Senator Magnus Abe representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in the National Assembly has challenged the North to contribute its own quota to the development of the Nigerian economy.
In a chat with newsmen in Port Harcourt, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) noted that the country can’t afford to rely on crude oil alone; stressing that we must look beyond oil revenue in the development of Nigeria’s economy.
In apparent reaction to a statement credited to Sen. Abba Ibrahim, that the country’s wealth had been cornered by oil producing states, he said “why is it that every time Nigerians gather, all we talk about is how money is being spent; how come in this country we never gather to talk about how money is being made”.
Sen. Abe added that “if you give the whole money in the Niger Delta to the North, it won’t solve their problems” emphasizing that “the challenge of Nigeria is that the country is not productive enough; we are not generating money; fighting will not help this country; it will only bring problems that we cannot handle”.
He noted that “there’s so much in this country that we can tap, including resources in Abba Ibrahim’s own state; that can contribute to the development of Nigeria, why don’t we bring that to the table”.
“Every region must bring in; equal strength and equal percentage of what they are producing for us to share. In that way everybody will work to guarantee adequate benefits”. Sen. Abe who is also the Chairman, Senate Joint Committee, investigating the fuel subsidy regime said.
The former Information Commissioner and Minority Leader in Rivers State House of Assembly declared that “if you only talk about where money is going and you don’t talk about where money is coming from, you can never make a balanced argument”.
The one time Secretary to the Rivers State Government disclosed that the North was blessed with rich human and natural resources that could be harnessed to improve the country’s economy and living standard of the people.
Sen. Bukar Abba Ibrahim of Yobe State had in an interview; said the Niger Delta is cornering greater chunk of the Nation’s wealth under various programmes such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Amnesty Programme and 13% derivation, among others.
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