Idoma are not wanted in Benue, we are more than ripe for our own state – Godwin Obla

A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Godwin Obla, has said that the Idoma people have been needlessly, mindlessly and wickedly marginalized in Benue State, insisting that it is time for the Idoma nation to have a state of its own.

IDOMA VOICEBREAKING: Court stops 2025 PDP National Convention reports that Obla made the remarks during an interview with newsmen at the Idoma Hall of Fame Advisory Board Inaugural Dinner, he in Abuja on Thursday, where he lamented what he described as the “unfortunate history” of the Idoma people in the Nigerian federation.

According to him, the Idoma are one of the few ethnic groups with a rich cultural and historical heritage, yet they continue to face deliberate exclusion in the politics and governance of Benue State since the creation of the state in 1976.

“We are more than ripe to have a state, and I think the history of the Idoma people is an unfortunate history,” Obla stated.

“We are one of the few ethnic groups with a rich history that has been needlessly, mindlessly, and wickedly marginalized. It doesn’t make sense that in a state that was created in 1976, out of the three senatorial districts, the Idoma people constitute a nation in one of the districts, yet the two other senatorial districts do not feel that the Idoma people are entitled to have a say in the governance of the state.”

“Well, it means we are not wanted in the state. And if we are not wanted in the state, it means we need a state of our own.”

The senior advocate added that the call for an Idoma State is not driven by emotion but by a legitimate desire for fairness, inclusion, and justice.

“We are nationalists. We are all repentant about it. And it is unfair that what is happening in Benue State today is exactly what the leadership of the Tiv people preached against in wanting their own identity,” he concluded.