Some of the Niger Delta delegates at the on-going national conference have declared their position on resource control.
Dr. Isaac Osuaka, Chief Sergeant Awuse and Ann Kio Briggs were among those that addressed a cross section of the people from the region at the event which was organized by the Pan Niger Delta Conference and facilitated by Social Action in Port Harcourt.
The chairman of the event, Prof. Andrew Efemini in his remarks stated that there are lot of inequalities under the federal system of government.
Prof. Efemini said a situation where a state in the northern part of the country will have 43 and 34 LGAs against those at the South-South especially Bayelsa state with 8 LGAs and Rivers State with 23 LGA and that they are the states that produce the revenue, saying this amount to injustice and discrimination.
He said people support the idea of national conference because it can solve the Nigerian problems adding “The national conference offer the opportunity for us to speak for the type of country we want”.
Chief Awuse stated that some of the current security challenges in the country is because Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is the president of Nigeria. “One Nigeria is build on equity, justice and fair play”, Chief Awuse stated.
Also speaking, Dr. Osouka maintained that the current political system does not have anything to offer but the national conference is the only way out of Nigeria many problems.
Dr. Osuaka who represents civil society organization at the national conference was worried why some Nigerians think they are born to rule.
He said one of the ways out is that they will restructure the country in a way where governance at all levels will be less attractive so that people will not have the mind to loot the system.
Dr. Osuoka alleged that the northern elite kill the textile industries in the north to share oil money which have increased poverty over the time in the north.
“We are also working towards how to expunge the land use Act from the constitution” he said.
Ann Kio-Briggs in her submission said that the delegates must push to change the laws that deprive us from our natural resources.
She queried why there are many mineral resources in the northern part of the country but was not been exploited.
On the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), she posited that the major contracts are given to the north, even as the Ministry of Niger Delta has a northerner as the current minister.
The outspoken daughter of the Niger Delta said if the resources ownership did not scale through at the conference their oil and gas exploitation and exploration in the region should hold forthwith, let every region go back to the drawing board.
Ann Kio-Briggs disclosed that the north is using their many local government councils to receive more money than that of the South-South that produce the resource.
According to Ken Henshaw, one of the facilitators from Social Action, the meeting become necessary so that delegates can inform the people what is happening at the National Conference for possible support.###
