‘Niger Delta resources don’t belong to Nigeria,’ Afenifere tells Obasanjo

The Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, on Wednesday former President Olusegun Obasanjo over his remarks on resource control in the Niger Delta.

Obasanjo and a former federal commissioner for information, Edwin Clark, had late last year disagreed over the control of oil resources in Nigeria.

The ex-President, who addressed participants at a forum, said crude oil belongs to Nigeria and not Niger Delta.

He stressed that it was wrong for the people of Niger Delta to lay claim to crude oil or any mineral resources found in the area.

The leader of the Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, who reacted to the dedevelopment, described Obasanjo’s remarks as provocative and a catalyst to Nigeria’s break-up.

He said: “Before the issue degenerates therefore into disputation between two respectable elder statesmen (Obasanjo and Clark), I owe a duty to our founding fathers to throw some light on the historical constitutional evolution of the country to help us move Nigeria forward.

“With my recent interaction with Gen. Obasanjo, I can appreciate his passion for a united Nigeria. But a united Nigeria does not exist from his own perspective and understanding only. Nigeria has existed before he became the President of the country with our founding fathers with equally great passion if not greater passion for a united Nigeria.

“Our colonial masters brought the various ethnic nationalities together through various constitutional reforms under a unitary form of government from 1914 to 1950 under Macpherson Constitution when Nigeria was divided into three regions namely Northern Region, Western Region and Eastern Region.

“The Macpherson Constitution which was supposed to last five years under a unitary system collapsed in 1953 following a motion by the late Chief Anthony Enahoro for self-government for Nigeria in 1956. The then Colonial secretary Sir. Oliver Lyttleton later known as Lord Chandos summoned the political leaders, our founding fathers, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Sir Ahmadu Bello, and Chief Obafemi Awolowo to Lancaster House in London.

READ ASLO: In open letter Obasanjo fires back at Clark over accusation of hate for Niger Delta

“It was at this conference that the defects in Macpherson Unitary Constitution were dissected and they settled for a Federal Constitution which became operative in 1954 with the establishment of the three autonomous regions headed by a Premier.”

According to the Afenifere leader, the issue of resource control “was a two-tier federal system with the State government being co-ordinate and not subordinate to the Federal Government.”

Adebanjo added: “The provision of this Federal Constitution with some amendments was incorporated in the 1960 and 1963 Independence Constitution. The residual powers in the constitution reserved for the federating autonomous regions.

“Revenue allocation was agreed to be on derivation which you now refer to as resource control with the payment of 50% (section 140, 1963 Constitution) to the region where the revenue was derived. It was a two-tier Federal system with the State government being co-ordinate and not subordinate to the Federal Government.

“This was the peaceful co-existence position of the unity of the ethnic groups until 1966 when the military took over the government and abrogated the constitution agreed to by our founding fathers and set up the present 1999 constitution. The obnoxious provisions of this constitution have been the cause of instability in the country.

“When General Obasanjo asserts that the Niger Delta Resources is not owned by Niger Delta but Nigeria, is the General suggesting that God created the resources in Niger Delta when Nigeria came into existence in 1914, or it was there before the amalgamation?

“It is the amalgamation and the decision of our founding fathers to live together under the conditions agreed to in Independence Constitution that make other parts of Nigeria to lay claim to the resources of Niger Delta. The question of the protection of Niger Delta resources against external forces by the Federal government is not a big deal but a responsibility assigned to the Federal Government under the Federal System.

“I will therefore passionately appeal to Gen. Obasanjo to join hands with the other patriots to bring pressure to bear on President Muhammad Buhari to ensure the change of the present fraudulent constitution by restructuring the present unitary constitution to the federal system agreed to by our founding fathers before the 2023 elections to enable the nation to move forward peacefully in unity and progress.”

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