Premium Times retraces 1976 state creation that shaped Nigeria's 19-state structure and honors Dr. Dele Cole's public service legacy
On July 29, 1975, General Murtala Mohammed seized power and weeks later established a committee headed by Justice Ayo Irikefe to restructure Nigeria's 12 states. On February 3, 1976, the Supreme Military Council announced the creation of 19 states—carving Ogun, Ondo, Oyo from Western State; Imo and Anambra from East-Central; Niger and Sokoto from North-Western; Benue and Plateau from Benue-Plateau; and Bauchi, Borno, Gongola from North-Eastern. Lagos State's capital moved to Ikeja, and states were renamed to erase regional identities (Mid-West became Bendel, North-Central became Kaduna, South-Eastern became Cross River).
Dr. Patrick Dele Cole, then an administrative officer in the Cabinet Office, served as committee secretary. His career spanned managing director of Daily Times (1975), where he acquired "West Africa" magazine to counter apartheid propaganda; ambassador to Argentina and Brazil under Babangida, deepening Petrobras and naval cooperation; and special adviser to President Obasanjo (1999), negotiating Paris Club debt relief. Colleagues included future PDP founder Solomon Lar and Brigadier Ibrahim Bako.
With Dele Cole's recent passing, Nigeria loses a public servant who shaped state structure, media, diplomacy, and economic policy across four decades. His trajectory illustrates how technocrats navigated military and civilian eras to build enduring institutions.
What lessons from the 1976 state-creation exercise—designed to "erase memories of past political ties"—apply to today's restructuring debates?