North's game of feudalistic deception: South-South governorss threaten to back out of amnesty • Say Lukman is anti-Niger Delta
From Victor Efeizomor in Asaba, 07.24.2009

Friday, July 24, 2009

South-South governors have threatened to pull out of the amnesty arrangement for militants except certain issues are addressed quickly by the Federal Government.

http://odili.net/news/source/2009/jul/24/216.html




Arising from the follow-up meeting to the South-South Economic Summit held earlier in the year in Calabar, Cross River State, the governors, under the aegis of South-South Governors’ Forum, said in Asaba, Delta State, early this morning that the Petroleum Industry Bill, which seeks to reform the oil sector, was “a slap in the face of the local communities”.

The governors, under the chairmanship of Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, also kicked against the reported movement of the proposed University of Petroleum from Effurun, Delta State, to Kaduna State, while accusing the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Rilwanu Lukman – who incidentally hails from Kaduna State – as being anti-South-South.

The third point of departure, according to the governors, is that the Federal Government does not have any concrete post-amnesty plan on the ground.

President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, in an attempt to douse the Niger Delta crisis and bring an end to militant activities which have brought the all-important oil industry to its knees, had offered amnesty to the militants.

However, the amnesty plan, which had the backing of the governors from the South-South geo-political zone, is now in jeopardy with the latest threat from the governors.

The petroleum industry bill, which has also been opposed by the oil majors and some other stakeholders in the industry, is said not to be in favour of the host communities, considering the need to provide for local content and promote a sense of ownership among the communities.

The original bill gave five per cent of the royalty to the community that produces the oil and 25 per cent to the states where the oil is produced.

It was however withdrawn and a second bill was introduced in which the host communities would not be entitled to any interest if passed.

The meeting was also angry the proposed Petroleum University would be located in Kaduna State, arguing that it was against the interest of the Niger Delta.

The university, which is estimated to cost N14 billion, will train high-level manpower, whereas the Petroleum Training Institute (PTI) in Effurun trains mainly low-level manpower.

It had been speculated that PTI would be upgraded to university level, but Lukman has denied the claim, saying the institute would be retained to train low-level manpower while the degree-awarding institute would be sited in Kaduna.

Now the game starts

The amnesty deal is not for them.
So what's their problem.

At poster,thank U very much for posting diz article,I was going to post it myself yestaday but i ve not had any chance to do so.
If U check d history of diz country,U will observe that most of d problem we ve had in dis country has been caused by the overbearing attitude & belligerence of the northern oligarchy with the complicity of our brothers in the southwest that like to play politics of convinience by giving them impetus through thier unflinching tacit support.One would ve thought that the likes of Obj would ve learnt a great lesson from d june12 saga,giving the complicity of d northern generalz in the annulment of Abiola's victory in that election and d eventual death to avenge Abacha's death.But what did he do when he had the chance to do so,he played dsame politicz of convinience which is typical of yoruba politicians(i mean no disrespect but dis is my own view),i mean this man had the opportunity to choose 4rm south-south leaderz like donald duke,peter odili,obong victor attah who could solve d problem of d niger-delta region,but he rather chose to force an unwilling northerner on Nigerianz who has no idea of d problems in dat region and sees their agitation for control as an insult by a minority who re lucky to ve oil in thier backyard to a majority who re dependent on it.
Until the yoruba race realise that politics of sitting on d fence and later giving tacit support to d north will only benefit the aristocrats in the north they will continue to complicate issues and groups like MEND,MASSOB etc will continue to see them as double-faced politicians who re secretely backing d North and still crying foul.The problem of the Niger-delta region can only be solved by a concensus resolve by leaderz of d whole of South to force FG and the Northern oligarchies to accept resource control and delegate power to the states.But this can't be achieved when a part of d south is always looking for an easy exit to d problemz.

I forsee a time when the SS Governors will be fed up with Nigeria and unanimously decide to back out of this country.
Let's keep watching.

I seriously doubt it.
A snake will always give birth to a long thing. They will never bite the system that produce them. All this is just bragado. Once they are promised second term, they will make a U turn. Thank God of MEND.

rhymz:

i mean this man had the opportunity to choose 4rm south-south leaderz like donald duke,peter odili,obong victor attah who could solve d problem of d niger-delta region,but he rather chose to force an unwilling northerner on Nigerianz who has no idea of d problems in dat region and sees their agitation for control as an insult by a minority who re lucky to ve oil in thier backyard to a majority who re dependent on it.

I disagree with you. All the people that you mentioned, what actually did they achieve while in office since they have knowledge according to you of the South South. I am from the Niger Delta.

Ehoi:

I seriously doubt it.
A snake will always give birth to a long thing. They will never bite the system that produce them. All this is just bragado. Once they are promised second term, they will make a U turn. Thank God of MEND.

Thank you my bro, this is not the first time. Don't we have the VP who is from the South South. If he is removed today we will start to cry foul. Can't he protect the interest of the south south? Let the leaders we already have there start protecting us, and see what will happen if they are removed without any justifiable cause.

The petroleum minister should insane if they decide that the best place to site the petroleum university should in Kaduna. why should money gotten from the south be used in the north for a petroleum university. where's the synergy in the project.oil is the south and the training is in the north,this simply means that the injustice being meted out to the south is still at the toddler stage, amnesty is just to rob south and give part them part of the loot. only confederation can save this country.

Is the Minister OK I remember what my economics teacher taught me in secondary school. wen locating an industry u take into account nearness to raw materials. nw is there oil in Kaduna or any of the northern states? Gosh this is pure injustice, next thing nw they will approve the building of a research institute for desertification or cattle diseases abi? MUMU minister. I pray MEND blows it up if they at all go ahead with the plan

It stuns me also, The north has dominated power but they are the most impoverished people what then is the use of power if one cant use it properly? No sense at all. All they do is eat oil money that they get from sum1s else home. most times i wish Biafra had been successfull i wonder hw Hausa people for dey by nw. I tell u if the SS should hold the Presidency for just one tenure The gap between between the South and North will be unimaginable.

Yea, right. Wait until they go behind closed doors at Aso Rock and see how they will come back with big grins on their faces after selling out the people they were elected to represent.

TheSeeker:

Sorry to say and I don't mean to be tribal, but, Hausa people have been always known to be selfish cows. How could the retarded Minister think the best place for the University is Kaduna? Where was his brain when he was saying that? I'm not from Niger Delta but the constant marginalizing treatment always mete out to the Niger Deltans is despicable. So what do we start saying when these MEND boys starts to bomb everywhere now? That they are criminals? Nigeria is a sick country. A disgrace to Africa and will always head for doom as long as an Hausa man rules her. Stupid set of people.

It's getting out of hand. Almost like daring them to do their worst.

guyz make una relax i don tire for naija
most of the problems we have in this country
is as a result of maginalization how can they site such university
in kaduna a this is injustice, it means the govt is not ready
to stop crisis in niger delta.
i just pray mend blows the structure up before they
complete it.enough is enough in this country.

Am happy all of u have heard what is happening in this country.come 2 think of it even if lukman made 1st clas from harvard petroleum depart. Y must 9ja wait 4 him 2 die b4 minister of petroleum shd be given 2 another person? A northener shud control agric while niger delta control oil 4 peace 2 reign in 9ja. Abeg[color=#006600][/color]

Am happy all of u have heard what is happening in this country.come 2 think of it even if lukman made 1st clas from harvard petroleum depart. Y must 9ja wait 4 him 2 die b4 minister of petroleum shd be given 2 another person? A northener shud control agric while niger delta control oil 4 peace 2 reign in 9ja. Abeg[color=#006600][/color]

There's too much generalisation,

There's no NN, SS, EE or WW, there are people, there are inefficiency people, there are efficient people, there are crooks, and there are reliable minds.

Because we have had a corrupt leadership from the north doesn't rule out the reliability of someone like Nuhu Ribadu, who is also a northerner.

So enough of this segmentation, fact is, we do need capable hands and minds to manage the affairs of our great nation.

They blv there is a scam smelling around

9ja is not working simple.
Its sick how the north insults the south, its even more sick to see the south (south south, south east, south west) take the insult with gratitude.
What a shame.

@agitator,What U think they achieved or did't achieve is a matter of opinion,they re not saintz but to say they did't achieve anything meanz U don't ve a grasp of what is actually going on in the Niger Delta and d polity of dis country at large.Anyway U like to see it,Duke,Odili and Victor Attah understandz the problem of thier ppl and re better qualified to handle the problem of dat region.U see my friend northerners hate it when niger deltanz lay claim to these oil well,incase U don't know the northernerz re in for this one nigeria joke becoz of d oil,if this oil should run dry,U will be surprise that even d norths will clamor for secession.Why do U think they ve maintained dominance in d military and power?They see the Southeast as too independently minded and so cant be trusted,and the South south to them are stubborn ungratefulz who wont accept d crumbz frm d centre and want all,however,they see d Southwest as very dependent friend who will alwayz be loyal to them even if they re given power.So the way to tame the SE and The SS is to systematically dominate the military,politicz and leave d control of d economy in d handz of d forever loyal SW.Thatz why,if U check d trend of Federal government development,there's more emphasy on the SW and the north.
The fact is tribalism can't be erased in dis country,what we can only do is to manage it to our own benefit and d only way we can do it is thru regional development,resource control, power delegation to d states and lez power concentration on d central government.

TECTONIC PLATES HAVE COLIDED, THE FUME OF AN ERUPTION IS SUMOUNTING, THEREFORE AN EXPLOSION IS DUE, PEOPLE PLAN YOUR FLIGHT , ANYTIN CAN HAPPEN D NEXT MINUTE, WE HAVE FLIES FOR LEADERS DAT NEVER LEAVE THE CARCASS TILL THEY GET BURRIED ALONG WITH IT, Y'ALL WATCH OUT , THOSE HU WONT SEE D WARNINGS WILL BE MELTED BY THIS LAVA BUT ONLY THE WISE WILL SEE THE ASHES FROM AFAR.

The point is this until the regions that made up nigeria go their separate ways there will NEVER be a prosperous nation. We have cultural, traditional, language and even religious differences which suggest that we are not a one nation. The british amalgamated nigeria for two reasons one is to divide and rule and secondly to make it easier for them to rule us. The moment we gained our independence, the then leaders shld have gone back to pre 1861 that is, hausa caliphate, yoruba kingdom and the igbo kingdom. A nation that is suspicious of one another or that is rotating the presidency as if one is playing a russian roulette will never THRIVE. The truth is we are not the same, we are not one and we will never be one nation. I am a yoruba but what i cannot understand is why an ibo or calabar is yet to be considered for the presidency and we think we are living as one nation. Confederation is a waste of time and resources what we need is to go our sepaate ways share the oil and the other resources for a stipulated period probably 20 or 30 yrs the regions that produces those resources will take the larger share. We will meet at the ecowas and african union summit and we will remain as africans and probably live happily thereafter.

The threat from the South-South governors to pull out of the amnesty deal is a welcome development. In fact their earlier support for the amnesty package was misinformed and premature, because the conceptual framework of the amnesty package was erroneous and as such doomed to fail.

In my opinion, the amnesty deal was hurriedly packaged by Yar'adua and his selfish cronies when they discovered that the 'oil war' declared by them in the Niger-Delta region is far from being won.

If the government is sincere why not start from the the Mitee led Technical Committee on the Niger-Delta report. Whether, the federal government like it or not, I must let them know that the are already losing the war which they declared by the invasion of Gbaramatu Kingdom.

Is it still news that oil production has plummeted from 2.2mbpd to less than 1.3mbpd. Is this a sign of victory on the part of government?

Thank God our governors have come back to their senses. . www.internetbusinessdon..com

damn! if not for that Awolowo. Biafra would have gone and the south west would have gone as well, he was uniting Nigeria cos he had a bigger dream of ruling a federation of 3 regions instead of the western region, and what happen, the Hausa's didnt let him get there, he was used and imprisoned, i dont know if anyone noticed that the last progress Nigeria had was when we were still using regions. The Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile ife was built with money from cocoa from the western region, the University is now a shadow of it's former self and other instituitions like that in the Eastern region,
Now, the Hausas have nothing except groundnut and cattles, uneducated lots, the southerners are educated,enterprising,intelligent and there is Oil, there is cocoa, there is oilpalm,rubber,bitumen e.t.c, if Nigeria had disintegrated then, Biafra and the western region would have been more magnificent than the present day United Arab Emirate,

morganpat:

The petroleum minister should insane if they decide that the best place to site the petroleum university should in Kaduna. why should money gotten from the south be used in the north for a petroleum university. where's the synergy in the project.oil is the south and the training is in the north,this simply means that the injustice being meted out to the south is still at the toddler stage, amnesty is just to rob south and give part them part of the loot. only confederation can save this country.

Probably he has newly discovered oil wells in his father's backyard, or maybe they can easily train future petroleum criminals(ministers) like him  from the North to keep the linage going,

Ehoi:

I seriously doubt it.
A snake will always give birth to a long thing. They will never bite the system that produce them. All this is just bragado. Once they are promised second term, they will make a U turn. Thank God of MEND.

Spot on
Dem dey do shakara make e no be like say dem no talk,anyways they've succeeded in fooling nobody
When the heat from the boy loafs,the tompolos,the atekes,the egberipapas of then region is increased,the SS governors will have no choice but to mean what they say and say what they mean

Nonsense! are the SS governors not among the FEC that took all this desicions?

Insanity! If MEND have vacancies,i'll apply,

monstah:

Insanity! If MEND have vacancies,i'll apply,

MEND go allow you enter their organisation with alacrity