FORMER President Goodluck Jonathan has
said fiscal federalism was the system that would work better to facilitate development in the country.

Speaking at the occasion of the Rivers State 50th year anniversary in Port Harcourt, Wednesday, Mr. Jonathan criticised the Niger Delta Development Commission, saying the agency has failed to provide the needed infrastructural development in the region.

“This will allow states to assume control of the exploitation of their natural resources and mandate them to pay adequate taxes to the Federal Government,” said Mr. Jonathan.

“My conviction that fiscal federalism will initiate faster development is born out of a comparison between the intervention Agencies and the 13 percent derivation. From the days of Special Funds, through OMPADEC to now NDDC, the Federal Government has provided funds for the development of the oil bearing communities but very little physical infrastructure to show for it.



“This is so because these bodies are highly political and lack continuity as tenures are hardly completed. New Federal Government administrations appoint new teams who award new contracts hence the zone is littered with abandoned projects.

“I believe that without the 13 percent derivation, action governors like Wike would not have the capital to drive his ambitious developmental projects. With fiscal federalism, the pace of development will be even faster.”

Mr. Jonathan said although the country is doing well in many areas, several issues have continued to agitate its citizens.

ALSO READ: Ile-Ife Crisis: One-sided Arrests Wrong – Bakare

“Our people want us to improve on the way we govern ourselves. That was why in 2014 I set up the National Conference to examine the grey areas and proffer viable options that will accelerate our political, social and economic development. I am convinced that implementation of the Report will help resolve some of the problems in our country,” he said.

“It is also my conviction that the future of democracy, not only in Nigeria but across the entire continent of Africa, lies in putting the people first. This will entail not only working to improve their lives but also respecting their rights to freely chose who to represent them, without let or hindrance.



“That way, they will be able to wrap their hope and future around the certainty of the declaration that real power belongs to them, and that the maxim of one man one vote is not just mere platitude.”

APCsupporter:
this goat should let us be. useless man. so why didn't you at least make an attempt to adopt it? so far Jonathan is the worst president the world has ever seen.

TonyeBarcanista:
Good talk but why didn't he implement it?

Adminisher:
This is the most idiotic president ever. Fiscal federalism now after you left government and did nothing about it. You caused a recession and state governments are begging FG for loans to pay salaries. It is now you know about fiscal federalism. Empty dunce of a PhD holder .
Get it straight Mr yesterday President and your low IQ followers. Every thing costs money, even restructuring. We have lost that chance. Let Buhari build agriculture and solid minerals, then we can have it. For now it is just words you say at a party or beer palour to look smart. It is not happening. Next time opportunity knocks , you use it well

Pavarottii:

At least he took a bold step to do

Derivation: Confab stands on 13%, pushes increase to Jonathan
POSTED BY EMMANUEL LEKE ON JULY 14, 2014 IN FEATURED , NATIONAL CONFERENCE |
LEAVE A RESPONSE

Speaking on the position of the Consensus Group, the Chairman of Conference, retired Justice Idris Kutigi, said President Jonathan should set up technical committee to decide on the appropriate percentage for oil producing states and areas destroyed by insurgency in the country

After a five-hour closed doors meeting by the Consensus Group of the National Conference, delegates agreed to maintain the 13 per cent status quo on derivation.
They however proposed that President Goodluck Jonathan should set up a Technical Committee to decide on the appropriate percentage for oil producing states and areas destroyed by insurgency in the country.
This position of the Confab falls short of the expectations of the South South that the region would at least get a five percent increase in derivation from the present 13 per cent.
They have been agitating for an increase to at least 18 per cent.
The Eagle Online recalls that it was a battle between the South and the North on whether to increase the derivation or not, a development which forced the conference to adjourned abruptly twice.
Speaking on the position of the Consensus Group, the Chairman of Conference, retired Justice Idris Kutigi, said President Jonathan should set up technical committee to decide on the appropriate percentage for oil producing states and areas destroyed by insurgency in the country.
After the pronouncement of the Consensus Group’s resolution by Kutigi, delegates expressed divergent views on the position.
A South South activist, Ann Kio Briggs, expressed dissatisfaction with resolution of the Conference.
Briggs said it failed to address the problem of the Niger Delta people who have been clamouring for an increase in derivation to oil producing states.
Also, a former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, said a technical committee will in the best position to determine the exact percentage of derivation that will go to oil producing states in the country.
Osoba added that the recommendations of the conference, if implemented, will go along way in developing the country.
http://theeagleonline.com.ng/derivation-confab-stands-on-13-pushes-increase-to-jonathan/

Pavarottii:

Why can't buhari implement it?

Maduawuchukwu:


To be fair he made a move but implementation is a National Assembly ish nah.

TonyeBarcanista:
which move?

TonyeBarcanista:
which move?

samstradam:
This man's and his followers stupidity knows no bounds.

I mean how can it be now that he has left the centre that he knows it is important for fiscal federalism??

Did this son of the creeks not know that the kinsmen he appointed to NDDC were doing nothing? Or is he saying they wanted to work but he gave them no money to work ?? Or did he need the northerners permission to sack his own kinsmen??

I never knew this useless ExPresident and Arsene Wenger have so much in common- when it is to late they shift goalposts and blame everyone for their failures except themselves!!

Don't worry GEJ, fiscally liberated Wike will come and tar the road leading to your village for you... don't go and beg that small boy Dickson who you installed and is now doing big boy for you. Mumu.

luvinhubby:


2014 Confab.

Maduawuchukwu:


National Conference that he organised is it not a move? abi it is only a Shift?

luvinhubby:


2014 Confab.

Maduawuchukwu:


National Conference that he organised is it not a move? abi it is only a Shift?

samstradam:


What bold step? So by simply discussing a matter, one takes a bold step? Ok, I have decided I will one day knock Mayweather out..... abi I have taken my bold step!!

A reminder to you revisionist, his failure of a national conference agreed to leave derivation the way they met it, but they did leave it to him to take an actual bold step if he wanted it changed:



I don't think I need to go on about what the bold step should have been. He had almost a year to make sure he left a legacy for his kith and kin.


Why should he? What was wrong with Jonathan's hand? Or did the people in the North tell you derivation was one of the reasons they were screaming Sai Buhari?
If I recollect, their problems were Boko Haram and recovering from the self inflicted havoc in their region. In my opinion Buhari has addressed this in 2 years far better than Jonathan addressed any of his kinsmen issues.

Let's call a spade a spade and never use the word "bold" and "Jonathan" in the same sentence.

TonyeBarcanista:


Obasanjo also had Confab in 2005

Abacha had his in 1994.

The BIG question is,

What Stops Jonathan (and others) to implement his Confab resolution when he was in power?


BTW
The 2014 Confab (unlike 1994 and 2005) didn't conclude on derivation principle for Oil and Minerals producing states.

TonyeBarcanista:


Obasanjo also had Confab in 2005

Abacha had his in 1994.

The BIG question is,

What Stops Jonathan (and others) to implement his Confab resolution when he was in power?


BTW
The 2014 Confab (unlike 1994 and 2005) didn't conclude on derivation principle for Oil and Minerals producing states.

Maduawuchukwu:

He organised a confab where people of different views were to represent their people and their desires. That is democracy. Or did u expect him to force his own decisions on them? Is restructuring not possible only when all parts of Nigeria agree?

samstradam:


Kindly post where the 2014 confab reached the conclusion that derivation formula must change or apologize to the poster you were arguing with.

Some people sef, if Jona tell them their mother and father are not their parents, they will accept.

TonyeBarcanista:
Abacha and Obasanjo also organised Confab.

Will you say both men tried?

Maduawuchukwu:

Actually he might have been able to do something but you know that no good leader takes decisions without a major part of his people being at his back most especially for a major decision that involves revenue. If he had done it unilaterally; that is even if he had the power, he would have been a Niger-Delta president and not a Nigerian president. A resolution reached by the conference would have been better as it would have come from delegates who represented all parts of the country. And that is the difference between pple like Obj or GEJ then Buhari. Why the first two acted like Nigerian presidents the latter acts like a northern president.

samstradam:


I understand where you are coming from but what you don't realise was that OBJ, despite being roundly rejected by us in the West addressed our most poignant issue early in his first term, by crippling the ability of the North to rule us against our will using their favourite tool, the Army. This was no mean feat and is the single most important reason Yorubas supported him enmasse in 2004. He restructured the Nigerian power landscape and his original backers only realised it when it was too late to stop him!

The reason why I am pointing this out to you is to show that sometimes being motivated by sectional goals can actually be something that enriches all of us (Yoruba, Ijaw, Igbo etc) and being motivated by nothing (i.e. GEJ) can be a far worse alternative.

I put it to you that regional resource control would actually help the 5 other regions of Nigeria more in the long run because they would all be forced to sit up and face life the way it actually is. I mean would Northerners self inflict so much harm on their region if they knew their was no oil money to rebuild it? Would they allow Fulani herdsmen to destroy farms if they knew these crops will finance their budgets? Would we Yoruba continue with states like Ekiti that are not viable?

A president of the North that wants to kill Boko haram, bring back chibok girls and fight corruption is fine with me for now as long as he allows my Lagos to keep developing at its pace.

Eventually if his onesideness is not addressed, I will move on to the next local champion that will give me what I believe is important for my region and hopefully my country to move on.