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The beauty of Democracy is, when an electoral illegality is believed to have been committed, it can only be overturn by a legal or constitutional means. Despite the fact that, the process that led to the emergence of Umaru Musa Yar’adua as Nigeria’s President-elect was dented by gross irregularities and widespread rejection of the election results, Yar’adua is Nigeria’s President-elect as declared by ‘almighty’ INEC, until it is decided otherwise by a competent court of law.
Of recent, the political atmosphere of Nigeria was clouded by two burning political issues: the call for power shift by the North, and the call for resource control by the South–South, these two ‘regionally-coloured’ political issues have so much overwhelmed the political system of Nigeria to the extend that, they have successfully influenced the permutations in the politics of the country- a typical example is the Yar’adua–Goodluck presidential ticket presented by the ruling PDP; Yar’adua to satisfied the power shift agitation in the north, Goodluck to pacify the Niger Delta. But one interesting question is, is the concession of the vice presidential slot to the Niger Delta going to calm down the agitations in the Niger Delta? Certainly not, it will only answer the problem of the region at the political front, which is merely a quarter of the problem in the Niger Delta. The recent bombing of Goodluck’s country home by militants, have certainly sent a clear signal to those in authority that, the bulk of the problem in the Niger Delta is socioeconomic; which is also the main problem of the entire Nigerian state.
Oil, which is the key sustainer of the economy of the Nigerian state, is also the main factor that contributed to her crocodile-phase development. The discovery of Oil in Nigeria has brought laziness in the larger society- the complete neglect of agriculture which was hitherto the main source of revenue for the nation, hence, the stifling of creativity in revenue-generation especially at states and local government levels, degradation of the environment in the oil producing communities , corruption among the political class, uncontrolled spending spree by governments, and stunted growth in industrialization, all because of the easy money oil provides. Due to the huge earnings in oil, coupled with some period of oil booms and windfalls, the management and distribution of this huge amount of petrodollars to the benefits of the entire Nigerian populaces has become painstaking, Herculean and sensitive issue, which entails the employing of complex technicalities and formulae in the re-distribution of the oil revenues. The management and distribution of oil revenues has raised many questions and debates both in political and economic tunes, one of them-the Resource Control struggle.
Proponent of Resource Control argued that, the current system had distorted fiscal federalism, rendered the Niger Delta poor, and they believe the introduction of some criteria in the sharing formula was a veiled attempt at favouring other parts of Nigeria above the oil producing areas, thus, they argued, the need for Resources Control. Moreover, these proponents of resource control see the issue within three prisms; ‘Absolute’ resources control, ‘Relative’ Resource Control or, an upward increase in the 13% derivation index. Absolute’ resources control imply that all states take full control of the mining and sales of resources on their land, keep the bulk of the revenue accruable from the resources, but give “pocket money” to the centre, while relative resources control imply that, the status qua on the sharing formular be maintain but states will be in charge of awarding the lucrative oil blocks and choosing which oil company will be allowed to explore for oil. The third type of resource control, calls for an upward review of the 13% derivation index to something around 50% or above.
Opponents of resources control are of the view, a happy-go-lucky tempering of the re-distribution mechanism of oil revenues would facilitated the disintegration of the Nigerian state, and a state that controls or retain the kind of money derivable from oil, can easily declare independence and become a country of it own. Allowing states to allocate oil blocks will promote animosities between communities in the Niger Delta, because it would be a controversial issue, as who will be responsible for the allocation of the oil blocks will be a contentious issue; is it the state government? Is it the government local government? Is it the communities or the clans? Or is it the local chiefs? These horny issues will raise its heads, because the Niger Delta is made of different ethnic groups, and there is disconnection of the leadership from the citizenry, rather than generate healthier competition in development; absolute resource control will only end in generating tension among communities in the Niger Delta.
Another point raised by opponents of resource control is, resource control may distort the Nigerian social order- if all the oil revenues go to the Niger Delta region, the region will witness an unprecedented influx of Nigerians from all the corners of the country- thus, the beginning of another social crisis.
Nevertheless, between these diverging thoughts, opinions and suggestion on resources control, there is always a middle-line approach, which most Nigerian governments try to adopt, but it has failed woefully, because of the lack of genuine political will for constructive engagement with the real and grassroots stakeholders in the Niger Delta, who have been pushed to the wall and this had made the youth in that area crisis citizens, majority of them never experienced a normal national political life in the political setting called Nigeria .
Nigeria needs a bold measure to rehabilitate these promising citizens to a healthy and productive life. The major leeway is to produce a desirable environment for negotiation with the real and grassroots stakeholders in the Niger Delta, who are the problem owners, give more concessions, including more sacrifice by the Nigerian state, which is a hard measure, but very necessary, this will diffuse tension, sanitise the environment and win the support of majority of Niger Delta masses who are the real and true stakeholders. However, the Niger Delta people should be aware; they will be safer and well-off in the greater Nigeria.
Zayyad I. Muhammad writes from Jimeta, Nigeria
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