ASABA: For decades, the Anioma people have endured a troubling pattern of political representation rich in rhetoric but painfully short on delivery.
From the House of Representatives to the Senate, Anioma’s story has been one of squandered opportunities, silence in the corridors of power, and betrayal of public trust.
Today, while debates around Senator Prince Ned Nwoko dominate headlines, they often mask a deeper reality: Anioma communities, particularly Ika, remain deprived of meaningful development, sustainable projects, and transformative institutions.
Politics thrives, but the people continue to languish in poverty and neglect.
In the House of Representatives, Hon. Victor Nwokolo’s prolonged silence has left Ika virtually voiceless at the national stage.
His tenure has been marked by a near absence in key motions, bills, or debates, reducing his representation to little more than a formality. For years, the people have had a representative in Abuja, but not a voice.
This is not an isolated failure. Hon. Nduka Irabor’s four years left almost no lasting impact, while Doris Uboh’s time in office was overshadowed by infighting, controversies, and suspensions all at the expense of her constituents.
What could have been seasons of progress turned into wasted opportunities, with Ika communities left to fend for themselves.
The pattern is unmistakable: the people send representatives to Abuja, but Abuja hardly sends anything back to the people.
Anioma’s Senate history tells a similarly disappointing story. Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, who would later rise to become governor, remained largely quiet during his legislative years.
Despite occupying a powerful platform, he failed to sponsor landmark bills or push for transformative federal projects that could have uplifted Anioma’s poverty-stricken communities
Senator Osakwe’s eight-year tenure is remembered as one of irrelevance years in which Anioma was effectively absent at the national table. No major projects, no groundbreaking laws, no meaningful interventions just eight wasted years that left the people in the same state of neglect.
If that was disappointing, Senator Peter Nwoboshi’s years in the Senate left behind an even darker imprint. His tenure became synonymous with allegations of embezzlement and corruption.
Constituency funds meant for schools, clean water, health centers, and jobs were allegedly diverted. Communities that should have benefitted were abandoned, leaving residents with nothing but broken promises and deeper mistrust in political leadership.
Instead of being agents of change, senators who once carried Anioma’s hopes Okowa, Osakwe, and Nwoboshi ended up being more of a burden than a blessing. Their legacies are remembered more for failure and scandal than for progress.
Two years into his representation, Senator Ned Nwoko has largely been known for singing the same song state creation. While his campaign for Anioma State has dominated public discourse, it has done little to address the pressing needs of his constituents.
Many elites and traditional rulers have openly objected to the idea, questioning both its timing and viability.
In the meantime, silence persists on the issues that matter most to ordinary people. No clear blueprint has been presented on how federal projects will be attracted to Anioma, how communities will be secured from worsening insecurity, or how poverty will be alleviated in villages where hunger, unemployment, and poor infrastructure remain daily realities.
By narrowing the agenda to state creation, the senator risks reducing Anioma’s struggle for development to a single, divisive topic while roads collapse, electricity fails, schools decay, and hospitals remain unequipped. The people are left with more questions than answers.
The effects of this political failure are evident across Anioma North, South, East, and West. In this modern age, several communities still cry for electricity.
Despite paying exorbitant electricity bills, poor families are forced to contribute money to buy or repair transformers. It is a cruel irony paying heavily for darkness, while development remains elusive.
Roads remain neglected, schools underfunded, health centers unequipped, and federal government projects are either nonexistent or abandoned. Industries remain stunted, human capital underdeveloped, and investments elusive.
The people are left behind, surviving largely on communal effort and personal sacrifice while their so-called representatives thrive in Abuja.
This neglect has not only slowed Anioma’s development but has also deepened poverty and widened inequality. While neighboring regions advance with better infrastructure and visible federal presence, Anioma remains stuck in the past.
Anioma’s history of failed representation should not just be a record of complaints it must serve as a lesson. As the 2027 general elections draw closer, the people must begin to think differently about politics.
Voting should not be about personalities, money, or empty promises, but about competence, vision, and a track record of service.
For too long, politicians have taken advantage of voter apathy and the people’s silence to entrench themselves in power. Communities remain abandoned because many citizens feel politics is dirty or not worth their involvement.
Yet, politics shapes everything roads, electricity, jobs, schools, and hospitals. By staying away, the people leave decisions about
their lives in the hands of a few who have consistently failed them.
True change will only come when the people of Anioma and Delta North reject the cycle of silence and scandals by demanding accountability at the ballot box.
This means organizing at the grassroots, scrutinizing every candidate, and refusing to reward past failures with new mandates.
It also means the youth, women, and professionals must step forward not only as voters but also as candidates and active participants.
2027 must not be business as usual. Anioma cannot afford to lose another decade to leaders who see politics as a career rather than a calling.
The future of the region depends on a citizenry that refuses to be deceived, that insists on leaders who will deliver tangible projects, uplift the poor, and restore trust in governance.
If the people rise with one voice and take ownership of their political destiny, Anioma’s story can finally change. But if apathy continues, the same failures will return in new faces, and the communities will remain stuck in neglect.
From the silence of Hon. Victor Nwokolo in the House of Representatives, to the wasted years of Senators Osakwe and Nwoboshi, and now the narrow focus of Senator Ned Nwoko, Anioma’s history of representation has been a long road of disappointment.
Communities still cry for electricity, families still contribute to fix transformers despite paying high bills, and federal presence remains a mirage.
The truth is clear: Anioma’s greatest problem has never been a lack of politicians, but a lack of visionaries. Representation has too often been reduced to rhetoric, scandals, or self-serving agendas, while the people languish in poverty and neglect.
Anioma now stands at a crossroads. Will it continue to endure leaders who fail to prioritize development, or will it demand a new generation of representation—leaders who will not only speak, but act; not only promise, but deliver; not only chase ambition, but uplift their people?
Until such leadership emerges, Anioma and Ika will remain trapped in the same cycle: abandoned, underdeveloped, and still waiting for the representation they truly deserve.
The 2027 elections must therefore be a turning point an opportunity for the people to reclaim their voice, shape their future, and finally bring an end to decades of neglect.
