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Resource Control Set To Tear Nigeria Apart

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Author: Sunny Ofehe
Posted to the web: 7/16/2005 12:02:14 PM

Following the impasse at the National Political Reform Conference between delegates from the South-South and the North, political nerves have been frayed. In particular, political battle lines have been drawn between Nigerians from the oil-producing states and those from the non-oil producing states. The unexpected development has led to a tumultuous debate between Nigerians who want a change in the status quo and those who want things to remain the way they are in the management of the oil business in Nigeria. The debate is straining the country, just like the debate over Aburi Conference strained and eventually led to the bloody civil war. In my article published in this same newspaper in July, I made it clear that the issue of resource control if not well handled could lead to greater political and civil unrest in the Niger Delta which could threatened the unity of the country.  The South-South delegates comprises of six oil producing states which are Delta, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers and Akwa-Ibom. As its stands now, the National Conference has closed without resolving the issue. This has threatened to fast-track Nigeria on a journey of no return. Nigeria’s President Olusegun Obasanjo has never underestimated the problems with running Africa’s most populous country and perhaps, most ethnically diverse country. But in recent times, even Obasanjo, politically savvy and tested war general has had to admit that he sits atop a volcano about to erupt. Assailed with accusations from proponents and opponents of more derivation for the people of the mineral- producing states in the Niger Delta, Obasanjo would need the mythical wisdom of King Solomon to walk the landmines without letting off any explosions. The issue of resource control has so much to do with the failure of leadership in the country. Successive Nigerian leaders ignored or failed to resolve substantive national issues. Each time they were confronted with a serious political issue, they would push it aside or threaten to use force to stop the matter from being discussed or resolved amicably. In fact, the current National Political Reform Conference is actually a staged substitute for a Sovereign National Conference because the president and the power-wielders did not want to confront the issues that have prevented or thwarted unity and progress. The failure to deal with critical national matters, since independence, led to the demand for creation of states, the Tiv riots, the civil war, the religious riots, Bakassi imbroglio, and resource control. For now, resource control is the hottest topic in town. So, what is the issue about resource control? Basically, the oil-producing states are demanding a greater input in the control and management of oil business in the country. They want the following changes so that equity can take place in the allocation of revenue and the use of oil revenue for the development of the country:
1.The restoration of the principle of derivation as the impetus for the allocation of oil revenue. 2.A demand for increase in oil revenue allocation from the current 13% to 25 or 50%. 3.The elimination of the Petroleum Act, the Land Use Decrees, the National Waterways Decree, and any other law or decree which concentrates too much power in the hands of the national government and contributes to the unequal distribution of oil revenue. 4.The management of the oil business by the states and not by the Federal Government. 5.A true national development plan that is reflective of the national character and not selective development.The matter of resource control has remained a recurring decimal in the country’s history from 1958 when the North insisted that it was the only condition for their participation in the entity called Nigeria. Obasanjo knows what the history books say. He also knows the reality on the ground. The problem he now faces is how to ensure that the past and the present do not combine to truncate the future.  And that decision, he has to make quickly.

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