22 hours ago
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Elders of the Mbula speaking people in Adamawa State have dissociated themselves from a state, Bengo, that has been proposed to be carved out of Adamawa.
The elders, rising on Sturday under the auspices of Mbula Elders Forum, said at a press briefing in Yola that they were discaliming the creation of Bengo State because those promoting it did not consult the Mbula people.
Chairman of the Forum, Thomas Kwem, a retired group captain, who delivered the text of the briefing at the NUJ Press Centre in Yola, described the proposal for Bengo State as too exclusionary of the Mbula people for them to be part of.
“This initiative as currently structured undermines our people’s rights, heritage and political representation. We therefore cehemently condemn the proposed crestion of Bengo State, a deeply flawed initiative that perpetuates the systemic marginalisation and political erasure of the Mbula people,” Thomas Kwem said.
He added that the Mbula Elders Forum was particularly concerned that although Mbula people who are led by a first class king predominantly inhabit Demsa, a local government area of 11 districts, and have significant populations in Girei, Numan and Shelleng LGAs, the proposal for Bengo State allocates only one LGA to Mbula out of proposed 15 LGAs.
He also complained of lopsided delineation of senatorial and House of Representatives constituencies of the proposed state, which he said fractures Mbula people across multiple zones, “ensuring that our votes and our voices would be fragmented and ineffective”.
He asked for dismissal of the Bengo State proposal by the National Assembly until a comprehensive ammendment is made to it by impartial stakeholders who would ensure equitable representation.
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