Historical Perspective: Owerri, Oil Politics and the Roots of the Niger Delta Question

Contrary to popular belief, Owerri was once the first headquarters of Shell in Nigeria before the office was later moved to Port Harcourt under the administration of the late Dr. Michael Okpara. At the time, Port Harcourt itself was part of the much larger Owerri Province, a vast territory that would later be reclassified and renamed the Niger Delta.

Historical records show that as far back as 1947, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe strongly opposed colonial land reform policies that sought to allow foreigners to own land in Nigeria. Writing in the West African Pilot, Azikiwe described the policy as an “obnoxious edict,” warning that it was designed to enable land speculators to acquire large acreages in regions already known to be rich in oil and gas deposits, particularly within the Owerri Province.

By 1938, crude oil from Eastern Nigeria was already being used to power British and Allied ships and war machinery during the Second World War. Knowledge of the full extent of these resources was largely restricted to officials within the colonial Surveys and Mines Department.

This awareness became more pronounced in the post-colonial era. When Dr. Eni Njoku was appointed Nigeria’s first Minister of Mines in 1957, he worked alongside Dr. Azikiwe to compile a comprehensive index of the country’s strategic mineral resources. In a 1978 NTA interview, Azikiwe reportedly recounted these mineral locations from memory, highlighting vast gas deposits across Owerri and the Ugwuele escarpments, as well as significant uranium deposits stretching from Okigwe and Afikpo to the Nasarawa plains, among other resources.

The geopolitical shaping of the region further reflects this history. Egbema, a major clan of the Oru Igbo, was at one point almost entirely ceded to Rivers State. However, following protests from the Egbema people and intervention by the late Colonel Ndubuisi Kanu in 1976, a majority of Egbema communities remained in Imo State, with others spread across Rivers and Delta states. In Delta State, many Egbema communities have since become largely assimilated into the Isoko-Urhobo-Itsekiri cultural bloc.

According to this perspective, the carving up of territories rich in oil and gas was neither accidental nor recent. Rather, it was a long-standing process rooted in early knowledge of mineral wealth. Against this backdrop, concerns have been raised that current agitations for the creation of an ANIM State may further weaken Eastern Nigeria, particularly the Igbo, by fragmenting their political and economic cohesion at a time of intense resource exploitation.

The argument also suggests that the persistent militancy and heavy militarization in the Orlu–Ihiala–Egbema axis may not be coincidental, but rather influenced by powerful external interests seeking to maintain control over strategic oil and gas assets.

As debates over state creation, resource control, and regional security continue, observers insist that a clear understanding of this historical context is essential for informed public discourse.