South-South memorandum to Oputa Panel 

The South-South Peoples’ Conference, a non-partisan political organisation, on behalf of the chiefs and peoples of South-South geo-political zones presented a memorandum to the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa-led Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission (HRVIC) sitting at Abuja. The Group outlined the many injustices suffered by its peoples and provides what it claims are lasting solutions. This is the concluding part of the presentation. 

Again Section 16 (1) of the 1999 constitution provides inter alia; The state shall within the contest of the ............ provisions are made in this constitution control the nation economy in such manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happenings of ........... and opportunity.

Also Section 16(2) of the 1999 constitution states that the state shall direct its policy towards ensuring that the economic ............ the concentration of wealth or the means of production and exchange in the hands of few individuals or a group. The criminal and willful neglect of the Niger Delta by the federal government and the former Northern, Eastern and Western government, over the years is a negation or violation of this constitutional provisions.

The oil wealth of the nation was not been evenly distributed in accordance with the provision of the constitution. Even though, the Niger Delta contributes over 95 per cent of the nation’s wealth.

The wealth from our resources are now been concentrated in the hands of a few individuals from the North, South-East and South-West to the exclusion of the Niger Delta peoples of the country.

These few individuals, some of whom had poor background have built up massive wealth comparable within Nigeria and outside Nigeria with ..........

"These individuals and group of individuals from these major ethnic groups derive their wealth from the Patronage of Military Heads of states between 1975 and 1978. In fact, they used some of these wealth to organise coups and to perpetuate military rule in Nigeria. They are granted license to lift crude oil. Others act as commission agents for multinational companies whereby they receive heavy commissions etc.

Most of the beneficiaries of these military exploitation are found mostly amongst the Northern elites and with their collaborators from the South-East and South-West who arrogantly display these wealth to the embarrassment and displeasure of the minorities who see themselves as second class citizens in their own country.

"Is it not an irony of fate that indigenes of the Niger Delta area who are qualified to lift crude oil or to act as commission agents have been denied these opportunities. There was a time when indigenes of the Niger Delta who went abroad in search of business opportunities were often asked, whether they had Ibos, Yorubas and Hausas as partners in respect of the oil industry because these expatriates believe that only the three major ethnic groups could make things work in Nigeria. If this criteria was not available then your application will not be considered. is it not insulting and a denial of our right that for economic reasons those of us from the Niger-Delta area are disqualified from aspiring to the highest political position in the country?

"It is most unfortunate that many Nigerians see our demand for resource control as something that is new or strange in the political and economic history of Nigeria. Some vicious and unpatriotic Nigerians see it as denial on deprivation of Nigerians for enjoying the wealth that accrue from the Oil resources of the Niger-Delta. This is far from the truth. An example is the recent call by four states from the North Central zone namely. Niger, Kogi, Kwara and Kebbi for their own development commission because of the Shiroro/Kainji dams. They called for a Hydro-power commission because of what they called the devastation of their environment through these dams. It is because of ignorance and sheer arrogance that these states are calling for their own from of the NDDC. Head it been these North Central state were in the position of the South South state would they not have been in the fore front in the agitation for resource control and self determination? All we are saying is that let us be as stakeholders, participate in generation and distribution of these resources which are found in our own backyard.

Again, when we talk of resource control we are not only talking of control of oil resources, it includes employment for our people and contract for our people from the Oil companies.

The communiqué of the historic gathering of Izon Youths at Kiaima, Isaac Boro’s home in 1998 was the first to highlight the phrase Resource Control which was christened as the Kiaima Declaration with an ultimatum to the Federal Government to redress the injustices and inhumanities which expired on 30th of December 1998. Instead of the Federal Government resorting to a dialogue with the Ijaw Youths and elders, it remained adamant and unconcerned and treated the Declaration with impunity. It was not realised that the Federal Government was preparing to declare a war on the Ijaw people in Bayelsa State. The youths, in keeping with the declaration carried out peaceful demonstrations in Yenagoa and Kiaiam and without any provocation the federal government attacked them with troops from Warri and Bori Harcourt. We gave a Press Conference on the 3rd of January 1999 condemning the action of the federal government of using troops to carry out wanton destruction of proprieties and massacre of defenceless youths. The dialogue between the federal government and the Niger Delta people followed between January and April 10, 1999.

The Major General Popoola’s Committee, which was set up by the federal government to provide the MARSHALL type of development for the Niger Delta recommended the expenditure of N15 billion to be spent on various projects in the Niger Delta between April 1999 to the Hand-over to Civilian administration. We insisted that such money should be put into a Trust for the people of Niger Delta, but all these did not materials. The General Abubakar’s Government deceived us and to date nobody can account of the N15 billion voted for development of the Niger Delta. A Federal University was to be established in Bayelsa or Delta State but the proposal was dropped later.

The murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and the nine Ogoni leaders was also as a result of agitation against environmental pollution and the determination of the Ogoni people to control their own affairs

The formation of political parties in the new democratic setup.

The new political parties which were dominated by the majority ethnic groups did not include or reflect the agitation for resource control in their manifestos even though General Obasanjo had promised the youths of the Niger Delta that the agitations for resource control and the criminal negligence of the region will be addressed if he was elected its president.

The PDP, the ruling political party did not realise the agitation was unstoppable when they captured almost all the votes during the elections even though it was not its campaign issue.

The refusal of President Obasanjo to implement the 13% Derivation as provided ............ Federal Republic of Nigeria and the delay in passing the NDDC Bill into law and the failure of the Federal Government to implement the NDDC Act as passed by the National Assembly was regarded by the Niger Delta people as a deliberate act of oppression and the refusal of the Federal Government to develop the Niger Delta area, so also the inclusion of Abia, Imo and Anambra States as part of Niger Delta.

The refusal of the federal government to fund the commission and the unreasonable and unwarranted series of amendments proposed by the Federal Government to the detriment of the Niger Delta people.

The unconstitutional action of the President to re-introduce the onshore/offshore dichotomy which was abolished by the FEDERATION ACCOUNT AMENDMENT ACT No 106(2) of 1992 which says:

"For the avoidance of any doubt, the distinction hitherto made between the on-shore oil and off-shore oil mineral revenue for the purpose of revenue sharing and the administration of the fund for the development of the oil producing areas is hereby abolished."

"It must be emphasised that the principle of derivation is not the same as resource control. For instance the 13% Derivation provided for in Section 162 (2) of the Constitution is being manipulated by the Federal Government and we only receive whatever they decide to put into the Federation Account. We are not party to how our resources are exploited, we are not part of the production and we appear to be strangers in our own home. Take for instance, a situation whereby the Headquarters of the various Oil Companies are situated outside the Niger Delta Area and majority of their Management staff come from outside the Niger Delta. They formulate the policies which are in most cases against our interest. These irregularities will be taken care of if we control our resources. We want to be involved in the exploration, exploitation, production and marketing of our resources and this is exactly what happened in the First Republic whereby Western Nigeria, under the leadership of Awolowo, exploited, produced and marketed the cocoa corps which was the main economic stay of Western region and similarly, the Northern Region equally exploited, produced and marketed the groundnut crops which formed the groundnut pyramid of Northern region. The Federal Government was only entitled to 20% of the revenue that was accrued from Cocoa, groundnut, etc.

"The accusation that the agitation being mounted by the Governors of the six South South States was to make more money available to the governors of the South South zone for them to squander. This is a faceless and an unreasonable allegation. it is the Federal Government and the non oil producing states that exploit our resources by squandering these resources to the disadvantage of the Niger Delta which lays the golden egg and which feels the devastating impact of oil exploration and exploitation.

The 12 states structure which has now manifested into 36 states with 774 local government councils were deliberately created to squander the resources of the Niger Delta. For instance, Kano State and Jigawa State which was created out of Kano State have almost equal numbers of local government councils in the six states of the South South zone put together and each of these local government councils gets direct allocation from the federation account. One can therefore, understand why we have all threats and brickbats over resource control. Some have even threatened to go to war over resource control. For instance, the likes of Dr. Yusuf Bala Usman, the governor of Yobe State, etc, argue that the demand for a just derivation formula and resource control is an attempt to undermine the stability and sovereignty of Nigeria.

As Dr. G. G. Darah aptly puts it in his lecture paper titled "Niger Delta: From Bondage to Paradise:

"We will like to say that all these views and fears are either misplaced or outrightly mischievous. First, it is wrong to think that an intensification of the debate over these federalist principles will threaten the corporate existence of the country. Rather, the clamour is to stabilise democracy and make the constitution truly representative of the yearnings of the masses of the country. What has always undermined Nigeria’s unity and continue to do so is the set of obnoxious and fascist laws which denied the mineral resource endowed nations of Nigeria of their inalienable rights to own, exploit and use their resources."

We would like to reiterate that the Niger Delta is not only rich in mineral oil and gases but also endowed with other economic natural resources such as rubber, timber, palm produce and other agricultural products.

The Niger Delta early contact with the European was not as a result of oil exploration but because of the oil palm trade. All for oil a play written by Professor J. P. Clark, exhibited clearly the early contact between the Niger Delta people and the Europeans. Here we are pleased to quote part of the setting of the play, All for Oil: which states clearly the existence of Niger Delta with its natural resources, the trade that existed between them and the early European traders long before Nigeria was founded in 1914.

"In the European scramble for Africa towards the end of the 19th century, Britain declared for itself the Oil Rivers Protectorate to gain monopoly of the palm oil trade in what is now part of the land it put together as a country. Later, it formed the first Federation of Nigeria with the former Royal Niger Company as its principal commercial operator, and the indigenous people of the area, the Niger Delta, the suppliers of the raw materials that Britain needed for its factories.

Today, at the beginning of the 21st century, oil again, this time, petroleum, has been for years the one major commodity making up Nigeria’s economy, and indeed the reason for its existence. The players, as in the story before, are the same, namely, the Nigerian State, run by the majority ethnic groups to whom Britain ceded it at independence, the economic partners are the multinational oil companies, and at the bottom of the heap, in the heart of the old Oil Rivers Protectorate, the people of the Niger Delta, left squabbling among themselves by the Lugard’s policy of divide and rule. Drawing upon official colonial documents and oral tradition. All for Oil, presents a powerful panorama of the players in the original drama of the creation of Nigeria. Sir (later Lord) Frederick Lugard and Colonel M. C. Moorhouse, aided by a local agent for the British in their wars of aggression ...................................(1897) represent the colonial administration; the Niger Company dominates the trade and "its largest trade and middleman" in the Western Niger Delta and his lawyer, Egerton Shyngle, Leader of the Nigerian Bar and First Elected Member the legislative council of Nigeria 1973-1976 give voice to the interest and yearnings of the local people as it has never been heard and reported before in the presentation of Nigeria’s history.

Oil, the issue facing a country calling today for urgent restructuring so that it may survive ..... through the ........ of this dream in which the mind of a master truly matches the matter.

All for Oil is a play for our present times of crisis after crisis, a play for all ..............managed for peace and prosperity to prevail in our land.

It must be remembered that the people of the Niger Delta, who are predominantly members of the PDP, the ruling party, contributed more than 35% of votes for the President to be elected. But today, we are dismay at the various appointments given by the federal government and the board appointment with ethnic bias and flagrant disregard to the existence of the people of the Niger Delta. Is it not ridiculous that only one Niger Delta person was appointed into any parastatals that have to do with the oil industries? 

Dr. S. O. Ogbemudia from Edo State, was then made the chairman of Port Harcourt Refinery. The chairman of the NNPC is Alhaji Rilwanu Lukman from Kaduna State, the chairman of Eleme Petrochemical, Chief Paul Odenigbo is from Anambra State. The chairman of Onne Oil & Gas Free Zone, Port Harcourt, Alhaji Kaulaha Aliya, is from Bauchi State, the chairman of Nigerian Petroleum Development Company, Abba Dabo is from Kano State. The chairman of the Petroleum Equalisation Fund, Alhaji Umaru S. Ndamusa is from Niger State. Dr. Jack Tiley Gyado, chairman Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemical Company is from Benue State. Alhaji Gambo Lawan, chairman Warri Refinery and Petrochemical company is from Borno State. The chairman of Nigeria Gas Company, Dr. Oluremi Fayemi is from Ekiti State. The chairman of Duke Oil, Suleiman Takuma was from Niger State. The other Niger Deltan Mr. Gius Obaseki, who is the chairman of NLNG is an employee of NNPC and holds the posititon as an official of NNPC of which NLNG is a subsidiary.

*We should be allowed control of our resources as is normal in a federal structure and as had been practised in the past and as contained in independence and Republican Constitutions of 1960 and 1963 respectively. This was the condition under which the federating units agreed to come together to form what is today known as Nigeria.

*We demand reparation calculated on the basis of 50% derivation from 1967 to date.

November 2001