Does The Southeast Need Another State?

By Reno Omokri

Notice: Before I published this piece, I first sent it to the brilliant and erudite Osita Chidoka. I was prepared not to publish if he had any objections. That is how much I believe in friendship.

I’m afraid I have to disagree with my friend Osita Chidoka. If the Southeast is losing ₦17.4 trillion, it is not because it does not have a sixth state. It is because it loses one-fifth of its Gross Domestic Product as a result of the Monday sit-at-home.

We have seen data from the National Bureau of Statistics. The Southeast, sadly, is only higher than the war-torn Northeast in almost every area of economic activity. Regarding VAT, in the first quarter of 2024, the Southeast contributed only ₦8.1 billion to the pool and received ₦29.03 billion, according to the Federal Inland Revenue Service.

In terms of total revenue generated by all six zones, the Southeast is at the bottom of the barrel. The South-South holds the top spot, having generated ₦2.31 trillion in 2023. The Southwest comes a close second with ₦2.2 trillion. The Northwest is next with ₦1.41 trillion, followed by the North-Central with ₦1.34 trillion. Next is the Northeast with ₦911.65 billion.

The Southeast generated the least revenue in Nigeria, with only ₦823.54 billion.

The same pattern repeats itself when you look at the figures from Internally Generated Revenue, which is mainly tax-based. The Southwest tops the list with ₦1.12 trillion, while the Southeast and the Northeast lead from behind with ₦142.95 billion and ₦104.35 billion, respectively.

So, exactly who is cheating who?

There is no way you can reasonably argue that Nigeria is cheating a region that collects three and a half times what it contributes to the pool. If anybody is cheating the Southeast, it is neither the Federal Government nor the other five regions. It is the Southeast that is cheating itself by allowing a self-confessed ‘content creator’ based in Finland to dismantle its regional economy.

Let’s face the real issues. Creating another unviable state for the Southeast will not solve their revenue gap issue. Of the five states already existing in Igboland, all face varying degrees of problems paying the new minimum wage of ₦70,000. Before you can ask for another state, the ones you have must first be viable.

And the data does not lie. Many Local Governments in the Southwest of Nigeria are more viable than some states in the Southeast.

If Mr. Chidoka had studied the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act, he would have understood that land mass and population are the two dominant rationales behind revenue allocation.

Therefore, the Southeast will not necessarily receive more revenue just by creating an additional state. Because its land mass is limited, it cannot grow except by conquest or excising another state’s territory.

The only other option is population growth. However, the Southeast is that part of Nigeria known for mass migration from their territory to other parts of Nigeria.

So, I ask Mr. Chidoka this question: What is the rationale for creating a new state for the Southeast when by instances of revenue generation, VAT contribution, Internally Generated Revenue, land mass and population, even the existence of the current five states of the Southeast is questionable.

If I were to make a suggestion, it would be that Nigeria would do better with fewer states than with more. Our democracy is already too expensive. Adding more states in any zone will just create another money-sucking bureaucracy that consumes more than it produces.

We need smaller governmental structures, not bigger ones.

Reno Omokri

Gospeller. Deep Thinker. #TableShaker. Ruffler of the Feathers of Obidents. #1 Bestselling author of Facts Versus Fiction: The True Story of the Jonathan Years. Hodophile. Hollywood Magazine Humanitarian of the Year, 2019. Business Insider Influencer of the Year 2022.