₦airaland Forum

psalmizt: I have gone through most comments here and I must confess only Awhy.com and beaf have been able to look at this allegation objectively. If a sitting governor in a federal system decides to remove elements of our nationhood and even change the national anthem, then the only word in English language that can be used is SECESSION. I am greatly pained that the ACN always like to talk politics and equally heat up the polity with their naivety at our delicate this nation his. I served in Osun state and I know if given a chance the state can go the way of Borno or even Yobe. Someone needs to drum it up the Ogbeni Governor, you don't remove the nation's coat of arm from a political office. With all these over sabi of the governor sef, as far as I can remember Lagos state was the first to come up with its own flag and motto in the current dispensation and I don't think anyone has accused Fashola for removing the Nigeria's coat of arm from his office.

Ejiné: I wonder how Osun plans to secede without the appropriate satellite pictures to help them locate the Electricity Engineers in the Church of Canada.

Beaf: Do you have more pictures?
I'm only trying to help Aregbesola here by displaying the full 'Evidence Of "Massive" "[b]D[/b]ry Season" Road Construction Across Osun State.'

No be small tin, my broda!
You know Aregbesola spent 9 months as sole lord without commissioners, boasting about the miracle of road construction he would bring about inthe "dry season" with 50billion World Bank funds.

As we see am be dis o! "Massive road construction!"

One last thing; a close look at the foot of the link provided will prove it to be part of Aregbesola's secessionist movement. The smoking gun is the phrase:
"Powered By [b]Ministry [/b]of Information and Strategy"

Aigbofa: Somebody is looking for trouble.

http://www.sunnewsonline.com/webpages/news/national/2012/apr/14/national-14-04-2011-03.html
•Allegation is PDP’s plot to destabilize South West — ACN
By Ade Alade
Saturday April 14, 2012

The Federal Government has mobilized virtually all security agencies in the country to put Osun State governor, Engr Rauf Aregbesola on 24-hour surveillance over an intelligence report generated by the Department of State Security (DSS) which accused the governor of creating an army of Islamic jihadists as a prelude to seceding from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

A highly placed security source in Abuja told Saturday Sun that the decision to place the governor under intense security watch has become necessary following a detailed security report on him, a copy of which was obtained by Saturday Sun.
The security report, which the Federal Government is acting on, has, however, been condemned by Governor Aregbesola’s political party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). In a statement on Wednesday, the party described the security report as a plot by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to destabilize the South West ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Not ready to take chances over the information provided by the DSS on the activities of the governor, the Federal Government through the office of the National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi was said to have directed all members of the Joint Intelligence Board (JIB) comprising all security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the country, to deploy their machinery and watch the governor round the clock.

“There is no need to be sentimental about the issue, the word secession is enough for the Federal Government to have moved in but in a democracy, federal might has to be deployed with caution to avoid a total collapse of the entire democratic structure. This is why the first option of mounting a thorough surveillance around him (Aregbesola) is being adopted,” a red neck security source explained.

Trouble started when the Director General of DSS, Mr. Ekpeyong Ita compiled a security report on the Osun governor, accusing him of trying to create a Boko Haram in Osun State through an Islamic organization called Jama’atu Ta’awunil Muslimeen Society of Nigeria (TAWUN).
A copy of the security report addressed to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. O.A Ihejirika and dated March 19, 2012, stated that “there are indications that Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is nursing the ambition of islamizing the state. Already, he has taken control of the Jama’atu Ta’awunil Muslimeen Society of Nigeria (TA’AWUN) spearheading the use of hijab in all public schools in the state. The group founded in 1994 at Iwo by one Dawood IMRAN-MOLAASAN(Sheikh), has also spread its tentacles to Kwara, Lagos, Sokoto and Kaduna states”
The reported further stated that presently, “members of the group serve as bodyguards to the governor and are making frantic efforts to dislodge conventional security operatives from the Government House. Their unprofessional conduct is a source of embarrassment to well-meaning indigenes of the state, especially at public functions attended by the governor.”

In pursuit of the agenda, the report alleged that “the state government is planning to introduce a general uniform for all primary and secondary schools in the state that will be acceptable to the group, not minding the feelings of the Christian population. The governor has also changed the name of the state from ‘Osun State’ to ‘The State of Osun’ which is at variance with the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution.”
Other concerns raised by the report include the following:

That “the Nigerian Coat of Arms has been removed from government offices and replaced with the Coat of Arms of “The State of Osun.” The State anthem has equally replaced the Nigerian National Anthem at schools, state public functions and at the opening and closing of transmission of the State radio and television stations. The governor also deploys members of Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) and O’clean Corps as State Police.”
That “through his activities, the governor has polarized the state along religious divides, with Muslims boasting that it is their time which they must utilize to the fullest. His involvement in the activities of TA’AWUN has emboldened the sect to invade schools to enforce the wearing of hijab by female Muslim students.”
The report expressed deep concern that the introduction of an Islamic agenda “in a secular state is an invitation to chaos, particularly against the backdrop of the growing influence of the sect in the state’s polity,” adding that “some northern governors fraternized with members of Boko Haram before they graduated to the present status.”

Concluding, the report said it is “necessary that the attention of the governor be drawn to the implications of his excesses on the security of the state. More importantly, his secessionist tendencies should be checkmated, using necessary legal and Constitutional instruments.”
Several calls made on Friday to the GSM telephone number of spokesperson of DSS, Maryln Ogar was not picked, and neither was a text message sent to her to seek the Service’s reaction on the security report, replied.

But the ACN, which apparently had got wind of the report, raised the alarm on Wednesday, describing the entire security report as a plot to set the South West on fire and soften the ground for the ruling PDP ahead of the 2015 general elections.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Osun State is being targeted in the pilot scheme of this act of desperation by the PDP, which is hell bent on causing chaos in the region.

“The architects of this plot believe that unless the PDP destabilizes the South-west and gets rid of the man they see as an implacable foe of the party (PDP), the President’s putative plan to run for re-election in 2015 will be in jeopardy, especially as they are afraid – for reasons best known to them – that the President will not get the backing of the North-West and the North-East in his quest for re-election.

“The first step in the dastardly plot is the fabrication of an intelligence report alleging that Gov. Aregbesola is nursing a secessionist plan; that he now plays Osun’s anthem in place of the national anthem; that he has since dispensed with the services of the SSS operatives attached to him and replaced them with Islamic extremists called ‘Tawun’; that he has officially changed the uniforms of secondary schools in Osun, made the wearing of hijab compulsory for female students and enforces that through Islamic militants, and that he has sent militants for revolutionary training in Cuba.

“The cooked intelligence report concluded that all legal and constitutional means must be used to stop him. Reading between lines, the measures being advocated in the report could only be impeachment (this is impossible considering the clean sweep of the PDP’s footsteps in the state), creation of chaos and anarchy to pave the way for the imposition of a state of emergency in the state, or the final solution, which is physical elimination,” it said.
ACN said it listed physical elimination because of the inexplicable disappearing acts of some security agents attached to the governor in recent times, and the growing suspicious activity of some security agencies in the state.
The party, therefore, warned the plotters to desist from any act that will further threaten the tenuous peace and security in the country, while reminding them to learn from history.

”There is no iota of truth in the allegations detailed in the so-called intelligence report engineered by the PDP. No SSS operative has been sent packing and the governor neither has the intention nor possess the authority to do so; no private militia is being trained anywhere except in the warped minds of the PDP desperadoes; and no uniform change or hijab-wearing law has been passed in the state.

”We hope that the plotters remember that since the First Republic, all attempts to destabilize the South-west have ended with dire consequences for the nation. Also, such acts have always been motivated by the desperation to win federal elections. The ACN will, therefore, like to put the PDP and its collaborators on notice that it (ACN) will guard its mandate in Osun and other states jealously against political hawks. The so-called intelligence report should be shredded and packed in a dustbin where it belongs, because it is nothing but the PDP master-plan to destabilize Osun State in particular and the South-west region in general.
”We also warn the security and intelligence agencies to be independent and not to allow themselves to be used for political gains. They should put national interest above partisan or sectional interest, and remember that the PDP is not synonymous with the Nigerian nation. It is just a bull in china shop that will soon be ejected by the peoples’ votes,” the party said.

Ileke-IdI:
What a very deranged boy.

strangerf: I am sure that wasnt written by a Nigerian journalist. very well written.

I doubt it was written by a Nigerian, perhaps WS, maybe Achebe, but definitely not by a Nigerian based in Nigeria.

Beaf: [size=23pt]All hail Aare Musiwa I
Hail! Hail!![/size]



https://designyoutrust.com/wp-content/uploads4/king12.JPG

The arraignment of Mr. Zimmermann earlier today over the senseless murder of Travon Martin is a welcome relief, and a pointer that the course of justice has not been permanently perverted. It is indeed no cause for rejoicing since this was supposed to be the dictate of common sense, if the laws of the land and human empathy were at play, on that fateful night. The broad facts of the case are all too clear to any right-thinking onlooker. Mr. Zimmerman voluntarily called a police dispatcher, was adviced to stop following Travon, refused and eventually confronted the young man who made all efforts to avoid his eventual killer - including getting his girlfriend on the phone! For any investigator to take the word of a killer as the basis for his summary release was "unhearable" for me. It is no doubt a blight on the US system of justice but the events of today, though providing no relief for the parents of Travon, emphasize the basic goodness of the American system of justice. There are nut jobs, prejudiced citizens, and biased officials of the law no doubt, but the system as a whole continues to hold strong. As a citizen of a country where 19 innocent lives were recently snuffed out in the most gruesome manner under official arms, merely for daring to peacefully protest a pernicious & irresponsible fuel price hike, the irony of it all is not lost on me. Thousands of our citizens in Nigeria and other African countries are murdered senselessly by the "police force", sometimes for less than the equivalent of a bribe worth less than 25 cents!!! In fact, on hearing of the Travon case I wondered silently: "Are we in Nigeria now"? So the real lessons of this event for me is the urgent need to rid Nigeria and African nations of "beast-like" rulers and institutions that continue to hold our people in conditions worse than would be experienced in most foreign lands. I hope they are listening and acting rightly in this regard. RIP Travon.

Kilode?!:
Why can't these kids be placed in regular muslim elementary schools anyway?
Where are their parents? are they above the law?

If they want muslim schools, we have enough examples of great Muslim Schools in Nigeria to copy from. I.e Ansar ul Deen. These kids can be in regular religious schools if the government is ready to enforce universal basic edcuation laws and put their money and judicial power behind it.

There are good examples of such schools in Nigeria, again, Ansar ul deen is one.

Ansar-ul-deen has been doing a great job educating young and bright muslim minds without losing or violating the tenets of the islamic religion since the 1920's - at least in Western Nigeria.


What are these State Governors doing with UBE money for example? ( http://allafrica.com/stories/201108011750.html ) is it not against the Nigerian UBE act of 1999 to have these so called almajiri chiildren roam the streets with no elementary education in the first place?

Again, this is a Problem with a ready-made and tested homegrown solution, why are we stumbling?

SMH

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/04/almajiri-project-an-exercise-in-futility-shehu-sani/

On April 12, 2012 · In News
By Emeka Mamah

KADUNA based rights activist, Mallam Shehu Sani, yesterday, faulted the launching of the Almajiri Boarding Primary Schools by President Goodluck Jonathan in Sokoto State Tuesday as way of curtailing the activities of Boko Haram, saying that the scheme is not only “white elephants,” but “waste of public fund,” as such schools were propagated by the Islamic sect which the Sultan of Sokoto belonged to.

In a statement made available to Vanguard Sani also said such scools would not reduce activities of Boko Haram, as aimed by the Federal Government:

He said: “The Almajiri educational system or tsangaya as it is called is an educational system propagated and encouraged by the Darikas, Tijjaniya and Ahmadiyya sects of which the Sultan belongs. If the aim of the project is not to deceive the president, the Sultan of sokoto and other emirs and religious and political leaders should openly call for an end to the Almajiri school and ask parents to stop patronizing same.

“The attraction to the Almajiri Islamic school is a direct result of the collapse of public schools and the general vandalization of our educational system by successive governments including the present ones at federal and state levels. Without addressing the issue of poverty in northern states it is virtually impossible to stop parents from sending their wards to the Almajiri school simply by building blocks of classes.

“The Almajiri system represent child abuse and the school system is a breeding ground for religious radicalization and will not simply fade away by pumping money into it. Head teachers of Almajiri schools also doubles as spiritual consultants of political elites and traditional rulers.”

’’President Goodluck Jonathan’s Almajiri project will fade into irrelevance like the Nomadic Education programme of the Ibrahim Babangida era as it amounted to superficial intervention in a decadent and menacing system deeply rooted in peculiar beliefs and customs.

’’If President Jonathan is seriously committed to addressing the root causes of poverty and violence in Northern Nigeria and other part of the country, he must demonstrate with the same spirit, zeal, passion,speed and interest as wesee him in action in the Niger Delta states.’’

Ileke-IdI:
^^^ Yea, I prefer my phones with touchscreen AND key pads lol. I text a lot, while walking, doing chores etc.
Thanks tho.

pd piper pippen: The woman knows who put d coffin there, if she had been troublesome now's time for a rethink. Be at peace with all men says d lord.

ziccoit: Do you know for head or spinal cord injury that may arise from this, the investigations alone needed to carry out before any line of management is insistuted start from N120,000?
You fight to stay alive to fight another day is the way out not to fight and die.

reagand200: I am not impressed by this.
The risk level is uncalLed for.
Please nobody should try this anywhere for no reason.
To me its just Foolhardiness rather than 'working hard'.
Am out of here...

Wilfred_ng: Whatever!
I read Linda and Sahara reporters report that he (Tinubu) spent about N200Million for this same old fashioned birthday. Why must he do that? Our leaders should think of how best to arrive at self-realization than squander money here and there. See http://thewilfreds.com/self-manifestation-a-missing-secret/

Jettage: A LOVE LETTER FROM GENERAL IBRAHIM B. BABANGIDA, Mni., GCFR..TO ASIWAJU AHMED TINUBU

My dear Asiwaju, today marks your 60th birthday on this putrid plane. There is every need to give thanks to almighty Allah for his care, concern, guidance, and love over you and your family. Since Mama Abibatu Mogaji, our symbol of women activism, introduced you to me for over three decades ago, you have greatly impressed me with your ebullient lifestyle, peculiar politics of convictions, and above all, your strong determination to make the country effectively governed through your management of human and material resources.

As the years grow by, you have continued to show a stronger zeal and determination to make democracy grow by providing alternative platform to engage the ruling party. Your role as an opposition party chieftain and player has remained essential enthralling and significantly illustrative of your human capacity to make things happen. Those kind words of mama Abibatu Mogaji at our first meeting keep echoing in my innermost self, reminding me of the saying that those who succeed in life are those who stoop to conquer. You have remained a strong voice from the south west, reminding all of us of the politics of the second republic when Chief Obafemi Awolowo called the shots and gave voice to the voiceless majority..

I am kind of imagining how it would have been, if your group had not created the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, to provide a platform to other Nigerians who are not in agreement with the PDP’s exclusive politics. You are not only doing the country a great deal of good, you are creating a political ideology that is driven by convictions to make democracy more attractive to the discerning and ordinary minds. I am further impressed by your clear cut resolve to insist that politics cannot be played as a zero-sum game in such a manner that may plunge the country into one party state. Your style might not be agreeable to everyone, but the message and end product of your struggles and political exploits, leave very positive landmarks for this and unborn generations.

Words alone may not not convey my commendable impressions about you, but at this wonderful celebration of three scores on earth, it is my onerous prayers that Allah will give you stronger and more eventful years ahead in service to our fatherland….
~IBB

Beaf: Dude, you shout, cos you are crazy. If you don't know, thats the impression you give.

Beaf: ^
You come on insulting, shouting and screaming all the time and don't realise its rude?
Dude, I simply reacted to the tone of your post and the insults in it.

Clean your eyes.

Beaf: ^
I said the FG and you are talking bullshiit about GEJ. Dude, try to sound like you have sense sometimes.

People like you keep screaming "true federalism," but evidently, you are hypocrites who do not wish to face the reality of fending for yourselves.
Pack of lazy leeches.

I don't know of any developed country where the govt 100% runs universities. They are always part funded by research and similar sources.
No mediocre school would attract funding. Maybe you can see the reason our uni's are like forgotten butcher shops.

Beaf: The kernel of my argument from the OP's article.

Beaf: The FG is divesting off everything. GEJ is weakening the center in tactical ways, by the time he is done, we will only need a couple of tickboxes to fill for TRUE FEDERALISM.

IMHO, the ship is headed in an unflinching direction.

http://www.punchng.com/news/fg-may-stop-funding-varsities-anyim/

March 31, 2012 by Friday Olokor, Abuja 5 Comments

There are indications that the Federal Government might stop funding universities in Nigeria.

The government had expressed pessimism that it would continue to effectively fund tertiary institutions in the country and had suggested that institutions should source their own funds by attracting investors to assist in the development of the education sector.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, stated this on Thursday night in Abuja during the launch/dinner of the University of Jos annual fund to generate money from its alumni and friends for the development of the institution.

The SGF, who applauded the decision of his alma mater, said, “UNIJOS is the very first university in the nation to embark on sourcing of funds to augment the funds that come from the government, which is scarcely enough for the development of education in the nation.”

He said the development had led to the inauguration of a committee by the FG to assess the nation’s tertiary institutions and ascertain the level of decay and needs in the schools.

Anyim, however, advised that the funds generated should be managed prudently by getting everyone involved from the management staff to the lecturers.

The former Senate President condemned the attitude of some management members of universities, who see themselves as political appointees and are only interested in what they can get without caring for the welfare of the institutions.

He said, “It is an error to source funds and for others to manage; that era is gone. University managements should invest in hostel development in partnership with the private sector.”

Vice-chancellor of the institution, Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, expressed disappointment at the down-turn of the education sector.

He said, “This initiative is coming at a time when Nigerian universities have consistently lost out of ranking among top 1,000 universities in the world.

“On the other hand, all the top 10 universities in the world have one thing in common: they rely heavily on the goodwill of friends and alumni for funding critical areas of successes such as teaching, research and innovation.

Andre Uweh: Beaf hardly attacks any one who critiques Delta state. He himself has on numerous occasions spoken about some ills of his state.
I hope people from Osun and sorroundings should learn grom him.

goldplated: Under the military regime some members would have been found and arrested and tried for acts of treason and secession.
there is one particular who's rallying massob and biafra here and hereby constituting acts of treason and secession.
Its time for you to stop.

Each coastal state owns the territory extending 3 nautical miles (6 km) from the shore at mean low tide, and has jurisdiction to decide whether or not, and under what terms, to lease the territory for oil and gas. Exceptions include Texas and the west coast of Florida, which for historical reasons own the seabed out to 9 nautical miles (17 km) from the shore. Louisiana is included in the 3 nautical mile rule, but because it had active offshore leases defined before 1950 (and before most other states), its territory is measured using the Admiralty Nautical Mile, while other states use the International Nautical Mile, adopted by the United States in 1954.

jp philips: you are a pathetic illetrate. what happened to all the buisnesses on the florida coast after the Bp gulf of mexico spill?
buisnesses closed down and the American govt ensured the affected buisnesses were compensated, are the americans stupid?

for every exxon offshore spill finds itself along the coast of IBENO and it affects their buisnesses.
the beach is f.ucked and people dont want oil stains on their shoes during beach hang out.

that is the geographical cross akwaibom is carrying .

do you know how much revenue ibeno beach is supposed to be generating for the Akwaibom state govt if not for offshore activities?

do you know how many buisnesses that ordinary should be sited there for revenue generation?

have you heard of surfing college before? what about sea food restraunt? beach recreation and parks? aquarium? jetty diving? beach soccer tournaments, etc
none of these buisness activities can thrive in akwaibom state thanks to offshore oil production, what about underground water contamination? u sincerely think they dont deserve their 13%?

did the spill go to kano? kaduna nko? anambra?

obasanjo did what is noble by activating the onshore offshore dichotomy, these northerners want to be mischievious.

ibeno community and all communiities along the coast of the Gulf of guinea have all lost their lively hood thanks to offshore drilling and you think they dont deserve what they get?

sanusi and his nrothern brothers should leave the south alone and harness the potential of islamic banking for their industrialization since that is the best his timid Islamic sharia infested brain could come up with, after destroying the banking institution of chukwuma soludo.

we used to have 20 solid financial institutions but today we are stuck with only GTB and first bank thanks to sanusi's vodoo economics, useless northerners , palm oil money no be oil money?

Toaskarity: if the person that wrote this is from the north then no surprise, the aim is to divide southerners from supporting ND. Personally though Im not from ND they deserve both the offshore money too,its their luck.

http://www.osundefender.org/?p=28188

The recent demand by Northern governors for more equitable distribution of the nation’s resources has prompted ridiculously inane responses from Southerners who should know better. Driven by rabid hatred for the North, they obstinately refuse to critically examine the issue at stake, which is simply that off-shore oil revenue from our distant territorial waters belongs to the entire federation, not the littoral states. This is not a northern position, but a constitutional one as affirmed by our Supreme Court in April 2002.

But for Obasanjo’s reprehensible contempt of that Supreme Court ruling in order to placate Niger Delta agitators, we wouldn’t be having this debate of a constitutionally settled issue. Frankly I’m surprised non-littoral states did not sue the FAAC, Federal ministry of finance and the Presidency to enforce compliance with the Supreme Court verdict. Since no one challenged OBJ’s intransigence, littoral Niger Delta states now erroneously consider off-shore derivation their inalienable right.

International law confers the 200 nautical mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) on the nation, not on any federating unit. Our EEZ overlaps with that of some neighbouring African countries, hence our joint venture agreements with them to develop the contained resources. Is it Akwa Ibom or Rivers state that should enter international agreements with Equatorial Guinea or Sao Tome to explore resources in our overlapping EEZs?

In other words even if we operate the sort of federalism where states control mineral resources on their soil, our EEZ would still be federal as obtains in the United States – poster nation for Nigeria’s opinionated ‘true federalists’ – where coastal states earn no revenue from off-shore drilling in their distal territorial waters. So one is aghast as to where greedy Niger Delta chauvinists got the idea of coastal states cornering our off-shore wealth.

The present unconstitutional illegality which benefits only 5 littoral states (Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta & Ondo), resulted in the absurdity of Akwa Ibom which does not produce a drop of crude oil earning the highest derivation revenue with her monthly allocation exceeding that of the entire South East zone…Even though some SE states (Imo, Abia) actually have crude oil.

In other words the 5 gluttonous littoral states are ripping off and short changing the rest of the nation, not just the north. Thirty one states (including most Southern states) stand to benefit from equitable distribution of off-shore revenues, but blind irrational hatred for the North has beclouded the reasoning of shortchanged Southerners.

Given the incessant religious violence in our Islamist north in which southerners are often deliberately targeted, this animus against the North is quite understandable. But that is no reason for them to cut their noses to spite their faces, as many southern states are also in dire financial straits and would benefit from improved revenue.

Thus this is not a south-vs-north issue as scheming Niger Delta agitators would have the rest of the clueless south believe, nor is it a south-south issue as Edo and Cross River are also short-changed by the present unjust arrangement. It is simply the 5 aforementioned littoral states against the rest of the country. Even littoral states like Lagos & Cross River stand to benefit.

Among the specious sophistry peddled by Niger Delta jingoists selfishly insisting on continuing the off-shore injustice; is that Niger Delta suffers environmental degradation due to oil exploration & drilling. So what!! Niger Delta states do not clean up oil spills nor do they pay compensation to affected communities. Oil companies are fully responsible for that. So environmental degradation has absolutely nothing to do with derivation.

In any case the bone of contention here is revenue from off-shore drilling, far off in the Atlantic ocean that they are not implicated in the spillages that have devastated some riverine communities.

As severally stated by the oil companies and verified by a UNEP (UN environmental program) investigative report last year, most of the oil spillages in our Niger Delta are due to deliberate vandalization of on-shore oil installations by locals to steal oil for illegal refining & bunkering. They then deviously demand compensation for the resulting spillage to the tune of millions of Naira…which is far more lucrative than fishing or farming.

Just this month, the Senator Magnus Abe led Petroleum Resource Committee investigation also attested to the menace of pipeline vandalization in Niger Delta. Shell, Mobil, Chevron and other oil companies in our Niger Delta are responsible corporate citizens that drill for oil around the world. It’s only in our corrupt dysfunctional country that they are often in the news for oil spillage and environmental degradation.

Granted that since our inept corrupt leaders have abysmally failed to utilize our tremendous resources to positively transform the nation for the benefit of all; many Niger Deltans resort to criminality to get a share of the wealth taken from their land.

But to use their self inflicted calamity as pretext for extortion and scamming the rest of the nation, smacks of despicable 419. And they have the gall to insult we northerners as ‘lazy,’ as if oil wealth in Niger Delta is due to their hard work.

The North produces the bulk of the food consumed in this nation. It’s certainly not our fault that the agricultural produce which our ‘lazy’ farmers sweat for, doesn’t fetch high value dollars like crude oil which our Niger Delta compatriots do not work for.

It costs about five dollars to produce a barrel of our highly priced Bonny light crude oil, which currently sells for over 120 dollars i.e. more than 24 times the cost of production. No agricultural produce yields that kind of stupendous profits. It is therefore mischievous and patently unreasonable for disingenuous small minded Niger Delta propagandists to compare derivation in the first republic which was mainly derived from agriculture (cotton, groundnut, cocoa, oil palm, rubber) with crude oil; particularly as farmers retain most of their profits as incentive to continue farming.

Furthermore, there were just 3 or 4 large federating units encompassing much larger and more diverse groups of Nigerians, such that in those days when crude oil wasn’t a major revenue earner, Niger Deltans benefitted from coal & oil palm revenues from Igbo hinterland. Just as all northerners benefitted from Jos tin mines revenue. It therefore amounts to unconscionable greed and ingratitude for today’s Niger Deltans to demand all the crude oil for themselves after enjoying the resources of others.

With our present 36-state pseudo-federation, it is patently unreasonable to talk of 50% derivation as obtained in the 3 to 4 region first republic… the structure of today’s polity being radically different. In fact since there are now nine times more federating units as in the first republic, and our present states are accordingly nine times smaller; mineral resource derivation should also be nine times less i.e. 50/9 = 5.6% …if all Nigerians are to equitably enjoy our collective national resources that none of us put in the ground.

Thus it is obvious that even by their first republic 50% derivation fallacy, the greedy oil producing states are collecting much more than their fair share and cheating the rest of nation – 13% derivation, NDDC, Niger Delta ministry. So enough pandering to the selfish greed of unintelligent Niger Delta agitators who are bereft of any ideas of wealth creation other than awoof oil money.

Like the rest of Nigeria, the problem of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta will not be solved by carelessly throwing money around and feeding corruption, but by honest purposeful & visionary leadership judiciously utilizing available resources. A lopsided federation with marked economic disparity among the federating units is not in long term interest of our dear motherland.

Ultimately, the enduring solution to this lingering revenue quagmire is diversification of our economy away from crude oil and natural gas into manufacturing and agriculture. This requires massive investments in infrastructure (especially power, transport, heavy industries), which is not forthcoming as majority of the small unviable pseudo-federating units we glorify as ‘states’ waste most of their budget on bloated civil services and corrupt elected/appointed politicians, leaving little for meaningful capital development.

Thus there is urgent need to restructure our polity into no more than 10 federating units – 3 north, 3 middle belt & 4 south – so that more resources are available for transformational capital investment to realize the much vaunted Vision 2020. It is only then we can have meaningful ‘true federalism.’

Unfortunately, given the incessant agitation for creation of more states, Nigerians are not serious about true federalism.