{"id":9981,"date":"2016-07-11T19:39:42","date_gmt":"2016-07-11T19:39:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=9981"},"modified":"2016-07-11T19:39:42","modified_gmt":"2016-07-11T19:39:42","slug":"resource-control-of-renewed-agitation-and-entitlement-by-ojo_maduekwe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/?p=9981","title":{"rendered":"Resource control: Of renewed agitation and entitlement by Ojo_Maduekwe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><code><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/code><\/p>\n<p><code><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\/\/ <![CDATA[\ndocument.write('<s'+'cript type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&#038;pl=9289&#038;ad_type=1&#038;j=1&#038;code='+new Date().getTime()+'\"><\/s'+'cript>');\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><br \/>\n<noscript><br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.alternativeadvert.com\/show.php?z=30&#038;pl=9289&#038;ad_type=1\" width=\"468\" height=\"60\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" hspace=\"0\" vspace=\"0\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/noscript><\/code><\/p>\n<p><strong>I was in a male-dominated gathering and as it is with men, the conversation was about politics and one man said and I paraphrase: \u201cWhy are the Niger Delta Avengers blowing up pipelines and the people from that area claiming that the oil belongs to their region. They have forgotten that there was a time in Nigeria that agriculture from the North and Middle Belt was used to develop the entire country.\u201d\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Mr Anonymous assertion questions Nigeria\u2019s history. Was there a time proceeds from agricultural produce from the Northern and Middle Belt regions were used in developing the \u201centire\u201d country?<\/p>\n<p>Did someone distort history by telling us that the one-time Premier of the Western region, Obafemi Awolowo, used proceeds from cocoa and rubber in developing the Southwest which includes running his famous free education policy? Also, in developing the Southeast, did the groundnut pyramids from the North play any role or it was Palm Oil that Michael Okpara used to develop the region?<\/p>\n<p><code><a href=\"https:\/\/market.jumia.com.ng\/smartphones\/?utm_source=pap&amp;utm_medium=aff&amp;utm_campaign=1ada0683&amp;a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=1ada0683\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" title=\"\" src=\"\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/accounts\/default1\/a72f75b38\/1ada0683.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" style=\"border: 0;\" src=\"http:\/\/kaymu.postaffiliatepro.com\/scripts\/a72f75i38?a_aid=Omafume&amp;a_bid=1ada0683\" alt=\"\" width=\"1\" height=\"1\" \/><\/code><\/p>\n<p>Again I ask, was agricultural produce from the North and Middle Belt used in developing the entire country? Answering this question and addressing other such misconceptions is important and should be done now that there appears to be a cold war like kind of debate about the sovereignty of Nigeria between persons from the North and South of the country, with the recurrent undertone being Resource Control.<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to the issue of resource control, Nigeria is divided into two. In the north are a group with a sense of entitlement who argues that agricultural produce from their region was used to develop the \u201centire\u201d country, including the agitating South-south; and in the south are a group who feel short-changed by the north who they accuse of \u201cowning\u201d their resources and have for years exploited it to enrich themselves and to develop their region.<\/p>\n<p>It wasn\u2019t exactly Mr Anonymous distortion of history that got me thinking but his assertion that the \u201centire\u201d country was once developed using proceeds from agriculture, therefore suggesting that it was not in the place of the Niger Delta region to seek to own their resources. To him the oil is Nigeria\u2019s commonwealth. Interestingly, on the issue of restructuring Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari shares Mr Anonymous feeling of entitlement, refusing repeated calls by various groups and individuals to restructure the country.<\/p>\n<p>In May, while speaking at the palace of the Emir of Katsina, AlhajiAbdulmumini Kabiru Usman, on calls by Biafra agitators for the dissolution of Nigeria, Buhari was quoted as saying that: \u201cThe way the Sahara is advancing, with Boko Haram, growing number of people and uncertainty over rainfall, in a land where we fought civil war leading to the death of about two million, for someone to just say he will chase us out? So where do we go?\u201d This in a way explains Buhari\u2019s handling of the Fulani herdsmen issue.<\/p>\n<p>To Buhari, the mention of restructuring or resource control connotes a dissolution of the country. The president on several occasions and recently in response to the demands of the militant group, the Niger Delta Avengers, has reiterated his stance on Nigeria\u2019s sovereignty in the following words: \u201cOne Nigeria is not negotiable.\u201d The president appears to be speaking for the North. The above statement was endorsed by the most vocal pro-Northern interest organisation, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), with a \u201cYes. The unity of Nigeria is non-negotiable\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Though the Afenifere and Ohaneze \u2013 both pro-Western and pro-Eastern interest organisations respectively \u2013 disagrees with Bubari and the ACFs, it is Professor Wole Soyinka\u2019s response to Buhari in an earlier statement on the same issue of restructuring that\u2019s bloody (if I may borrow the Professors word) worth quoting: \u201cIt\u2019s bloody well negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We better negotiate it, not even at meetings, not at conferences, but everyday in our conduct towards one another\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>If Buhari is serious about quelling renewed agitations in the South then he must push for Nigeria\u2019s restructuring so that States can control resources within their territory. This move, beyond silencing these agitations, will provide for healthy competition between the various States of the federation. Anything short of this will only acerbate the renewed armed conflicts by militants in the South-south and keep Biafra separatists on the streets of Southeast States.<\/p>\n<p>Bubari should reflect on his Katsina statement and heed his own advice: \u201cWe have to reflect on the historical antecedent to appreciate what is before us now and what we intend to leave for our children and our grand children.\u201d Historically speaking Nigeria was said to be doing well practicing regional government until for politically reasons General Yakubu Gowon in 1967 split the Northern, Western, Mid Western and Eastern regions to create 12 States.<\/p>\n<p>Buhari is already being judged by history. \u201cThe country is divided under him than before\u201d, so claims the National Publicity Secretary of the Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin. Fortunately for Buhari, there\u2019s still time to rewrite his own history. If he will push for States to control their resources, he will leave a lasting legacy of a one indivisible Nigeria devoid of rancour between the North and South.<\/p>\n<p><em>Maduekwe, a politics writer, is editor at Discussing Africa. You can follow him on Twitter @<a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map-.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9463\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-9463\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map-.jpg\" alt=\"Niger Delta map\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map-.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map--150x150.jpg 150w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map--80x80.jpg 80w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map--40x40.jpg 40w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map--64x64.jpg 64w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map--75x75.jpg 75w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Alayo-2.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-9619\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-9619\" src=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Alayo-2-300x250.jpg\" alt=\"Alayo 2\" width=\"300\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Alayo-2-300x250.jpg 300w, http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Alayo-2.jpg 559w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><script src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js\" async=\"\"><\/script><br \/>\n <!-- www.deltanewsroom.com --><br \/>\n <ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-2163942495525027\" data-ad-slot=\"1411897411\" data-ad-format=\"auto\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\/\/ <![CDATA[\n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\n\/\/ ]]><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I was in a male-dominated gathering and as it is with men, the conversation was about politics and one man said and I paraphrase: \u201cWhy are the Niger Delta Avengers blowing up pipelines and the people from that area claiming that the oil belongs to their region. They have forgotten that there was a time [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":9463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[867,1938,2314,2315,243,869],"class_list":["post-9981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opinion","tag-afenifere","tag-emir-of-katsina","tag-michael-okpara","tag-middle-belt","tag-obafemi-awolowo","tag-yinka-odumakin"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Niger-Delta-map-.jpg","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4oswh-2AZ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9981"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9982,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9981\/revisions\/9982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/9463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9981"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9981"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/newsroom247.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9981"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}