Emma Amaize
10 August 2008
Niger Delta leaders say their minimum demand for peace in the oil rich region is the enthronement of true federalism and abrogation of laws that infringe on their rights as a people.
IF you are a South-South crusader; or you are not even from the South-South, but you truly want to know what the people of the Niger-Delta want from the nation; why they are livid; why some of the youths relocated to the creek and are not prepared to drop their guns; and you were not at the two-day "Legislative Retreat on Constitution Review" in Port Harcourt, organized by the Vanguard Newspapers, then you not only missed, you neglected and let pass a very important opening to deepen your knowledge.
How would you have known that despite your perception of the vice president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, he believes very strongly that the various laws promulgated by the military, which deprived the Niger-Delta people of their lands and oil, were repressive and should be repealed since you were not there? And do you know that despite his reported condemnation of armed militancy, as a way of returning the nation to true federalism, Rivers State governor, Chief Rotimi Amaechi, probably was ready to sponsor the Niger-Delta struggle with the funds of the state government if the militants were ideological in their struggle?
Do you also know that in spite of the impression by many people that the people of the region are hostile and inhospitable, it is the view of Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, that "there is as yet no group of people more open to foreigners and to the concept of new ideas, human progress and mutual co-habitation than the people of the region?"
Will it sound crazy to you that even when the militants themselves wear hoods to hide their identities and some people deny them because of the criminalization of the struggle by some bad elements among them, that there are people who are ready to identify publicly with them? Among them is a Kalabari elder, Chief Anabs Sara-Igbe, who stated at the retreat that he is a militant.
Former PDP female presidential aspirant from Delta State, Ambassador Elizabeth Ogbon-Day, said it was the militants that made the Niger-Delta not to be a conquered territory by the Nigerian nation today and called for more action by the region to achieve its quest for true federalism while Hon. Dr. Daba Boyle of the Niger-Delta Women in Business, speaking for the Niger-Delta mothers, left no one in doubt that the militants were children of the Niger-Delta and the women were behind them in the devoted battle to emancipate the region.
She argued that the fact that some criminals had infiltrated the struggle would not make her to reject them; rather, the women of the region were ready to enter the creek to speak to their sons that have criminalized the struggle to abandon the appalling path and tread the "righteous" path. In fact, one of the former "super" federal permanent secretaries, Chief Phillip Asiodu, said pointedly that the militants should not be demonized because they were involved in a battle to liberate their region.
In all, what the Niger-Delta people want, from speaker after speaker, at the retreat, is simply true federalism with all its accompanying ingredients which include resource control and abrogation of all obnoxious laws that deny them the benefits of the God-given resources in their land. Interestingly, when it was practised in the past, the principle of true federalism, according to Uduaghan "stimulated all the regions/geo-political zones of Nigeria to exert themselves, exploit their resources and fully express their unique endowments."
The chief convener and chairman of Vanguard Media Limited, Mr. Sam Amuka, actually set the ball rolling when he challenged the political leaders and people of the region to articulate a common and coherent voice in response to President Umaru Yar'Adua's call for peace in the region for the Federal Government to develop the area.
Amaechi, who delivered the keynote address, took a swipe at the militants for destroying the economy of the region and lacking ideology in their fight, which, from the present-day realities, was clearly a criminal action that requires to be dealt with by force. His eyes bulged as he spoke in his characteristic blunt manner, narrating the economic losses militancy had caused to Rivers State, saying that the story was the same in all the south-south states.
It was obvious that while Delta governor agreed with his Rivers counterpart that militancy was a criminal act, he felt the people should not be castigated the way Amaechi put it as he pointed out: "My contention is that it is a national problem that festered because of absence of justice, accountability, respect and a sense of reciprocal partnership."
Uduaghan, who later delivered a paper entitled, 'Solving the Niger-Delta problem- The law and the people: An overview of Legislations impeding on the Socio-Economic Development of the South-South region.
The Land Use Act as a case study,' said, "With the growing awareness and increasing availability and access to information by the youths of the Niger-Delta, only a timely adjustment of the outdated and repugnant military legislations can guarantee the unity of the country." Warning that the time to act is now, he noted, "Very importantly, the issue of gas flaring must be frontally confronted now to stop the continuous wasting of the ever depleting non-renewable gas assets of the Niger-Delta region, the volume of gas flared annually as we now know can sufficiently generate enough energy to power the entire country and even beyond.
"I wish to say that the solution to the seeming stubborn South-South question is not an abstract one, it is real and it is within achievable distance. It only demands political will, a genuine return to the basic principle of justice, equity and respect", he said.
He was aghast that the solution to the Niger-Delta question had been discovered long ago but the there was no political will to tackle ill. The Delta governor went on: The Willinks Commission Report of 1957 has continued to haunt the country because it carried out a thorough analyses of the circumstances of the Niger-Delta people, came up with far-reaching recommendations which included, among others, giving a special status to the Niger-Delta among the federating units of Nigeria with a view to effectively ensure balance of interest in the face of imminent dominant hold on power by the major ethnic tribes."
It is regrettable that 50 years after, what the country has done is merely nibble at the Commission's recommendations. By 2005, another opportunity arose to deal with the concerns of the region at the National Political Reforms Conference, the representatives of the region at the 2005 conference demanded for a phased increment of the percentage of derivation from 13 per cent to 25 percent and gradually to 50 percent, this modest and reasonable demand was stoutly rejected.
That missed opportunity, perhaps, sent very clear signals of a grand conspiracy to keep the Niger-Delta region perpetually under-developed and neglected. Obviously, there is no constitutional impediment to the demands for at least 50 per cent derivation, after all, section 162 (2) of the 1999 Constitution provides for 13 per cent as the minimum. The failure of the National Political Reforms Conference to address the problems of the Niger-Delta region dashed the hope of the people and opened the floodgate of the current restiveness in the region. Barely a year after the conference, a new culture of youth militancy has evolved in the Niger-Delta".
Uduaghan dismissed the contention that the South-South people were hostile and inhospitable because of the now notorious incidence of hostage taking and attacks on oil and gas installations, saying, "Nothing can be farther from the truth, as history shows, there is as yet no group of people more open to foreigners and to the concept of new ideas, human progress and mutual co-habitation than the people of the region."
The governor said the source of the current aberration was a national problem that festered because of "absence of justice, accountability, respect and a sense of reciprocal partnership."
Starting with the Petroleum Act, Cap P10, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, he said the Act, which was promulgated by General Yakubu Gowon in 1969 and vested ownership and control of, and all on-shore and off-shore revenue from the petroleum resources in the Federal Government, as a war time instrument of achieving national cohesion and even development, "has grown into a monster in our statute books" and was the origin of the unification of the power to govern that power of ownership of oil and gas resources in the Federal Government.
Uduaghan argued that this was in contravention of the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions which deeply entrenched the principles of derivation as the basis of resource allocation in Nigeria and which also encouraged and stimulated all the regions/geo-political zones of Nigeria to exert themselves, exploit their resources and fully express their unique endowments.
On the Land Use Act of 1978, which he said was clearly and deservedly the most criticized piece of legislation in our legal history, he said it drastically changed the land tenure system in Nigeria, pointing out, "Under the Act, ownership and control of all lands in Nigeria are vested in the governor of each state who is clothed with power to issue and revoke rights of occupancy over land.
Overnight, all previous land owners became mere occupiers (tenants/leasees) of their own lands. This is the origin of the argument that the oil and gas resources found in the Niger-Delta belong to Nigeria and not the people of the region. Under the previous arrangement, oil and gas companies usually paid compensation to land owners for the exploration and exploitation activities carried out thereon."
He said the Land Use Act "is an offensive law that has been widely thumbed down", as it is pretentious and its key character of making land available to all Nigerians, irrespective of where they live or their state of origin has failed. "One main snag is that, in operation, this Act became a ploy by the Federal Government to get round the common law principle that vests ownership of whatever attaches to land on the land owner.
It violates the maxim that, 'he who owns the land owns the improvements thereon. "Further more, the Land Use Act speedily migrated from being an ordinary Act of the National Assembly to become a part of the Constitution. By section 315 (5) (d) of the 1999 Constitution, the provisions of the Land Use Act shall continue to apply and have full effects in accordance with the tenor and to the extent as any other provisions forming part of the Constitution and shall not be altered or repealed except in accordance with the provisions of section 9 (2) of the Constitution. It has been observed that the implication of the provision is that the principles of landholding in Nigeria are constitutionally fixed and frozen."
Uduaghan also picked holes in Section 44 (3) of the 1999 Constitution which provides that "Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the entire property in and control of minerals, mineral oils and natural gas in , under or upon any land in Nigeria or in, under or upon the territorial waters and the Exclusive Economic Zone of Nigeria shall vest in the government of the Federation and shall be managed in such manner as may be prescribed by the National Assembly", saying, "Thus, under this legal cloak, the economic rights of our people for ample compensation from resources taken from the land were circumscribed. Since these actions were taken, it has been difficult for the people to accept that these actions were not deliberately designed to exclude them from full enjoyment of life, which ironically the Constitution purports to promote."
Straighforward address
He expressed the hope that the retreat by Vanguard would provide a springboard for the lawmakers from the Niger-Delta and indeed everyone to assemble their views towards resolving the challenges of the region. Governor Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa State urged a return to true federalism just like others who spoke at the retreat. If there was any fear that the Federal Government is against the revoking of the obnoxious laws, Jonathan dispelled the fear with his straightforward address, which he also observed were stultifying the growth of the Niger-Delta.
As a former governor of Bayelsa State, the vice president empathized with the Niger-Delta governors over the security problems they were facing and urged the participants at the retreat to come up with solutions to the many problems of the region. Former Supreme Court Judge, Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte (rtd.), who was the chairman of the retreat, said the region had suffered tremendous neglect, urging other regions to support its quest for the enthronement of true federalism and abrogation of the obnoxious laws.
One voice: From all other speakers at the retreat, including a senior lecturer at the University of Calabar, Dr. Michael Ibang, speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon Martin Okonta, MOSOP president, Ledum Mitee, Chief Albert Horsfal, former civilian governors of Edo State, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Senator David Brigidi, Chief Edwin Clark, the people of the South-South resolved that they want true federalism and repeal of all the obnoxious laws that expropriated their lands, oil and gas from them.
How to go about it: The way to go about it, according to Senator Omafume Onoge, Senator Felix Ibru, Senator Nimi Amange and others who spoke on the matter, is to lobby members of the National Assembly to understand the position of the Niger-Delta people and support them in enthroning true federalism. A committee is likely to be set up to assist the lawmakers in lobbying the other sections of the country.
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