Professor KimseOkoko, president, Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of Niger Delta (CENND) and former president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), told KELVIN EBIRI in Port Harcourt that in the North's quest to revert the onshore/offshore dichotomy settlement, the people of the Niger Delta crave for complete ownership and control of their natural resources.We Demand To Own And Control Our ResourcesHOW do you assess the North's call for a reversion of the onshore/offshore dichotomy'Why should we revert to the onshore/offshore dichotomy'That was the rubbish created by the Obasanjo administration. It was completely uncalled for, and with his character, Obasanjo brought this evil on the country. Even as the issue has been sorted out in the court, the northern elite don't want to give up. They are interested in the country continuing to do business as usual, so as to remain in control.Unfortunately, it can never happen again. The earlier they understand that, the better for this country. There is no way this country can revert to what it was under the domination of the northern oligarchy; it will be completely unacceptable.As far as we, in the South-South are concerned, the fact that we are receiving just 13 percent of the derivation is most unfair, most annoying. To talk about reopening the onshore/offshore debate is aggravating the injury of aggrieved population in the South-South. Nobody in the South-South will accept reversion of the onshore/offshore issue.But the North argues that this is causing poverty and fuelling insurgency by the Boko Haram in the area'Derivation, which is their problem, has absolutely nothing to do with the insurgency. It's unfortunate that even some elite in Southern Nigeria havestarted buying the unholy argument that derivation has something to do with poverty, that's the brain behind Boko Haram insurgency.In saying so, they are trying to emasculate the reasons for which Boko Haram says they are fighting. The insurgents have clearly stated that it is either Sharia or nothing. So, why bring the issue of poverty to emasculate the very point that Boko Haram is trying to make'For goodness' sake, let us recognise the seriousness of their stand and find solution from that point of view and not to emasculate it by coming up with this phony postulation that it is as a result of poverty. Let me ask those who are making this kind of simplistic argument; if it is because of poverty, why must you be bombing the churches' Are churches the cause of poverty, too'Clearly, there is a major religious dimension in the Boko Haram insurgency and they have said so loud and clear. It is mischievous and reprehensiblefor anyone to blame Boko Haram on poverty. Poverty is not only in the North; it is everywhere in this country. We in the South-South have been subjected to poverty, oppression and all kinds of iniquities. We have not bombed churches, police stations, and mosques.Why are they trying to emasculate the reason for which Boko Haram has come into existence' That argument is shallow, simplistic and anattempt for the northern oligarchy to make it look better for them to continue with their crusade to reduce the 13 percent derivation and oil wealth that goes to the oil-producing states. They will not succeed!There is no way they will reduce the 13 percent, which we say must go under a restructured federal system that will allow us control our resources. This country must be restructured and each region, state or all federating units must own and control their resources and pay appropriate taxes to the centre for it to redressthe imbalances in the system wherever they arise.Let each region develop the resources in its confines. Fortunately, there is no region in this country that is devoid of natural resources. Everybody knows the importance of agriculture in the North before. They allowed it to wither because of oil.Let the northern oligarchy not deceive the rest of Nigerians. Let some of the southern elite, who are trying to yield to this deceit that Boko Haramis as a result of poverty be careful. That is clearly emasculation of the essence of the insurgency in the North. The Boko Haram insurgency is driven by religious convictions; it is an ideologicalposition defined by religion. That is a clear message from the insurgents. You can see the connection with other similar groups in other parts of the Islamic world.Nobody can fool us.WHAT is the implication of the threat by the Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso that the North would push for the reversal of onshore/offshore in the next constitutional amendment'Let me tell him that that constitutional amendment will not work.He can pushand push but we will push him back to where he belongs. The South-South will not accept their desire to reinstate that evil brought by the Obasanjo administration.They can push with the constitutional amendment because they think they are in the majority in the National Assembly but we want to assure them that to get the two-thirds majority, which the Constitution amendment must go through, they will have a hell of a fight before them.Still, a senator from Yobe State has argued that the Niger Delta, through the 13 percent derivation, Niger DeltaDevelopment Commission, Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, the Amnesty Office and others, is getting more money at the detriment of the entire country'What do you expect him to say' I don't take those individuals serious. That representative should use the criminal allowances, constituency projects and obscene salaries they receive! Why has he not mentioned those' How many persons are representatives from the South-South in terms of the wastage in this country'We are saying that we are not receiving enough from our resources.Let him be told again that we will not rest until we have been adequately compensated for what has been done to the Niger Delta in the past and up till today. If he says that 13 per cent is too much, then he is living in fantasy. We are saying that we are not even going to accept 50 per cent; we want to own and control our resources. So, what will he say when that time comes'Let the Rep face the job for which he was elected, if at all in the proper manner, and leave the people of the Niger Delta alone. Nothing characters like that will say will deter us from demanding our right to own and control our resources.Are the political topshots in the North taking this stance because a southerner is thepresident of Nigeria'It's part of it. You can see the way they have been treating the Jonathan administration. No president of this country had been so ridiculed, so abused, and so insulted. But they forget that in abusing the president, they are also dragging the name of the country into mud.They hardly see anything good in this administration.Paradoxically, this administration has a huge presence of northerners; yet, they are not satisfied. It is along the same line of those politicians who said they would make this country ungovernable for this administration. So, all these form one bigpart of the puzzle.I have always said that those who said they would make this country ungovernable are partly responsible for the Boko Haram menace in the North. Those inflammatory statements were not statements for fun; they were conscious of what they were doing. Thus, the stance of the northern elite is to see that the Jonathan administration does not survive at all; that is the ultimate goal.WHAT'S wrong with restricting oil-producing states to revenues from onshore oil fields only'It does not happen in any part of the world. Oil-producing states, as littoral states in Nigeria,are entitled to offshore oil revenues. It is the sameall over the world; Nigeria cannot be an exception. And there is no way in this country that we will accept a position where offshore revenue will not be enjoyed by the littoral states.Now, they are only after the oil money; they are not interested in the environmental degradation. The fact that the traditional ways of making money has been devastated by the activities of the oil-producing companies does not concern them; all they want is to continue to feed fat on the wealth of the Niger Delta that does not belong to them. They are not interested in the sufferings of our people as a result of oil activities.If they had conceived that as a permanent feature in the Nigerian system, by now, they should recognise that it is no longer possible and it will not be possible anymore. We will not be satisfied with the 13 percent; we will not be satisfied even with 50 percent. All we are saying is that let every region, state and federating unit own and control its resources and pay appropriate taxes to the centre. This will not be for only the Niger Delta; it will be for all the states. That is how most federal systems operate.But because of their predatory nature, the remnants of northern feudal oligarchy will want to continue dispossessing the wealth of the people of the South-South for their selfish reasons and not even for the reasons of developing or improving the living conditions of majority of the Northerners. They have left majority of northerners in poverty.Only the few in the North have benefited from the ravaging of the oil wealth. You can see the revelation of the corruption unearthed in the petroleum sector. How many South-South people have been given opportunity to supply fuel' Look at all the companies involved. How many people from the South-South own these companies'They want to continue to feed fat on the wealth of the Niger Delta and remain unconcerned to the devastation that oil activities have brought to the Niger Delta. That is unacceptable today, tomorrow and in the future.For goodness' sake, let us go to a national conference and resolve these burning issues. There has to be a national conference where we have to restructure the Nigerian federation along the lines of a truly federal system and remove this over-centralisation of power and wealth at the centre, which in turn generates this awesome corruption we have in this country.Let the Federal Government perform those functions as defense, foreign affairs, immigration, customs and common currency. Until we restructurethe Nigerian federation to reflect what a federalsystem should be, so long will we have the problems we are confronted with. I don't see any way out.HAS the Federal government addressed the issues that precipitated arms agitation in the Niger Delta'The fundamental problems that were demonstrated by the Technical Committee on the Niger Delta, for example, which we all know and the recommendations arising thereof, have not been implemented in the South-South by this administration. The only implementation that is taking place in the area of amnesty is capacity building, in the sense that they send candidates, who are qualified to universities for studies and those who are not intellectually capable to skills acquisition centres. That is what amnesty has boiled down to.Without capacity building, you will have problems in terms of participants in the development efforts of the Niger Delta, as envisaged by the recommendations in that Technical Committee report. But it is only one aspect of the recommendations; no major project is taking place in the South-South. Even the East-West Road that has been there for several years is still literarily abandoned.Therefore, let those making offensive and simplistic statements based on self-interest point out to Nigerians what projects have been executed in the South-South under this administration. Let them look at the Technical Committee report and its recommendations and point out what has been executed. They only make those wide, uniformed comments. We are used to those vain statements and we will respond accordingly.You state that the North will not muster the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution; won't other parts of the country support them based on your experience during the Obasanjo political reform conference'We have come to a point in this country that that is hardly going to be the case. We have gotten to the point where political consciousness is far, far higher than what it was before. And the various geopolitical interests have become so complex that you cannot take any group on its face value. I don't believe that people will just follow the northern oligarchy.Most northerners are in poverty, as we are here in the Niger Delta, because of the selfish, irresponsible leadership that has been in country in all parts of this country. If they think that because of their numerical strength in the National Assembly they can reduce the derivation from 13 per cent to one percent, as they wish, I want to tell them that they will have real issue in their hands if they dared. The people of theSouth-South will not accept any situation that will reduce the derivation fund.We will continue to insist not on 50 percent but on the ownership and control of our resources. Let them also control their groundnut pyramids, uranium or whatever they have. Every region of this country is blessed with natural resources. They should allow theNiger Delta to manage its resources. We will deal with the issue of corruption in the South-South when the time comes.Corruption is not the exclusive preserve of the Niger Delta. Judging from the fuel subsidy scandal, corruption is even worse in other parts of the country. I can assure youthat if the kind of corruption we are reading in the papers were to emanate from the South-South, you would have seen this simplistic and noisy outburst from those elite that these people in the Delta cannot manage resources.Let them go and sort out the $620,000 Faroukgate issue. Is that a South-South person' Look at all the revelation on fuel subsidy. How many South-South people are there' How many South-South people have oil blocks' How many of us participate in the massive theft of crude oil in the South-South and yet, these so-called spokesmen of the northern oligarchy don't want to address the fundamental issues. They want to continue the predatory instincts they have.Reversion (of onshore/offshore) under whatever guise will beunacceptable today, tomorrow.
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