IJAW YOUTH COUNCIL (IYC) WORLD WIDE

ijawyouthcouncillworldwide@gmail.com



July 24th, 2017.

Press Release



IYC INSIST ON RESTRUCTURING NIGERIA



Flowing and following from the last National Executive Council meeting of the Ijaw Youth Council (Worldwide) which held at Warri Delta State on the 22nd day of July, 2017, the following resolutions were reached.

1. RESTRUCTURING.

It has been an age long principle in modern democracies that government exists for the people, by the people and for the people. This assertion is in consonance with s.14 (2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended) which accordingly gives Sovereignty to the people of Nigeria from whom government derives all its powers and authority. This pre-supposes that the voice of the people in any democratic arrangement cannot be silenced. We therefore call on the Federal Government as a matter of urgent national importance to embrace the issue of restructuring the country and set in motion proper framework for restructuring in line with the demands of the people.

2. TRUE FISCAL FEDERALISM

s.2(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that Nigeria shall be a federation consisting of states and a Federal Capital Territory. However, what we practice is a relic of a Unitary system of government were powers are highly concentrated around the center. We therefore call on the present Federal Government to devolve powers from the center to the federating units (States), so States can control and manage her own resources and pay royalty to the Federal Capital.

The Federal Government which is burdened and neck dipped with not less than 68 items on the Exclusive Legislative list (as contained in the Second Schedule Part 1) to the exclusion of States; and not less than 30 items in the Concurrent list (for both the Federal & State Governments to legislate upon), should begin a process for the amendment of the exclusive legislative list and transfer majority of the items to the Concurrent list; and leaving issues such as Foreign Affairs, Defense and Economy to the Federal Government.

We further posit that s.44 (3) of the Constitution should be amended. This section that vests ownership and management of oil and gas resources in the Federal Government constitutes the biggest obstacle to the existence of true federalism in Nigeria; as it tend to dispossess and embezzle the oil and gas States of their prime sources of wealth. This apartheid legislation has made the NIGER DELTA STATES economic colonies and feudal tenants to Central Government of Nigeria for over 40 years now. Unless s.44 (3) is repealed, Nigeria will remain a nominal and caricature Federalism.



3. SELF-DETERMINATION AND RESOURCE CONTROL

Our agitations right from the days of Isacc Jasper Adaka Boro (The Hero of Niger Delta) up till the inception of the courageous Kaiama Declaration in 1998, have been for self-determination and resource control. Self-determination in our context means ownership and control of our ancestral properties (oil blocks). This is in tandem with the spirit of True Federalism. We are calling on the Acting President and the Leadership of the National Assembly to without further delay consent to the clarion call to restructure Nigeria in line with true federalism as anything contrary to the desires and yearnings of the people would be resisted vehemently.

4. IMPLEMENTATION OF 2014 CONFAB REPORT

We further call on the Federal Government to show leadership by implementing the report of the 2014 CONFAB organized by the past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. Government is a continuum, the days of selective justice are over; the Federal Government should begin the implementation of areas in the report dealing with Devolution of Powers, State Policing and Resource Control.

We therefore urge the Federal Government to take necessary and adequate steps towards restructuring and onward implementation of the confab report on or before December 31st 2017.



Signed for the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) worldwide:

Barr. Henry Iyalla

Spokesman, IYC.

Anyone who calls himself a patriot must support restructuring.
But where was this IYC when militants where bombing everywhere .