North Contributes Nothing To Nation's Economy, Says IYC

Accuses Northern Leaders Of Sheer Arrogance
The radical Ijaw youth group, Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) on Wednesday came down hard on Northern Nigeria, saying the region has nothing to contribute to the Nigerian economy.

Describing Northern Nigeria as a parasite on the South South, particularly the Niger Delta, which it said is the mainstay of the Nigerian economy, IYC, in a statement obtained by THEWILL on Wednesday accused Northern leaders who claim the North is the backbone of Nigeria of 'sheer arrogance.'

It said in actual sense, the Northern Nigeria needs the Niger Delta and other parts of the south for economic survival.

The statement signed by IYC's spokesman, Eric Omare, also accused Northerners of persistently making provocative statements deliberately to instigate Nigerians against the Federal Government.

According to the group;'That the content of the Northern position papers as it relates to ownership and management of hydrocarbon resources found in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is highly provocative, insulting, inciting, unpatriotic and deliberately prepared to instigate Niger-Deltans to take up arms against the Federal Government of Nigeria under the leadership of President Goodluck Jonathan.

'Some Northern leaders want to achieve their hidden agenda of making Nigeria ungovernable for President Jonathan, which they have failed to achieve through Boko Haram, through their provocative and inciting document.'

The group also condemned vehemently the consistent opposition of some Northern delegates to the demand for resource control and restated the right of the people of the Niger Delta to the ownership of the oil and gas found in their lands.

'The insistence of Northerners to the ownership of oil found in the Niger Delta without thinking of any creative means of generating resources to run their states is a classic demonstration of poor leadership and lack of initiative,' the group added..

IYC said there are natural resources which can be exploited to generate revenue in the North and therefore challenged Northerners to exploit the resources in their area.

' We wish to state clearly that contrary to the position contained the said document, the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) did not in Article 76 states that the resources found in the territorial waters and continental shelves belongs to the central government.

'The United Nations law did not deal with ownership of hydrocarbon resources between the central government and its federating units,' IYC said.

It therefore described as dishonest and unpatriotic, the comparison of the revenue accruable to the South-South states to the other states of Nigeria in the said document without considering the fact that the Niger Delta region contributes over 95 percent of the total revenue and national budget of Nigeria.

It challenged Northerners to tell the world their contribution to the revenue of Nigeria.

The group said: 'It is also totally dishonest and unpatriotic for some Northern leaders not to acknowledge and appreciate the impact of the amnesty programme to the improved national revenue and the environmental impacts of the oil and gas activities which the NDDC and Niger Delta Ministry were set up to address.

'Therefore, we call on delegates to the National Confab to totally reject the proposals contained the Northern position paper as they are unpatriotic, dishonest and an invitation to anarchy in Nigeria.

'The National Confab is an opportunity for Nigerians to right the wrongs of the past and chart a new course for the progressive development of Nigeria and not to add salt to injury for Niger Deltans.

'It is sheer arrogance for Northerners to refer to Northern Nigeria as the backbone and strength of Nigeria. On the contrary, the Niger-Delta is the backbone of Nigeria been the economic mainstay of Nigeria.

'Niger-Deltans can survive without Northern Nigeria, but Northern Nigeria needs Niger Delta and other parts of the south for economic survival. We advise the leaders of the North behind the inciting statements to have a rethink.'