PANDEF Chairman, Amb Godknows Igali
The Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has faulted claims of marginalization by the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), saying that the Niger Delta is the only region in the country that can lay claim to being marginalised or impoverished.
PANDEF’s claims followed a remark made by ACF on Thursday, claiming that the economic policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government were impoverishing the North.
In a statement released yesterday, the National Spokesman of PANDEF, Chief Christopher Ominimini, stressed that while oil which is found in the Niger Delta region is the mainstay of the nation’s economy, the people of the region have not seen corresponding development.
He said decades of oil exploration and extraction activities in the region had resulted in pollution of farmlands, rivers and the environment while the region was yet to see the benefits of this wealth.
Ominimini said it amounts to injustice that the revenue derived from oil extracted from the Niger Delta goes to the Federal Government while those derived from other regions are kept within those regions.
He said: “Our resources feed the nation, while resources from other geopolitical zones, including the North, are kept for their own use and personal gain.”
“The gold deposits in Northern Nigeria and other parts of the country have not been considered for the benefit of the entire country, but rather for the indigenes and top individual businesses, including foreign nationals like the Chinese and Lebanese, all for individual benefits.”
“Why do other regions mine and control their resources, while the oil and gas from the Niger Delta are controlled by the Nigerian state?”
Ominimini argued that this selective injustice hurts the nation’s progress, stating, “Selective injustice or justice in a nation usually backfires.”
He alleged that the insurgency in Northern Nigeria was linked to the theft of solid minerals, including underground raw gold, and questioned why the government destroyed local petroleum refineries in the Niger Delta while turning a blind eye to illegal mining in the North.
PANDEF also called on the Federal Government to provide a legal framework for artisanal miners to operate. He added that this would create jobs, reduce the waste of Nigeria’s earnings, boost technological knowledge, and decrease corruption, particularly as the country continues to import refined products.
Despite the oil wealth in the Niger Delta, Ominimini highlighted that the people of the region do not know how much oil and gas are extracted, as efforts to meter the oil flow stations or the export terminals have been unsuccessful. Furthermore, most of the oil block owners are from regions outside the Niger Delta, reinforcing the lopsidedness of Nigeria’s system.
“The Nigerian state is wicked to the Niger Delta Region,” Ominimini said. “The rulers prefer collecting penalties from international oil companies for flaring gas rather than addressing the environmental disaster caused by gas flaring, which could be converted for domestic use and economic purposes.”
He went on to say, “Our fishing and farming activities are now impossible as our ecosystem has been destroyed by oil exploitation. Our lifespan is shortened, and we bear the brunt of the oil exploitation alone.”
Ominimini lamented that no one in the federal government cared about the plight of the Niger Delta people, but warned, “If things do not change, God will come to our rescue.”
He also pointed out that despite the oil found in the Niger Delta, oil block owners are mostly from other regions, and there is little or no corporate social responsibility from the International Oil Companies or the federal government.
The statement concluded: “Our people have been excluded from participation in the oil industry. It seems like a well-planned scheme against the people of the Niger Delta. How can the only two executive positions on the NNPCL board be occupied by Northerners? What a shame!”
Ominimini also questioned those complaining about marginalisation, saying, “Where were those complaining now when they were in positions of authority?”
“The only region that can truly claim marginalisation or impoverishment in Nigeria is the Niger Delta Region,” he concluded. “PANDEF believes that justice must be holistic, and the most impoverished people in Nigeria are those of the Niger Delta. This must be addressed without delay.” (The Nation)
