THIRTY years after the late former Head of State, General Sani Abacha, created six new states on October 1, 1996, including Bayelsa, the anniversaries of some of the states have provided a striking study in how history, political identity and collective memory can be remembered differently across Nigeria.
While Bayelsa State used its 30th anniversary to openly honour Abacha and acknowledge the role he played in creating the state, the anniversary celebrations in some of the other states created by the same military administration appeared to focus largely on their present achievements, future aspirations, development programmes and political journeys, with little or no reference to the late Head of State in the major speeches delivered at the events.
Read also: Ekiti Governor Oyebanji Dissolves Cabinet, Retains Chief Press Secretary, Others
In this Weekend Features, News Point Nigeria dissects and analyses the situation, examining how six states created by the Abacha administration marked three decades of existence, the different narratives adopted by their leaders, and why Bayelsa, in particular, chose to place the late reformist head of state at the centre of its anniversary history while states such as Ebonyi, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara largely concentrated on their contemporary journeys without similarly highlighting Abacha in their anniversary speeches.
The contrast is particularly striking because the creation of the six states on October 1, 1996, was a major political decision of the Abacha administration. Bayelsa was carved out of the old Rivers State, while Ebonyi, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara were also created as part of the same restructuring of Nigeria’s political map.
The anniversary, therefore, was not simply about marking another year of statehood; it was also an opportunity to reflect on the circumstances that gave birth to the states.
In Bayelsa, that historical connection was not lost.
Former President Goodluck Jonathan, speaking on Thursday night at the 30th anniversary celebration of the creation of Bayelsa State and an award ceremony in Yenagoa, said the people of the state would remain grateful to the late Abacha for creating the state out of the old Rivers State in 1996.
Jonathan, who also used the occasion to pay tribute to his late political mentor and former boss, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha, said the creation of Bayelsa had produced significant benefits for its people, even though the state had yet to attain its full potential.
News Point Nigeria reports that Bayelsa was among the six states created by the Abacha administration on October 1, 1996, bringing together predominantly Ijaw-speaking communities that had previously been spread across different parts of the former Rivers State.
Jonathan, who served as Alamieyeseigha’s deputy governor before eventually becoming governor and later president, dedicated the award he received at the ceremony to the late former governor, whom he credited with bringing him into politics.
Reflecting on Bayelsa’s three decades of existence, Jonathan acknowledged that the state had not reached where it was supposed to be, but said he was nevertheless happy that it was created because its people had gained tremendously from the development.
“Although we have not reached where we are supposed to be, I am happy where we are. I am happy that Bayelsa State was created, and we have gained tremendously,” he said.
Jonathan noted that some young Bayelsans had questioned what there was to celebrate about the state at 30, but argued that the creation of Bayelsa had produced substantial benefits that should not be overlooked.
“Most people might not know, we have gained tremendously following the creation of the state,” he added.
But the former president went beyond simply reflecting on Bayelsa’s development. He specifically singled out Abacha for commendation, saying the people of the state would continue to appreciate the late military ruler for making its creation possible.
“Bayelsans will always remain grateful to late Gen. Sani Abacha who made it possible for Bayelsa to be among the last six states he created,” Jonathan said.
That acknowledgement from Jonathan was reinforced by Governor Douye Diri, who also used the anniversary to deliberately place Abacha within the historical narrative of Bayelsa State.
Diri commended Abacha and expressed gratitude on behalf of the Ijaw people for the creation of Bayelsa on October 1, 1996. He argued that the late Head of State deserved continued commendation for creating what he described as a homogeneous Ijaw state, saying the decision brought an end to years of what he regarded as the marginalisation and fragmentation of Ijaw communities across different states.
The governor was particularly emphatic about his repeated references to Abacha during his anniversary remarks, explaining that the references were deliberate because of what the creation of Bayelsa meant to the Ijaw people.
“If at every point in my remarks I keep calling him, it is because of what God used him to do for the Ijaw ethnic nationality,” Diri said.
He added: “General Abacha might mean different things to different people, but to Bayelsans, he is the one who freed us from oppression.
“He freed us from injustice and gave a homogenous state for a people that had been balkanised into various states, and making us minority in some.”
The language used by Diri is significant because it presents the creation of Bayelsa not merely as an administrative exercise but as a defining moment in the political history and identity of the Ijaw people.
For Bayelsa, therefore, the 30th anniversary was also an occasion to revisit the historical circumstances that produced the state and to recognise the individual whose administration made that political restructuring possible.
That position was reflected in the decision to honour Abacha alongside other prominent personalities associated with the history and development of Bayelsa.
The anniversary ceremony recognised the late General Sani Abacha, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Major Isaac Adaka Boro, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha and Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye.
Others honoured included former military administrators of the state, namely the late Navy Captain Caleb Olubolade (rtd.), Navy Captain Phillip Ayeni (rtd.), Police Commissioner Habu Daura (rtd.) and Colonel Edor Obi (rtd.), as well as former Bayelsa State Governor, Senator Seriake Dickson.
The anniversary narrative was markedly different in Gombe State.
In Gombe, Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya also used the 30th anniversary to look forward, reiterating his commitment to accelerating development, expanding economic opportunities and consolidating investments in critical sectors.
The governor made the commitment in a special anniversary message to mark October 1, 2026, saying the twin celebration of Nigeria’s Independence anniversary and Gombe’s 30th anniversary provided an opportunity to take stock of the state’s transformation over three decades while setting a clear course for its next phase of growth and development.
In a statement signed by Ismaila Uba Misilli, Director-General, Press Affairs, Government House, Gombe, Yahaya said Gombe had evolved since its creation on October 1, 1996, from a new state into an increasingly important economic and administrative hub in the North-East.
He attributed the state’s progress to strategic planning, investments in critical infrastructure and reforms aimed at creating an enabling environment for socio-economic development.
The governor linked the state’s development trajectory to the Gombe State 10-Year Development Plan, DEVAGOM, which provides a long-term framework for sustainable and inclusive growth.
According to him, the plan, developed through extensive stakeholder consultations, guides government interventions and investments across critical sectors, with emphasis on human capital development, infrastructure, economic growth, environmental sustainability and improved quality of life.
Within the framework of the Development Agenda for Gombe State, Governor Inuwa said his administration had pursued broad-based interventions across education, healthcare, infrastructure, agriculture, industrialisation, environmental restoration, public-sector reforms, ease of doing business, and youth and women empowerment.
Yet, unlike Bayelsa, where Abacha was repeatedly named and publicly honoured as the creator of the state, the anniversary narrative in Gombe was centred largely on the state’s transformation, development plans and future prospects.
In Nasarawa State, Governor Abdullahi Sule also used the 30th anniversary celebration to focus on peace, unity and the state’s economic prospects, particularly its solid mineral resources.
Sule said peace and unity remained the foundation for sustainable development in Nasarawa and warned that political disagreements must not degenerate into crisis.
The governor spoke on Tuesday in Lafia at the Nasarawa State Cultural Carnival organised to mark the state’s 30th anniversary.
According to him, Nasarawa’s economic prospects, particularly in solid minerals, depend heavily on peace and stability.
“Out of the seven critical minerals in Nigeria, all seven are present in Nasarawa State. We have the largest lithium processing plant in Africa here because investors see peace,” he said.
Sule added that the state had attracted investors involved in mining and processing minerals locally, a development he linked to peaceful coexistence.
Again, the central message was about the present and the future — peace, investment, minerals and economic development — rather than the military administration that created Nasarawa State three decades earlier.
Zamfara State similarly used its 30th anniversary to showcase its development agenda and the achievements of the current administration.
Governor Dauda Lawal declared that his administration’s rescue mission was transforming Zamfara across critical sectors as he commenced a series of events and project commissioning to mark the anniversary.
The celebrations were attended by the Pioneer Military Administrator of Zamfara State, Colonel Jibril Bala Yakubu (rtd.), former governors Ahmed Sani Yarima and Mahmud Aliyu Shinkafi, and other dignitaries.
Speaking during the National Independence Day parade and Zamfara’s 30th anniversary at the Trade Fair Complex in Gusau, Lawal said the state had moved from despair to an era of clear execution, transparency and sustainable development.
He said: “Today, we join Nigerians in celebrating Independence Day and mark three decades since Zamfara State was created on October 1, 1996. Alhamdulillah for Allah’s grace, mercy, and protection that have guided us through trials and triumphs, uniting us in a shared destiny.
“As we watched our gallant security forces, paramilitary agencies, vibrant students and youth march in unity on this parade ground, we were reminded of the resilience that defines the Nigerian spirit and, most specifically, the strength of character of our people.
“We must reflect intentionally on the profound sacrifices of our founding fathers, who fought tirelessly to break the chains of colonial rule and give birth to a free, sovereign nation. We owe them an eternal debt of gratitude for protecting this country’s unity, peace, and territorial integrity.
“As we look forward to the next decade, we must understand that true independence demands collective responsibility. Government alone can’t do this. I call on traditional rulers, religious scholars, civil servants, traders, and our resilient youth to unite. We must set aside divisions—ethnic, political, sectarian—and protect the peace we fought for.”
Read also: 2027: ‘If You Don’t Deliver Your State, Don’t Claim Victory,’ Wike Tells APC Governors
Here again, the governor’s reference to “founding fathers” was made in the broader context of Nigeria’s independence and the sacrifices associated with nation-building, rather than as a specific tribute to Abacha as the military ruler who created Zamfara State.
The anniversary programme continued on Friday when Lawal commissioned Phase III of the renovated and modernised J.B. Yakubu Secretariat in Gusau as part of his effort to rebuild government institutions and create what he described as a modern, efficient, technology-enabled and results-oriented public service for Zamfara State.
Governor Francis Nwifuru used the state’s 30th anniversary to focus heavily on governance, appointments, infrastructure, human capital development and the future of the state.
Nwifuru appointed 10 immediate past local government chairmen as Special Advisers and another 1,710 persons as Executive Assistants to serve in his administration.
The appointees were sworn in on Wednesday at the Abakaliki Township Stadium during activities marking Nigeria’s 66th Independence anniversary and the 30th anniversary of the creation of Ebonyi State.
The governor also presented staff of office to three traditional rulers from Afikpo, Edda and Ishielu Local Government Areas.
Addressing the gathering, Nwifuru said the creation of Ebonyi State 30 years ago was the product of the aspirations, sacrifices and determination of its founding fathers and mothers.
He said the state had evolved from the circumstances surrounding its creation into a “proud component” of the Nigerian federation.
“As Ebonyi turns 30, we must ask ourselves not only where we came from, but also what kind of future we are preparing for the generation coming after us.
“This question has always guided my policies and programmes. This is why at all times, education, human capital development, infrastructure and opportunity have always remained at the centre of our development agenda,” he said.
Nwifuru said his administration, since assuming office in 2023, had focused on improving roads, bridges, hospitals and other infrastructure while investing in education, health, agriculture, security and human capital development.
The emphasis, therefore, was on what Ebonyi had become and what it hoped to become, rather than on revisiting the political decision that created it in 1996.
Ekiti State also marked its 30th anniversary during the period under review, offering another illustration of how state anniversaries can be used primarily to announce contemporary policies and interventions.
The Ekiti State Government began moves to cut transport fares by 50 percent across the state, deploying Compressed Natural Gas buses to cushion the impact of transportation costs on residents.
Governor Biodun Oyebanji said the deployment of the CNG buses, which coincided with the Independence Day and 30th anniversary celebrations, marked a major step in the government’s effort to reduce transport costs for citizens in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directives.
He added that the state had commenced the process of cutting transport fares by 59 percent through the rollout of 15 CNG buses donated to the state by the Federal Government as part of efforts to promote affordable and accessible public transportation.
The state, he said, would expand the fleet to serve residents better.
Oyebanji, accompanied by Senate Leader Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, spoke during the official flag-off of the vehicles at the premises of the Ekiti State Transportation Agency in Ado Ekiti on Thursday.
He said the government would continue to explore avenues to reduce the burden on citizens.
The significance of Bayelsa’s approach lies not necessarily in whether the other states were obliged to mention Abacha, but in what their different anniversary narratives reveal about the way political history is remembered.
An anniversary speech is, in many ways, a statement about what a society chooses to remember. Leaders can focus on the struggles that preceded state creation, the personalities who made it possible, the achievements recorded since then, the challenges that remain or the future they want to build.
Bayelsa chose to connect all those elements.
Jonathan spoke about the gains of state creation while acknowledging that Bayelsa had not yet reached its full potential. Diri went further by explicitly placing Abacha within the historical identity of the state. The late military ruler was also formally honoured alongside political and cultural figures associated with Bayelsa’s history.
For Diri, Abacha’s legacy in Bayelsa is viewed through a particularly specific regional and ethnic experience. The governor did not deny that Abacha may be viewed differently by different Nigerians. Instead, he drew a distinction between those broader historical perceptions and the way Bayelsans remember the creation of their state.
“General Abacha might mean different things to different people, but to Bayelsans, he is the one who freed us from oppression,” Diri said.
That is perhaps the central reason Bayelsa’s 30th anniversary stood apart.
For a people who had long argued for a state of their own, the creation of Bayelsa was more than the addition of another administrative unit to Nigeria’s map. It represented the bringing together of predominantly Ijaw-speaking communities that had previously been distributed across different parts of the old Rivers State.
The creation of the state consequently became part of the political history of the Ijaw people and a reference point in the continuing discussion about representation, identity and perceived marginalisation.
For the people who see the 1996 decision through that lens, remembering Abacha is therefore not necessarily an endorsement of every aspect of his military rule. It is an acknowledgement of the specific political decision that resulted in the creation of Bayelsa.
That distinction is important.
The absence of comparable references to Abacha in the major anniversary speeches of some of the other states should also be viewed within the context of how political memory works.
Ebonyi spoke about its founding fathers, its evolution and the future. Gombe focused on DEVAGOM, infrastructure, human capital and economic development. Nasarawa highlighted peace, investment and solid minerals. Zamfara concentrated on resilience, unity, development and the challenges of the next decade.
None of those themes necessarily required a detailed historical account of the Abacha administration.
But their anniversary celebrations also raise a broader question: when a state marks 30 years of existence, should the circumstances and personalities behind its creation automatically form part of the official remembrance?
Bayelsa clearly answered that question in the affirmative.
The other states appeared to answer it differently, either by placing their emphasis elsewhere or by not making the political circumstances of their creation a major part of their anniversary speeches.
This becomes even more interesting because some of the states created in 1996 have since produced their own political identities, leaders, institutions, economic ambitions and social histories. Over three decades, the circumstances of creation can gradually become less prominent in everyday political discourse as the state develops its own narrative.
Yet, anniversaries are precisely the moments when such history can return to the centre of public consciousness.
The different approaches also demonstrate that the memory of Abacha remains complex in Nigeria.
For some Nigerians, his name is inseparable from military rule, political repression and a difficult period in the country’s democratic history. For Bayelsa’s political leadership, however, the relevant historical memory at the anniversary was the creation of a state that brought predominantly Ijaw communities together under one political structure.
That is why Jonathan, a former president who also personally benefited from the political structure created in Bayelsa, could openly say that Bayelsans would remain grateful to Abacha.
It is also why Diri could say that Abacha “freed” the people of Bayelsa from what he described as oppression and injustice.
The two positions demonstrate how the same historical figure can occupy very different places in the collective memory of different parts of the country.
For Bayelsa, Abacha is remembered in relation to the birth of the state.
For other states created during the same exercise, the focus at 30 appears to have shifted to what they have built since then and what they intend to achieve in the years ahead.
State creation can provide political representation, administrative identity and access to resources, but the real test of three decades of statehood lies in whether citizens can point to improvements in education, healthcare, roads, security, employment, economic opportunities, human capital and quality of life.
The speeches from Ebonyi, Ekiti, Gombe, Nasarawa and Zamfara largely reflected that contemporary concern.
Bayelsa, however, went one step further by deliberately looking backwards before looking forward.
It remembered the person whose administration created the state, honoured him alongside its other historical figures and placed his decision within the story of the Ijaw people.
Whether other states chose not to do so because of different political memories, different historical interpretations or simply because their leaders preferred to focus on contemporary achievements is a matter for interpretation.
Read also: Court Jails Chinese National, Two Others For Terrorism, Illegal Firearms Possession In Kebbi
What is clear is that thirty years after the Abacha administration redrew Nigeria’s political map, the states created by that decision are no longer telling exactly the same story about how they came into existence.
And perhaps that is the most revealing feature of the 30th anniversary celebrations: the same historical event has produced different memories, different narratives and different political meanings across the states it created.
