The growing national conversation surrounding Eba Island, situated between Ondo and Ogun States, has now gone beyond a mere territorial disagreement. As a matter of fact, it has become a test of institutional courage, constitutional responsibility, and economic justice. It is of course, an issue of significant concern, particularly at this critical point in time when Nigeria is expanding its energy frontiers. This is because, the State that lawfully owns Eba Island stands to secure not only territorial integrity, but also long-term economic survival. Recently, the Ondo State Government called on its citizens to remain calm over the matter. While this appeal is commendable in preserving public order, calm must never be mistaken for passivity, nor diplomacy for surrender. History has repeatedly shown that territorial rights are secured not by silence, but by evidence, action, and lawful assertion. Ondo State must not play a defensive role over land that rightfully belongs to it.
Undisputed Facts on Eba Island
The following facts are not speculative; they are already part of the national discourse and administrative record:
1. Location: Eba Island lies between Ondo and Ogun States, within the coastal and frontier exploration belt of Nigeria.
2.Economic Value: The area is regarded as a new oil and bitumen frontier, projected to increase national petroleum production, reduce Nigeria’s dependency on imported bitumen, and to cap it up, generate long-term derivation revenue.
3. Ownership Conflict: The Ogun State government recently laid claim to the territory, particularly in relation to oil wells and bitumen prospects, while its Ondo State counterpart formally expressed dissatisfaction with this claim, and then the debate continues in the strategic context that the island sits within a zone that is now prioritized for frontier hydrocarbon exploration, thereby making legal ownership economically decisive.
The Problem of Premature Claims
It is difficult to justify the speed with which the Ogun State Government has rushed to lay public claim to Eba Island in the absence of any verifiable, tenable, or historically grounded evidence.
The difficulty lies in the fact that territorial ownership is not established by declarations, press statements, or political optimism, but by maps, treaties, administrative records, and continuous governance. Meanwhile the preliminary cartographic indications and boundary confidence intervals presently swinging in the direction of Ondo State, suggests that Eba Island appears to fall within Ondo’s historically demarcated boundary corridor. In such circumstances, any unilateral assertion of ownership, without the production of credible documentary proof, risks undermining the rule of law and inflaming a matter that demands careful constitutional adjudication.
Lessons from History: Where Evidence and Action Won
A. Cross River vs. Akwa Ibom (Nigeria): In a dispute relating to 76 oil-rich islands between these two states, the winner prevailed using the following:the 1913 Anglo–German Treaty fixing, the colonial and admiralty maps, the continuous administrative control, and voter registration, taxation, and oil revenue records. The dispute was resolved by combining historical title with effective control and documentary proof.
B. Rivers vs. Bayelsa (Soku & Oluasiri Islands): In this argument, again, victory was secured with evidence such as boundary treaties and colonial charts, Shell and Navy operational records, the police, courts, and tax records, and of course, the community voting history. The lesson in this dispute is that, justice was served because Rivers never abandoned legal assertion.
C. Arkansas vs. Mississippi (USA): In this island ownership dispute, the winning factors were the navigation charts identifying the original thalweg, river migration survey, long administrative control, tax and policing history. Again, law, maps, and effective governance triumphed over political noise.
What Ondo State Must Do Now
Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa is hereby called upon, respectfully but firmly, to:
i. Move beyond calming rhetoric to taking decisive constitutional action.
ii. Publicly institute legal preparedness, if political settlement fails.
iii. Assemble a legal and technical war-room in full preparation of the following:
- Constitutional and boundary lawyers
- Colonial treaties and gazettes
- Admiralty charts and satellite imagery
- Census, tax, and electoral records
- Security and sea navigation operational data
iv. Remain proactive, not reactive, to any statement from Ogun State.
v. Make every resolution step public, so citizens can come up with tenable evidential documents in their custody.
In addition to this, Mr Governor must view the courage shown by the Ilaje Youth Development Forum with a lens that reflects a collective demand for justice- not conflict, but lawful redress.
A Final Charge
Ondo State citizens will remain law-abiding, peaceful, and constitutional. However, they also deserve the moral right to demand accountability from their governor, if justice is denied over what belongs to them.
History is clear: Territory is not defended by silence, but by law, evidence, and resolve.
Succinctly put, Eba Island is not a bargaining chip. It is a legacy, an economic lifeline, and a matter of justice. Ondo State must rise, not in anger, but in lawful strength, to claim what is rightfully hers.
Sunday Olusegun Omosule writes from the Coastal region of Eba Island, Ondo State, Nigeria.
0 Comments