Ijaw National Congress President Flays Obasanjo’s Crude Oil Claims

Olusegun Samuel in Yenagoa

The President of the Ijaw National Congress, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, has flayed faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for using the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to buttress his claims that crude oil in the Niger Delta belonged to the country and not the people of the region.

Okaba, who spoke yesterday , in television programme monitored by our correspondent in Yenagoa, described Obasanjo’s position as a second-thought as it contradicts his earlier argument that mineral resources in the Niger Delta were given by God for all Nigerians.

He argued that the former president could not be relying on a constitution that had been variously rejected and described as a fraud and a military document imposed on Nigerians.

Okaba said the unitary characteristics of the 1999 constitution which Obasanjo celebrates, had become the major reason Nigeria was collapsing on all sides as the constitution remained a faulty foundation of the country.

The INC chief said: “The Nigerian (1999) constitution, which OBJ is now relying on, is a product of unrepresentative drafting and, to a large extent, most of the provisions therein are military-driven. So the constitution is fraudulent, satanic and it has not served anybody any good.

“In fact, the 1999 constitution is a foundation for the collapsing of Nigeria. Every fabric of Nigeria, the economy, educational system, infrastructure are all collapsing. Reforms will not serve the situation. We need overall restructuring, because OBJ talked about reforms believing that, that will help to bring normalcy to Nigeria.

“But we know that under a constitution that is faulty, not people-driven but hurriedly put together few weeks before the ascendancy of OBJ to power (in 1999), cannot do us any good. So the various agitations across the country are a clear evidence that for Nigeria to work, we must do away with this constitution and go back to the basics.

“And in a federation, resource ownership, fiscal federalism is paramount and every constitution that talks about federalism and does not recognise ownership of resources by the people is faulty.”

He stated that Section 140 of the 1963 constitution, which Obasanjo made reference to in his open letter of reply to that of Ijaw nation leader and elder statesman, Edwin Clark, gave 50 per cent of proceeds from mineral resources to regions in recognition of their ownership of the resources.

Okaba contended that the former president was “representing a class of people who had fought so hard to sustain a system that is colonial, military-driven and serves hegemonic interest against the interest of other people in Nigeria.”

He further said: “So the 1999 constitution remains an albatross, a problem and is the reason why we are where we are today. And those who are fighting tirelessly to sustain the status quo are doing it for self-seeking purpose; to protect their hegemonic interest.

“It is high time we restructured and allow people who feel dissatisfied with the current system to seek self-determination. If not, like we said earlier, if they make restructuring impossible, they make the re-bundling of Nigeria inevitable.”

Obasanjo had a few weeks ago claimed at a peace and security forum while attacking the INC national secretary, Ebipamowei Wodu, that mineral resources in the Niger Delta belonged to all Nigerians and not the region because they were given by God.

But the INC and Clark insisted in their separate reactions that the crude oil and gas in the Niger Delta belonged to the people and not the country, accusing the former president of hatred against the Ijaw and Niger Delta people.

However, Obasanjo in an open letter to Clark’s, denied hating Niger Delta people, stressing that going by the provisions of the constitution, mineral resources belonged to the entire country.