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Tag: Niger Delta leaders

  • Niger Delta leaders urge Tinubu to address road, environmental issues

    Niger Delta leaders urge Tinubu to address road, environmental issues

    Niger Delta stakeholders, under the aegis of Concerned Leaders of the Niger Delta, have appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to urgently address deteriorating infrastructure and environmental challenges in their region.

    The group, led by a former acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ntufam Hilliard Etta, and an APC chieftain from Delta State, Chief Ayirimi Emami, met with President Tinubu yesterday at the State House to discuss the critical issues facing the Niger Delta region.

    Addressing State House correspondents after the meeting, Etta emphasised the pressing need for the Federal Government to help the region in tackling dilapidated roads and severe ecological degradation in Bayelsa, Ondo, Delta, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states.

    Read Also: How to avoid high electricity bills – EKEDC boss

    “We have some ecological concerns in Bayelsa, Ondo, and very bad roads in Delta, Bayelsa, Cross River, and Akwa Ibom states. In fact, the only road that connects Cross River and Akwa Ibom is impassable at this point. These are some of the issues we brought to his attention,” Etta said.

    The APC chieftain described President Tinubu as “attentive” and “positively disposed” towards the region’s concerns, but noted that specific timelines for interventions were not discussed.

    “We did not go into the details of timelines and all of that, but we have brought it to his attention. Because he is positively disposed to addressing these challenges facing our people, we are very sure that in no time he will pay attention to those matters,” he added.

    Eta also praised President Tinubu’s leadership style, stressing the need for patriotism in national development.

    “One of the things we discussed is the leadership Nigeria needs today. My own take is that technocrats do not build a nation; politicians don’t build a nation; only patriots do. We are happy that we have a patriot in Aso Villa. We are delighted that Nigeria is number one in this regard,” Etta said.

  • Killings: Service chiefs must go, say Niger Delta leaders

    SOME prominent Niger Delta leaders want President Muhammadu Buhari to sack his service chiefs as part of the solution to the bloodletting in the country especially.

    A former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udengs Eradiri and the current secretary general of the IYC,Alfred Kemepado said the security agencies need to be re-vitalized to cope with the current security challenge and the attendant loss of lives. But for Second Republic governor of the old Kaduna State,Alhaji Balarabe Musa,there appears to be no effective solution in sight.

    He told The Nation that everyone, including those who initially refused to acknowledge it, are now are now vulnerable to possibilities of encountering various unlawful criminal attacks. Eradiri said President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to extend the tenures of the service chiefs “went a long way to kill the morale of subordinate officers.”

    He said the leadership “must take responsibility and deal with the issue.” Also speaking, an opinion leader in Bayelsa State, Chief Thompson Okorotie, said the service agencies have “not done enough.”

    He added: “that is why some people are calling for their removal. I support that view if they are not able to develop strategies and proactive measures to stop the bloodletting. “The killing is too much. If there is no peace there can be no meaningful development. We want a united, indivisible, peaceful and prosperous country”. The Secretary-General of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) Worldwide, Alfred Kemepado, said President Muhammadu Buhari should “learn to visit scenes of killings as a positive demonstration of his body language that he is totally against such killings.

    “It will go a long way to put the killers in check and restore the confidence of the victims in the government. “It is high time to overhaul the security architecture. If overhauling will mean changing the service chiefs, so be it. If it means acquiring better security equipment to enhance the performance of security agencies so be it.

    “As it stands now, our security agencies are sleeping. It is not also out of place if security agencies go for more training or outsource some issues beyond them to consultants”.

    No effective solution in sight, says Balarabe Musa Also assessing the situation, Second Republic governor of the old Kaduna State,Alhaji Balarabe Musa said the first step in stopping the killings is that “we must all honestly acknowledge that Nigeria is presently in a quagmire,” and for the president to constitute a government of national unity.

    “The only possibility to avoid catastrophe is to persuade the President to constitute a Government of National Unity but the way things are now , that is mere wishful thinking – it will not work,” he said. Continuing,Musa said:“we cannot continue like this with these killings, we cannot continue with the lack of performance by this government; we have to find some other peaceful and democratic means or process towards resolving the problem. “But is the National Assembly capable or united enough for such responsibility? “Besides, can the National Assembly do it without the executive ? “So, whichever way you look at it, Nigeria is in a quagmire.

    “The only thing that can be done peacefully and democratically can only be done through an institution like the National Assembly but if all fails , the people may just have to take up the responsibility by themselves, peacefully and constitutionally.”

    There’s a difficult spiritual dimension –ACF chieftain Abdurahman A former Secretary of the Arewa Consultative Forum’s Political Committee,Alhaji Mohammed Abdulrahman expressed concern over the ethnic and religion coloration being given to the killings and said these do now augur well for the nation’s unity. He said such colorations are making the resolution of the conflicts difficult to achieve.

    He prayed that the current situation does not degenerate. “More than anything, there is a consistently-demonstrated lack of capacity in resolving or effectively ending the killings nationwide,” he added.

    Government must be proactive, says Ernest Irek A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Cross River State, Chief Ernest Irek urged the government to be proactive. He said: “ We have flashpoints in this country. We have Benue. We have Plateau. All those flashpoints should be checked. Is it when the problem goes round the whole country that we would wake up?

  • Our lawmakers don’t deserve re-election – Niger Delta leaders

    Niger Delta leaders yesterday called on their people to vote out current members representing them in the National Assembly in the 2019 General election.
    The leaders described their region’s members in the National Assembly  as insensitive, self-serving and incompetent insisting that they have no business in the assembly.
    They wondered what the lawmakers especially Senator  Ben Bruce representing the Bayelsa East with all his commonsense posturing were doing when all items concerning the Niger Delta in the budget were slashed.
    One of the leaders and former President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) worldwide, Udengs Eradiri, said there was no commonsense in reducing budgetary allocations for critical projects in a region, which produces resources to finance the entire budget.
    Eradiri said the actions of the lawmakers were provocative, sad and painful saying that the representatives were the real problems of the Niger Delta.
    He said it was obvious that the Federal Government and President Muhammadu Buhari meant well for the South-South and South-East regions.
    Eradiri said the region was particularly pained by the reforms real reductions of budgetary allocations for the East-West road and the Maritime University, Okerenkoko, Delta State.
    He said: ” It is unacceptable. This goes further to expose the kind of leadership that we have. I have further come to the conviction that the Federal Government is actually not our problem but our own people are our problems.
    “Where were our senators and our representatives from the Niger Delta when the budget went through the House. How come they don’t have a caucus that looked at those items that concern the Niger Delta and ensure that the are funded to better the lives of our people?
    “Niger Delta people are their own problems. What are the qualities of individuals they send to represent us? They cannot defend our people. They have no business in the National Assembly. Niger Delta people must vote out such individuals.
    “How can they sit down and allow our budgets to be reduced? It means that the President mean well for the Niger Delta but the Niger Delta representatives don’t mean well. How can they allow the East-West road to be reduced?
    “It is unimaginable that the lawmakers watched as the budget for the Maritime University which became the centre of disputes and led to the formation of all kinds of groups that caused bloodshed in this country and brought down the economy, was reduced.
    “Senators from the region were busy talking about commonsense but they don’t have commonsense to look at what concerned the region. It is annoying, provocative, sad and painful.
    “If it were my days in IYC, l would arranged to flog them. But Niger Delta people should not allow such persons go back to the National Assembly. We should emphasise on quality of persons representing the region. Niger Delta representatives are a disgrace”.

  • How to end herdsmen’s killings, by ACF, Iwuanyanwu, Niger Delta leaders, others

    From many quarters yesterday came kudos for the federal government  over  its latest initiative to stem the spate of killings by herdsmen across the country.

    But it was also told to be more pro-active in dealing with threats ,real and otherwise,to the lives and property of Nigerians.

    Government,on Thursday,adopted the recommendation of the committee set up by the National Economic Council (NEC) to stop movements  by nomadic  herdsmen starting with Adamawa,Benue,Kaduna,Plateau and Taraba –states worst hit  by herdsmen-farmers clashes.

    It said focus will now be on the creation of ranches where cows and their owners can have access to all they require.

    An Igbo leader and entrepreneur,Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Secretary General of  the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony N. Z Sani,Senior Advocate of Nigeria Niyi Akintola, chairman of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILoT), Chief Edward Ekpoko, and an Urhobo opinion leader, Chief Victor Otomiewo,all agreed that Nigeria has had enough of the recent bloodletting.

    They  spoke on a day the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) accused President Muhammadu Buhari of playing the ostrich by the way his government is handling the herdsmen issue.

    But Buhari for the umpteenth time declared that unity has always been his objective  and pledged to  “ continue to do everything within my powers to unite Nigeria.’’

    Chief Iwuanyanwu speaking to The Nation said: “”It is a very strange experience. Nigeria is at war considering the number of people we are losing every day.

    “I think the security agencies  need to tell Nigerians the truth about what is happening, starting from the Boko Haram menace to the issue of herdsmen.

    “Up till now, we don’t know who they are  and where they come from.  I don’t have any doubt in my mind that the problem has internal collusion .

    “I am not even sure that the people who are arrested are the perpetrators of the crime. It looks to me like a well planned operation. Many people believe there is internal collusion and Gen. T.Y. Danjuma was bold enough to say this.

    “This is a war situation and we need  to do something to help those who are suffering.

    “If we continue this way, we are going to destroy this country. The country is on the brink of collapse.

    The case of Benue is very serious  and it has suffered more than Bornu. We have the North East Development Commission that is taking  care of  Bornu. The  same should be done to Benue, Taraba, Nassarawa and Plateau.”

    In a separate interview ,the Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Mr. Anthony N. Z Sani advised the  federal government to  meet with all the state governors , chairmen of local governments and all stake holders “with a view to coming out with how best the mindless killings could be stopped and give way for the economic activities to thrive.

    “Because of the overwhelming challenges posed by these clashes, any plans and programs of stopping the killings should include short, medium and long terms.

    “Surely, ranches are the best practices in the world, but because of the limited resources and capacity on the part of not only the pastoralists but also on the part of governments at all level, it may be necessary to approach the introduction of the ranches gradually as resources and capacity permit.

    “That is why I commend the decision by the National Economic Council to start the process of introduction of ranches in some five states now with clear understanding by governors and all the stake holders that they need to work together ensure the plans and the programs succeed for the good of all concerned.

    “This is very important because peaceful coexistence is sine qua non for any meaningful socioeconomic development.

    “All Nigerians need peace to be able to sublimate their time and energy in order for both the country and the individuals to thrive.”

    Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Chief Niyi Akintola warned: “This problem is speeding gradually  and we don’t know where it will spread to  tomorrow.I foresee a situation where people  will confront the security agencies  weapon for weapon. We need to increase the strength of the security agencies  and build the  confidence in the people.

    “What is happening in Benue is a confirmation of the postulation of TY Danjuma.  The old man was right.

    “I am worried about the loss of confidence of the people in our security agencies. Tthe mantra now is self defence. The self defence as propagated by Gen  TY Danjuma is now getting  a wider acceptance and approval across the country. The country will need to do more on enlightenment than appealing to the people.  The government has to be proactive.”

    The youth wing of  the Igbo apex socio cultural group, Ohanaeze Ndigbo called for “security screening, registration, and regulation of herdsmen’s activities.”

    It also asked to  herdsmen to “always allow the rule of law to prevail since we are in a democracy and the military, Police, SSS et al; should be given enough logistics and equipment to eradicate the  herdsmen menace.”

    The chairman of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought (ILoT), Chief Edward Ekpoko, and an Urhobo opinion leader, Chief Victor Otomiewo, said government should tighten internal security.

    “I think the whole herdsmen problem goes beyond dispute over grazing areas, it’s beyond that. The killings in Benue in the last three days, in which they had to go into churches, shooting people, what has that got to do with grazing? I think the thing is just pure insecurity; our  borders are too porous, especially in the north,” Otomiewo told The Nation.

    “It is unfortunate that rather than face the real issues, people are playing politics with the lives of Nigerians. You want Buhari to solve every security problem in every corner of Nigeria, but in the meantime you have governors who are pocketing security vote every month. You have council chairmen who are pocketing security vote, nobody is asking questions about that one.

  • Niger Delta leaders urge Avengers not to resume attacks

    Niger Delta leaders urge Avengers not to resume attacks

    IJaw leaders in Warri, Delta State, have appealed to Niger Delta Avengers and other militant groups not to resume attacks on oil facilities.

    A body, the Warri Ijaw Peace Monitoring Group (WIPMG), warned that toeing the path of destruction of oil facilities would spell doom for residents.

    Chief Patrick Bigha, WIPMG chairman, said in a statement yesterday: “We wish to call on agitating groups in the oil rich Niger Delta to explore non-violent means to engage governments and international oil companies.”

    He said: “Resorting to the destruction of oil facilities will attract military actions and harassment of perceived enemies by the Federal Government.

    “This call has become imperative, as we have observed that the military is swift in harassing innocent villagers, particularly communities along the oil rich Warri-Escravos area.

    “We have noticed that the military and other security agencies have started plans to go after persons perceived as enemies of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration.

    “It is worthy of note that this method of the military has never helped the people, as it has worsened their precarious socio-economic situation.”

    Bigha said the group believed that a peaceful resolution of the problems, which successive governments, including the present one, had acknowledged, would usher in development.

    “The truth of the matter is that so much money has been expended on military actions without achieving peace. It has become a stock in trade of the military to use violence in dealing with the Niger Delta situation because they are gaining so much from such crude methods of resolving crises.

    “We are aware of military men, who have made so much money from the problems in the region without addressing the main issues that brought about the problems.”

    He said WIPMG was happy with the peace at Warri-Escravos route and appealed to agitating groups to embrace peaceful means while making demands.

  • Militancy: Niger Delta leaders call for calm

    Some leaders from the Niger Delta have appealed to the Niger Delta Avengers (NDA), which has threatened to resume violent agitation in the oil-rich region, to sheathe its sword.

    The group, popularly referred to as ‘the Avengers’ had at the weekend called off its unilateral ceasefire, warning oil companies of imminent bloody attacks on their facilities and personnel in the region and citing federal government’s failure to devote serious attention to issues affecting their homeland.

    But reacting to the development during a chat in Warri yesterday, the spokesman of Gbaramatu Kingdom in Warri Southwest Council area of Delta State, Chief Godspower Gbenekama, while calling on the group to calm down and suspend plans of attack, faulted the federal government for not living up to its promises to the region.

    According to him, the federal government had failed to fulfil any of the promises that led to the suspension of the hostilities, more than one year after meeting with leaders of the region under the aegis of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).

    “We admonish the avengers to sheathe their swords. Whatever is making them angry is justifiable. Oil is the blood of the nation. Destroying oil and gas facilities will do us no good.

    “It’s one year and two days since PANDEF tendered the 16-point agenda to the president after pleading with the Avengers. So why won’t they be angry? Perhaps the threats from the Avengers will wake the government up. They should remember that the Avengers are not laptop criminals, but real agitators.

    “On the Maritime University, nothing seems to be happening. The N2 billion, which is even small has not been released. The Delta State government should also do something. The peace we’ve been enjoying is that of the graveyard because the FG is not doing anything to ease the problem. The EPZ project is on hold.”

    Also, national Coordinator of the Pan Niger Delta People’s Congress, (PNDPC) Chief Mike Loyibo, has urged all the agitators to give peace a chance even though he admitted the fact their reasons to return to the trenches are quite genuine given  government’s slow pace response to the agreement reached on November 1, 2016 in Abuja.

    While stating that bombing is not an option to the peaceful resolution of the problem in the region, Loyibo, noted that the earlier the militants realised that no one has the monopoly of violence the better for the region as the constant threat to destruction of the nation’s critical assets would do no one, no good.

    According to him, “I agree that the government had been very slow in responding to the demands of the people in the region, but then, we have seen reasonable show of commitment on the part of the government in the taking off of the Maritime University in Okerenkoko, and others. So we can still give them more time to do more.

    “Our brother and son Goodluck Ebele Jonathan was in power for six years, if we had put so pressure on him then like we are doing with the present government perhaps we would have seen the region transformed to Dubai by now but no, we allowed him have his way throughout the period he was in office and did nothing for the region and now we are crying neglect and marginalisation.”

    Responding to the issue of warning by the Avengers to some groups and individuals described as political jobbers in the struggle, Loyibo, noted that it was one of the reasons why his group, the PNDPC had to break away from the PANDEF when it was discovered that its leadership had started playing politics with the struggle.

     

  • ‘We believe in united Nigeria’

    Niger Delta leaders on Friday insisted on a fair, just and equitable country as opposed to a break-up canvassed recently by the Spokesman of the Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF), Ango Abdullahi.

    The National Coordinator of Pan Niger Delta Peoples Congress (PNDPC), Chief Mike Loyibo, said though they were not afraid of breakup, they had unanimously agreed that Nigeria would be better as one entity.

    He said they would continue to advocate a restructured Nigeria where states would be allowed to control their resources and pay certain amount of taxes to the Federal Government.

    He said they were tired of the current lopsided arrangement where the region which feeds the country, remains marginalised in key security and oil and gas positions.

    He said: “Our problem is that of injustice. The constitution itself is defective and we have been long marginalised. What we are simply saying is true federalism where the regions are allowed to develop at their own pace. Allow us to control and manage our resources and we pay certain taxes to the government.

    “Nobody is afraid of breakup after all Nigeria was a forced marriage. Our position as Niger Delta leaders is that there should be restructuring. We want a structure that will address the injustice we have. For instance among all the MOPOL commanders, no Niger Delta is a MOPOL commander.

    “Look at the recent appointments in NNPC, there was a very serious injustice to the people of the region. Look at other sectors, the injustices are there. The government has been very unfair to us. I don’t support breakup but I support one Nigeria where there will be justice, equity and every side will be allowed to develop at their own pace.

    “Obafemi Awolowo succeeded that much because there was cocoa and the region was only paying taxes to the Federal Government. Ango Abdullahi is entitled to his opinion. I am surprised because that man is always speaking from both sides of his mouth. The other day he said it was not resource control but resource management.

    Also, the former President of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, Mr. Udens Eradiri, said though breaking up was not an impossible task, Nigeria would only remain stronger as a united country.

    He said the country must be restructured to ensure equity and justice, adding that devolution of power enable states to develop at their pace.

     

  • Devolution of power: Niger Delta leaders kick

    The Edwin Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) yesterday chided the National Assembly for rejecting the devolution of power to states in its constitution amendment bid.

    The group gave the Federal Government up till November 1 to meet its 16 -point demand, failing which it would consider pulling out of the ongoing peace process in the region.

    Besides, it called on the government to halt what it called  the injustice in the oil sector by ensuring equity in distribution and allocation of appointments in government owned oil agencies.

    Chief Clark wondered why the government would not want to dialogue with the group.

    Speaking in Abuja yesterday on the failure of the federal lawmakers to vote in favour ofpower devolution to states, the former federal commissioner (minister) said “the actions of the members of the National Assembly, does not reflect the minds of Nigerians who voted them to office”

    He described as “appalling that they have failed to put Nigerians into consideration. This is against the interest of the unity of the country.

    “All we are saying is, “No Restructuring, no Nigeria.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, and for the attention of those opposing the correction of the wrongness and oppressive unfairness of the political structure of the present Nigerian constitution, the nationwide call for restructuring is not a call against any part of, or group in the country. Nigerians negotiated within and amongst themselves, and with the British government, a political structure for independence.

    “The system even if not exactly perfect, protected each and every section of the country as much as possible. Each has good reasons to be part of Nigeria, exercising guaranteed rights over it’s area of jurisdiction. Each contributed proportionately, according to it’s ability, to rest of the country.”

    The group also posited that the continuous existence of the country lies in restructuring.

    “All we are saying is, let us go back to the negotiated 1960 independence constitution, on which the 1963 Republican constitution was molded. IFF there be anything wrong with that constitution, it can become an issue to ameliorate, by amicable negotiations and consensus.

    “Anything else is most obnoxious, and totally unacceptable to the peoples  of the entire southern and Middle Belt areas of Nigeria,  as well as the growing numbers of well-meaning Nigerians from the Northern part of the country.

    “I wish to urge the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency, implement the pronouncements made by the Acting President, His Excellency, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, during his fact-finding visits to the Niger Delta region, and to set up, without delay, the Federal Government dialogue team to engage PANDEF, towards resolving the pending issues contained in the forum’s 16-point demands on behalf of the people of the Niger Delta region by or before, November 2017.

    “We submitted a 16-point demand to Mr. President on November 1, 2016, and we had expected that by the next anniversary, the 16-point agenda would have been comprehensive sorted out.

    “If, at the expiration of the November 1,2107, ultimatum, the Federal Government fails and or refuses to accede to these lawful and. Legitimate demands of the Niger Delta people, PANDEF may consider pulling out of the ongoing peace process in the Niger Delta.”

    The group also queried the rationale behind allocating six seats for the North in the nine member board of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, which included the Chief of Staff to the President Mallam Abba Kyari.

    PANDEF which also spoke against the age long deprivation of the people of the oil rich region in the scheme of things in the oil sector described as shocking that virtually all the oil blocks and marginal oil fields in the country are owned by Northerners and their counterparts in other part of the Nigeria, mostly South-Westerners and South-Easterners.

    Clark posited that it was his duty to point out to the government what he described as “marginalization and neglect of the region.”

    He called for a deliberate review to involve qualified indigenes of the oil and gas host communities in top and middle level positions as well as in the allocation of oil literate blocs/marginal fields in the oil and gas industry.

  • Clark, Niger Delta leaders reject return to militancy

    Clark, Niger Delta leaders reject return to militancy

    Stakeholders in Niger Delta want restive armed groups in the region to call off their planned resumption of violent attacks on oil and gas installations in the region.

    Some militant groups, during the week, threatened to resume bombing of oil and gas facilities as well as violent engagement of the nation’s military forces, citing alleged reluctance by the federal government to keep its most recent promises to the people of the region.

    But some of the critical stakeholders of the region, who spoke to The Nation in Warri on the matter, expressed the view that violence would not give the desired development, peace and clean environment to the people, the seeming unwillingness of government notwithstanding.

    While the Chief Edwin Clark-led Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) believes the federal government is doing its homework on the issues at stake to ensure enduring results, the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC) and other stakeholders say the solution does not lie in   violent engagement.

    The Coordinator of PANDEF’s secretariat and member of its Central Working Committee (CWC), Dr Fred Mulade, said there would be no need for any violence as the body was properly engaging government, adding that there were fruits from the engagements, more of which would become tangible soon.

    “We had a general assembly in Uyo on March 30 and we had a robust discussion and as I am talking to you now, the federal government has set up the Inter-Agency Committee which is looking into our 16-point agenda and their 3-point agenda and see how they can develop a work plan for the development of the region.

    “Quite a good number of these boys have called me and I have had cause to explain to them that what we are doing is to see that there’s benefit for everybody and you know when things like these happen, you need to really sit down and plan properly so that you don’t repeat the mistake they made in the past.

    “PANDEF is trying as much as possible to see that the federal government is engaged, although there’s not been any full blown dialogue yet, at the smaller levels we are ensuring that the right thing is being done and that’s what we’ve been telling them that there’s no point in returning to the creek or resorting to any disturbance at this stage, we have moved beyond that.

    “What we keep telling them is to be patient because it really takes time for things to work out and by the grace of God things have started working out; we’ve started working with the federal government to develop a work plan for the region,” Mulade said.

    Also, President of the IYC, Eric Omare, urged the threatening armed groups to jettison their plans of returning to militancy, noting that the process of getting justice had gone beyond arms struggle, adding that the best option available to the people of the region to perpetuate their engagement with government and demand for even more than government had promised.

    “What we should do at this point is to remind government and to ask that they should fulfil their promise. It has not got to the point where people should resort to violence because government has failed in its promise to the region. I don’t think calling for or threatening violence now is necessary, we have not gotten to that level, but we’ll continue to remind government and demand that they fulfil their promises to the region and also do more,” Omare said.

    Also calling for calm and new thinking in the struggle for the development of the oil-rich region, environmental activist and the Secretary of the Egbema/Gbaramatu Community Development Foundation (EGCDF), Comrade Sheriff Mulade, charged both PANDEF and the federal government to play their roles and assure the people of the region of sincerity and desired development by starting to take vivid steps towards all demands.

    “For now, they have no reason to resume hostilities in the Niger Delta because we need peace for development. The next line of action for the leaders of the region is constructive engagement; our leaders should continue to speak, under the umbrella of PANDEF, on behalf of the people and continue to engage government, forget about selfishness and stomach infrastructure they had been engaged in and come out openly to discuss on behalf of the people of the Niger Delta, irrespective of ethnic backgrounds.

    “Government, on its own, should come out with concrete action plans, not mere policy statements, to show that they are ready and start implementing some critical plans as demanded by the people. We are not expecting this government to do magic, but we want to start seeing concrete steps to show that they are ready,” Mulade said.

  • Negotiating with Niger Delta leaders

    Negotiating with Niger Delta leaders

    President Muhammadu Buhari met the leaders/representatives of the Niger Delta, or rather the oil producing states, on November 1, 2016 on the lingering economic and security issues in the oil producing areas. The Niger Delta leaders presented a list of 16 demands as condition for peace in the region. Further, two other demands were added: that there should be no mistake of announcing policies and plans, relating to the issues, without vigorous public scrutiny and inputs; and that the problem would remain if those affected were excluded from the process of designing the solutions to those problems. Yet, the leaders were said to have condemned criminality and destruction of national assets in the region. On his own part, the President told the leaders that he did not want a quick solution to the issues they raised, but that he needed to get to the root of the matter.

    Indeed, the President’s quest and responsibility for first getting to the root of the issues is what leadership demands. However, that is where the real problem lies. We all want to go to heaven, but none of us wants to die or even obey the Lord’s commands as preconditions. We want to take all the money, but expect someone else to take care of our needs. Nearly all the 16 demands of the Niger Delta are cost related and justification given for previous interventions received, including some that were not sought for. But, then, where is the money? It is with oil producing states. In this month (October) alone, while the states in the federation (including the oil producing) shared N135.56bn, eight oil producing states first received N28.4bn under derivation. Nothing was given to solid mineral producing states. Therefore, to address these issues the rights of the oil producing states must be known and appreciated by the Federal Government on the one hand and the oil producing states, communities and individuals on the other.

    These rights, as specific to the region and general to all the federating units, are imbedded in the constitution and other international laws and agreements. Yet, these documents were thrown away by two arms of government: the Executive and the Legislature. We cannot blame the Judiciary as no interpretation was demanded of it. The seed of the problem was sown by the former. As far back as 2000 when I was on the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee as the Accountant-General of Kaduna State, I drew the attention of the committee’s obvious errors in the computation of the mineral revenue as a basis for implementing the 13% derivation to no avail. To drive the point further, I wrote a paper to show the error being committed by the committee for which no correction was made. As if this error was not enough, the National Assembly came and abolished the onshore-offshore dichotomy in the determination of the mineral revenue.

    Every dialogue and negotiation starts with each party sitting on its right and understanding the rights of the other followed by concessions. The Federation Account Allocation Committee, FAAC, had unilaterally, against the constitution and outside the demand of the oil producing states, grouped revenues not provided by the constitution into mineral revenues. Historical antecedents and constitutional provisions are very clear on this. Drawing from my 2000 paper, I shall summarise this.

    The inclusion of derivation as a factor in the allocation of national revenue is not new. The Phillipson Commission Report, 1946, considered three principles for sharing non-declared revenue (revenues collected by the Central Government) to include: derivation, even progress and population of the then regional governments. This was implemented from 1948-1952. The Hicks Phillipson Commission Report of 1951 considered four factors: Independent revenue, derivation, need and national interest. This ran for two years only. The Chick Commission of 1953 had, as part of its terms of reference, the task of ensuring “that the total revenue available to the nation are allocated in such a way that the principle of derivation is followed to the fullest, compatible with meeting the reasonable needs of the centre and each region”. This operated for five years, 1954 -1959. While mineral royalties were allocated in full to the regions from which the mineral was extracted, company tax (including companies engaged in mining) proceeds were retained in full by the centre. There was also Raismen Commission (1958) whose report was implemented from 1960 – 1965. In this, revenue from mining rents and royalties were allocated among the regions whose areas the mining existed, the centre and the distributable pool. There was also the Binns Commission Report (1964) that had among its terms “examining the appropriateness, in the prevailing circumstances (then) in the country, of the formula for the allocation of the proceeds of mining rents and royalties laid down in Section 140 of the Nigerian Constitution”. The commission focused on the Distributable Pool Account and rejected sharing among the regions on the basis of derivation. The principle of financial needs was also rejected and the Distributable Pool was allocated in the ratio of 42:30:20:8 to Northern Region, Western Region, Eastern Region and Mid-Western Region respectively. The basis for the distribution was “financial accountability”.

    With the coup in 1966, the constitution decree No 15 of 1967 was promulgated and 12 states created. The only change the military did was to share to the states in each region what accrued to the regions. There was also the Okigbo Report, after which little modifications were made to the formula of sharing the distributable revenue for some time. A weight of 1% on mineral revenue had been allowed for derivation until the 1999 constitution put a final seal on the issue of derivation – a minimum of 13% inserted. Section 162(2) which took effect from 1st January 2000;

    “…Provided that the principle of derivation shall be constantly reflected in any formula as being not less than thirteen percent of the revenue accruing to Federation Account directly from any natural resources”(Emphasis provided).

    The stock of literature provided by the reports of the various ad-hoc committees/commissions for the review of the fiscal arrangements has not provided the list of revenue items that constitute the mineral revenue – as well as the constitution. However, mention was frequently made of mineral rents and royalties whenever derivation principle was recommended. Interestingly, all agitations for derivation were only on the two – rents and royalties. The constitution drafters must have, also, had this in mind to have used the phrase “directly from any natural resources”. Only the two qualify: rent payable on land allocated and royalty payable on oil realised.

    Despite the clarity of the reports and the constitution, the FAAC ignored the provisions therein and decided to be calculating and paying the 13% on a sum of six revenue items, namely: Crude oil receipt, petroleum profit tax, royalty, rent, penalty for gas flared and petroleum inspectorate charges. It also ignored all international conventions that stipulate off shore as only under national governments – not states. Additional explanation can be given.

    One, crude oil receipts represent the sale proceed from the sale of the share from investment in the joint venture with some oil majors. This crude should have been charged royalty on the total volume, including the portion attributable to the oil major. Further charges is like a farmer letting a piece of land for a fee and token (royalty) on yield then coming round to demand share from sales proceed from the sale of farm produce realised and/or profit. Two, profit tax is payable by the companies engaged in the oil business on their operations after realising oil and payments of rents and royalties. Every company is subjected to taxation. Having received rent and royalties, receiving tax income will amount to double charges by the OPS and negating the constitutional provision – direct and natural. Three, penalty for gas flared has an inverse relationship with the quality of natural resources realise, the more gas a company flares, the more money it pays. As in the name, it is a penalty for refusing to use natural resources and not for derivation. Four, inspectorate charges has nothing to do with real oil, but a kind of levy to help fund the Ministry or the Inspectorate Department in the discharge of inspectorate activities.

    Therefore, while the President struggles with the 16 demands from the Niger Delta, the first is to follow the advice of the leaders: subjecting the demands to vigorous public scrutiny and inputs, including all those affected in the process of designing the solutions to these problems – this will include all federating units; as well as his promise to take his time to get to the root of the matter. Doing these will take him to understanding that a number of things have gone wrong, especially duplications in resource allocation and institutional arrangements – MDAs, states, appointments, projects and other incentives created. He will also realise that even with Fiscal Federalism and full resource control, the OPS will not partake in crude oil sale and they also agree to let go tax. Thus, the President needs to understand these fully and also make the region understand as well. While the centre can handle some, others will call for understanding and acceptance of other stakeholders – states and local governments. A constitutional tinkering may also be required for some. This, I strongly caution, as the obvious consequences are dare and historically unpleasant. It further needs to be understood that whatever is agreed upon should be a standard applicable to other oil producing states, including Lagos and those likely to come on board in the Chad Basin, Bida Trough and Benue Valley, as well as a solid mineral producing areas.

    As a general guide, every negotiation should, in meeting the yearnings of any group or political enclave, work towards achieving the objective of allocating scarce resources as to enhance national development and unity. To the oil producing states or rather, mineral producing states in general, that receive deviation, it will be prudent, transparent, accountable and purposeful for each to create a fund into which the monthly collection will be budgeted, lodged and utilised independently with active participation of all stakeholders in the state. This fund should cater for most of the issues the states agitate for and the reasons for the derivation principle.

     

    • Haruna Y. Sa’eed wrote from Kaduna.