biina:

If the issue of underdevelopment is common to all areas, then it is wrong to point a finger at a particular region for being responsible for depriving another. Rather the accusing finger should be pointed at corrupt leadership, irrespective of the region, tribe or state of origin.

naijaking1:

With more than 90% of Nigerian rulers(dictators and elected) coming from the north, and favoring the north in every concievable way since Independence; how can you say that no particular region needs to be blamed for our present situation The north bears 90% responsibility for what's going on in Nigeria today.
The military rulers were almost always northerners, they created states in a lopsided fashion and gave the north 19 of the 36 states, so that they can get more of the federal cake cooked with oil from the ND. Today, the north is overwhelmingly represented in the Senate and House at the expense of the more populated south, and ND that produce the oil.
Without the oil, many states like Kebbi, Jigawa, Nassarawa, and Yobe would not exist, because they simply can't fund themselves, yet we have politicians from these areas mouthing off at the expense of the ND.

No one is a fool, the south easterners might have been defeated, but trust me, nobody is a fool.

SapeleGuy:

without any form of compensation? That brings us back to the question of what has happened to all the funds that have been pumped into the region.
Are you talking about the 36 years before 1999 or the 8 years after 1999 because you can't be selective in the fight against corruption.

The gas flaring deadline was not observed, is that the fault of the northerners too? or the selfish oil companies and their NNPC friends?
It is the fault of the FG who have not shown enough resolve to tackle the issue, perhaps they can declare war against the multinationals as this flaring is also costing the country $3 billion every year.

If the issue of underdevelopment is common to all areas, then it is wrong to point a finger at a particular region for being responsible for depriving another. Rather the accusing finger should be pointed at corrupt leadership, irrespective of the region, tribe or state of origin.
Clearly all those who contribute nothing are happy with their lot, if they weren't they would do something about it. We have been pointing the finger even before 1960, now people are doing something about it. Nobody gives you power, you have to grab it. In the new order there can be no food for 'lazy man' regardless of where they come from. If you don't work you can't get paid

naijaking1:

With more than 90% of Nigerian rulers(dictators and elected) coming from the north, and favoring the north in every concievable way since Independence; how can you say that no particular region needs to be blamed for our present situation The north bears 90% responsibility for what's going on in Nigeria today.
The military rulers were almost always northerners, they created states in a lopsided fashion and gave the north 19 of the 36 states, so that they can get more of the federal cake cooked with oil from the ND. Today, the north is overwhelmingly represented in the Senate and House at the expense of the more populated south, and ND that produce the oil.
Without the oil, many states like Kebbi, Jigawa, Nassarawa, and Yobe would not exist, because they simply can't fund themselves, yet we have politicians from these areas mouthing off at the expense of the ND.
No one is a fool, the south easterners might have been defeated, but trust me, nobody is a fool.

biina:

and OMPADEC was created in 2009?

biina:

The FG as at 2008 had outlawed the flaring of gas.
Oil companies will not comply willingly as flaring is the cheapest option.
Enforcing the law becomes difficult because the sensibility in the law is questioned. The gas is a by-product of the oil recovery, and it should not be released into the atmosphere. The necessary infrastructure to harness it cannot be developed because of the unrest in the area. So what would you have the FG do?
Wait for the new NLNG trains to come oline before you criticize the FG on enforcement of the law.

biina:

Akwa-Ibom gets NGN 7.5BN because it is an oil producing state, Bauchi get NGN 1.2B because it is not an oil producing state. Akwa-Ibom(along with other oil producing states) gets over 6x what most of the northern states each get. The northern states are not complaining, rather it is the over  NGN 7 Billion guys complaining, and yet you feel the northern states are responsible.
What would you rather have have? that they don't get a penny abi?
Shouldn't we be asking what has happened to the NGN 7.5B monthly stipend?

ono:

@Biina,
What in the world is your problem??

Go and meet Akwaibom state government (and other state governments in the Niger Delta), ask to see the Commissioner for Finance and let him/her give you a breakdown of what they want to do/have done with their money!!! - If you can't do that, please stand down and stop asking questions that won't give any meaningful answers!

Do you know that the Delta State govt is currently building an airport in Asaba? Have you gone to Rivers State to see what Amaechi is doing to improve the living conditions of the people in the state, and in Port Harcourt in particular?
Do you know that Calabar is the tourism haven for Nigeria? - with Tinapa that the FG won't allow to fly due to some useless sentiments??

Bayelsa is undergoing some massive development. You may want to argue from now on end, but Bayelsa has developed past when it was created - we are happy about that.

Please, while you're searching for what ND governors are doing with their money, take some time out to see what Northern state governors are doing with their ''meagre'' take home as well. Do a good job of that, instead of boring everyone with this your stance on what the governors in the ND did with the money allocated to them - their own money in the first place.

SapeleGuy:

If you are dealing with investment/development in this area, please start from 1963 to date.

As we speak the multinationals are still pumping oil- so stop with the lame excuses. "oil companies will not comply" If the FG showed some backbone they could enforce  the flaring deadline.

It is so unfair, how do these northern states manage with their inflated populace and the small amount of allocation. The last time I checked, Nigeria doesn't run a welfare / social security system. If the allocation the north are getting is not enough, they should engage in some economic acitivity to supplement this income. You have painted a picture of desparate insufficiency in the north, why don't we ask the northern leaders  how they are going to alleviate poverty in the north. And advocating genocide in the south is not a sustainable and viable option.The North, East & West need to control their resources. Resource control for all, what is wrong with that?

Ibime:

This Biina guy must be some sort of Government spokesman. . . . whatever the case, he can talk from now till tomorrow, the Niger Delta problem is here to stay as long as the Government continue to adopt the same principles as he does. . . . Niger Delta states are developing. . . . however, his talk of Governors chopping money is nauseating as 4Play so eloquently put it. . . . the problem itself lies in the premise that Nigeria's system of 'federal allocation', rather than 'resource control' is the right way to go about things. . . . . of course, Niger Delta Governors are corrupt just like any other Governor. . . . it will take a reorientation of the Federal Govts approach to corruption to bring these Governors to book, not the actions of the powerless villagers. . . . until then, the problem still lies at the doorstep of FG. . . .

biina:

and all the southerners in the government nko? or wasn't Tam david west the petroleum minister under one of these regimes?
Military rulers got into office by coup. Irrespective of your ethnicity, if you succeeded you would assume power. If it was based on tribe as you said, how come murtala overthrew gowon? dimka killed murtala? buhari deposed shagari? and babangida kicked out buhari? Answer: It is simply greed on the part of a few individuals.
It was the same tribal sentiments that misguided the evaluation of the 1966 coup that eventually led to the civil war.

We have had 8 military rulers: 6 northerners and 2 southerners. The fact that military rulers were predominantly northerners simply reflected the composition of the army.
As per civilian regimes, we have had 4 presidents: 2 northerners, 2 southerners. There is no evidence of a bias (yet)
8/12 is 67% and is far from the over 90% as you claimed.

I don't know where you got the 19 northern states from.  

Current political zoning is

1. North-Central - Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Plateau, and Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

2. North-Eastern - Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe.

3. North-Western - Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara.

4. South-Eastern - Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo.

5. South-South - Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo and Rivers.

6. South-Western - Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo.

Let me know if there is a state that you feel is in the wrong zone.
Thge ND has genuine grievances, but they are greatly misplaced.

naijaking1:

Are you the only Nigerian who doesn't know that Murtala Mohammed  and Gowon are not from the same tribe Or, are you just trying very hard to spin
Nigerians blame Igbos for the 1966 coup, because it was led by a few officer of Igbo extraction. Igbos were massacred en mass for the action of a few officers--- even ND people blame every Igbo person for the actions of a few. Why don't you want the northerners to take responsibility for the actions of the many rulers of northern extraction? For good or bad northerners, especially Hausa/Fulanis must be held accountable for the misrules of their people.
You did well listing the regions and there states, note that NW has 7 states, taking one away from SE where each could have had 6 each. You know the reason, don't you?

biina:

- Didn't you say they were all northerners? Now you want to divide up the north to suit your argument.
- The Igbos were wrongfully blamed for the 1966 coup and the mistake should not be repeated. Do not use the actions of a few military personnel to judge an entire region.
- So it is the one state difference that is the cause of your consternation? You forget that same 7 NW states have only one turn at presidency, same as the 5 SE states

It is sad that we always pursue our grievances in the wrong quarters. We blamed the Europeans for slavery but never questioned the leaders that sold their people into slavery. The problems of ND, Nigeria, and most of Africa stem from our bad leaders and not from our tribal differences.

naijaking1:


It is good to take the moral high ground, but doing so whenever it fits your argument is not good. As we speak, most people from the north, west and even ND still blame every Igboman for the 1966 coup, "subsequently, the millions of Igbos massacred in the north deserved what they got" As we speak, Igbos are still attacked whenever an Igboman(person from SE, Ijaw, Akwa Ibom, Calabar, Edo) does something wrong anywhere in the north today.
You speak of only one state difference, it's not just one state, it's having 21 senators while the we have 15, it's having much more federal allocation, it's having more federal appointments.
Like I said, taking the high moral ground is good, but you can't fool anybody. Don't preach peace and forgiveness only when it's convinient for you.

Ellyptical:

I feel for the Niger Delta, but I also laugh on the other side of my heart.
When the Biafrans fought to be liberated from the domineering, cold-blooded and backward north, we were tagged rebels. Today, what we the Biafrans foresaw in the 60s is what the Niger Deltans are just seeing in the new millennium.
As Ojukwu said . . . . .Niger Delta . .GOOD MORNING!

Discussion about the Niger Delta governors is apt in this situation. The constant explanation for the rise of millitancy in ND is the lack of development. Ergo, it becomes extremely important to identify the reasons why there's a lack of development. Simple!

Out of curiosity, what would you guys have the JTF do, after the bloody ambush that killed 8 soldiers in cold blood? Resort to prayers, eh?

ThinkRait:


Granted, our leaders are corrupt but some of us will simply kill to get what we want.

What we should be discussing is, "How do we solve the current impasse?"

@ Biina,
If you are elected into the senate, will this be the kind of contributions you'll make?

naijaking1:

"The ND area should be developed and given the needed infrastructure that it deserves"

No, the ND or any other part of this country needs not be developed and given the needed infrastructure
This a rubbish, socialistic, and government-will do-everything-for me mentality that has driven us backward for over 40 years.
The ND needs to develop at it own pace, using the natural resources from the area. They should also be allowed to provide themselves with infrastructures as needed and as capable. The other regions should also be allowed to do same.

naijaking1:

"The ND area should be developed and given the needed infrastructure that it deserves"

No, the ND or any other part of this country needs not be developed and given the needed infrastructure
This a rubbish, socialistic, and government-will do-everything-for me mentality that has driven us backward for over 40 years.
The ND needs to develop at it own pace, using the natural resources from the area. They should also be allowed to provide themselves with infrastructures as needed and as capable. The other regions should also be allowed to do same.

biina:

This line of thought is what I disagree with.  You don't cut off your nose just to spite your face.
You are more focused on who is providing the development, as opposed to the provisioning of the development itself. What difference does it make if the infrastructure is provided by the federal, state, local government or community?

Were we not running said regional government before the civil war; what did we have to show for it? Is it not alleged that the oil reserves were the incentives for ojukwu to declare  biafra?
Have you ever considered what would happen to the downstream states if said theory was applied to the Rivers Niger and Benue? Uncontrolled damming of the rivers will result in droughts and/or floods downstream.

Have you ever wondered what would happen to inland states if said was applied to the coast and associated ports? They can simply restrict importation of good destined to other areas.
Your argument is selfish in its view and that is a bane of the Nigerian society.

I suggest you study the government of different countries and contrast their styles. America is pro capitalist state while China is pro-socialist; are they both not doing well?
Spain is a unitary state, yet most of its regions have more freedom than the average federation.

It is never about the style or form of government, but always about how it is executed.
I wish they would grant the states resource control as you desire, so that we can all watch while you campaign and clamor (in the name of being equitable) that resource control be transferred to the local government level.