Abandonment of Ibaka Deep Sea Port project, following unjustified relocation and name change.
(f) Environmental degradation and gas flaring, which have destroyed our homes while the benefits of the 13% derivation elude our people.
(g) Unemployment and secretive recruitment practices that have locked our youth out of state opportunities.
(h) Manufacture of new, illegal maps aimed at suppressing our identity and erasing our historical presence.
Even the Maritime Academy, which has existed in the region for over 40 years, has not received any meaningful support or upgrade from the state government to a university level. Meanwhile, industries and developmental projects have deliberately been diverted away from our region.
It is imperative to correct the narrative: places like ONNA, an acronym artificially formed by the military administration in Akwa Ibom for administrative convenience, were never physical settlements. Boundaries are federally determined, not arbitrarily drawn by states or individuals.
The area historically known as Egwanga Opobo, which included present-day Ikot Abasi, Eastern Obolo, and Mkpat Enin, has been politically subdivided, yet some now claim sole ownership. Names and identities have always evolved with time, and so has ours—Obolo State reflects our present historical reality.
No Oro-Obolo person has ever been given the opportunity to govern Akwa Ibom State. The current tripodal zoning arrangement makes it virtually impossible for our people to even dream of producing a governor in the next fifty years.
The challenging topography and terrain of our coastal homeland requires special development attention—a reality that both Akwa Ibom and Rivers States have failed to address over the years.
Those who oppose the creation of Obolo State are not acting in the interest of peace or development. They are part of a longstanding agenda to oppress and silence a people who deserve more. The creation of Obolo State will:
(a) Bring rapid development to Nigeria’s neglected coastal corridor.
(b) Help unlock the enormous economic, maritime, and blue economy potential of our region.
(c) Foster peace, inclusion, and national unity by ending decades of frustration.
(d) Strengthen inter-community relationships and maintain our tradition of peace, harmony, and intermarriage with our neighbors.
*ORON UNION’S POSITION*
We, the Oron Union, alongside our brothers and sisters in the affected LGAs, reaffirm our total commitment to the realization of Obolo State. We are peaceful, progressive, and patriotic citizens of Nigeria, and we are simply demanding what is just, equitable, and long overdue.
The coastal region must not remain in the shadows. With the renewed national interest in developing Nigeria’s coastline through the Coastal Highway Project, the time to create Obolo State is now. It is not just a demand; it is a moral and developmental necessity.
Let justice be done.
Let the Oro-Obolo people breathe.
Let Obolo State be created—for unity, for development, for Nigeria.
Signed
Prince Edenseting PhD.
Publicity secretary
Oron Union. July 10, 2025
