Resource Control, Revenue Sharing Formula Tears Confab Members Apart
Discussions on issues listed under the Exclusive and Concurrent Lists in
the 1999 Constitution took priority position on Thursday as the Committee
on Devolution of Power continued its deliberation at the on-going National
Conference holding in Abuja.
However, initial focus was on the contentious issue of fiscal
responsibility as it concerns resource control, sharing of revenue and the
sharing formula.
Repeatedly, Co-Chairman of the Committee and former Governor of Akwa Ibom
State, Obong Victor Attah called Committee members to order as emotions
almost took over although that was not the first issue slated for
discussion.
After listening to comments and arguments, Attah in his remarks, said as
the co-chairman of the committee, he would do his best to be impartial in
decision-making but it would be impossible for him to pretend not to come
from somewhere.
He cautioned against attempt by anybody to reopen the issue of
reintroducing the on-shore off-shore dichotomy or any dichotomy between
naturally occurring and man-made resources, “let us think instead of how
to ramp up the derivation percentage over time, remembering that it used
to stand at 50%.”
The former Governor urged the Committee to examine how to make remedial
measures to reclaim polluted lands and waters and how to stop further
degradation.
Above all, he said, “we have to look at how to assist all other parts of
this country to develop their inert potentials and resources. This is the
direction in which I thought the discussions were leading us.
“If we follow that way, we would, by consensus, have practicalised the
true concept of being our brother's keeper which does not suggest the
inequitable pattern of you bring, we share, but rather the one that says I
bring, you bring, together we grow.”
The co-chairman drew attention to the fact that oil will one day finish in
the Niger Delta and that the craze to share oil revenue has not allowed
anybody to consider what will happen to the impoverished oil producing
communities when the wells dry up.
He analysed: “Let me say that the people of the Niger Delta are very
conscious of this and indeed this has been their greatest fear. Time will
come when the oil will dry up completely, then what will happen to the
people of the Niger Delta? No farmland and no fishing in the polluted
waters.”
Attah said available information indicate availability of oil in the
north; and that it was not quite long ago when gas emissions were
confirmed in Kiru in Kano State.
He disclosed that the stream that runs from Chad Republic goes through
Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, to Niger and to Libya
The co-chairman also mentioned rich deposits of limestone, high quality
gold and even the presence of uranium as part of what he called the
presence of a scandalous amount of solid mineral deposits across the
north.
Then he asked: “Why have we not developed this sector and elevate it to
the same status level as the oil industry? Time will come – I would rather
say that time has come; and this committee has the ability and therefore
must chart the way through consensus.”
Presently, he informed the delegates that building a one-kilometer road in
the Niger Delta costs not less than N900 million because first, “you have
to dam the water and pump it out; next you excavate and cart away all the
bad earth sometimes to a depth of two metres or more.
“Then you backfill with good material which you obtain from a great
distance, then you compact and build your road…. Even the driveway to your
house has to be land filled and built with concrete.”
Co-Chairman of the Committee and former Inspector General of Police,
Ibrahim Coomasie, in his comments on resource control cautioned against
use of intimidation in a bid to win arguments.
He said every member should think maturely and make contributions in a
mature manner so that the country will gain from their experiences and
approach, adding, “We have been a country for 100 years, now we are
charting a new course. We have so many things in common.”
Coomasie said resource control remains a settled issue “as contained in
the Constitution,” explaining that government's over-dependence on oil,
“which is the bone of contention,” has led to the stagnation of other
revenue-yielding sources.
The co-chairman disclosed that federal monthly allocations to Akwa Ibom,
Rivers, Bayelsa and Delta States were far more than what all the states in
the north earn within the same period.
“We should look for compromise. I know what my people in the north want.
But I will leave that for other members to say. We have to be very careful
of what decision we take, we have to be careful about our opinion, we must
not try to intimidate anybody,” said Coomasie.
In the course of examining and transferring items from the Exclusive List
to the Concurrent List, disagreement erupted on Item 39 of the Exclusive
List which deals with Mines and Minerals, including oil fields, oil mining
and natural gas.
While delegates from the south believed moving the item to the Concurrent
List would create opportunity for state governments to have a say in the
exploitation of such minerals, delegates from the north believed it was
another way of endorsing resource control.
During the debate, delegates from the south insisted that what was
required was not transfer of ownership of minerals to the states but
involvement of the states or the regional governments in the exploitation
of such minerals without a hundred per cent stringent control by the
federal government.
Emotions almost spilled over when delegates from the north were of the
opinion that unlike other items on the list, any attempt to shift the item
from Exclusive to Concurrent would amount to a breach of the Constitution.
Attah, who moderated the session, quickly stepped in and repeatedly
explained why delegates should be guided by the need for a comprehensive
development of the nation using available resources instead of holding
each other in suspicion.
At the end, he advised all members of the committee to return on Monday
with a suggestion on how the monopoly of control of mineral resources by
the federal government could be extended to the state although the federal
government would always grant the required license for the mining of such
minerals.
Other items already moved from the Exclusive to Concurrent List included
Bankruptcy and Insolvency; Registration of birth and deaths; Commercial
and Industrial Monopolies; Labour Matters; and Evidence, finger prints
identification and criminal records.
On Wednesday, all the three sub-committees on National Security
deliberated on the memoranda received from the public and other working
papers according to the thematic heads assigned to each sub-committee, but
due to lack of memoranda from certain government agencies, the committees
requested the Conference Secretariat to invite the agencies to either
attend their meetings or submit memos to enable the committee carry out
their work effectively.
They agencies are: The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Federal Road Safety
Commission (FRSC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Prisons Service
(NPS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law
Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),
Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Intelligence Agency (NAI) and
the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).
While continuing on their deliberations on the memos received, the sub
committees agreed to meet in plenary on Friday (tomorrow), to assess the
level of work done by each committee and to review their interim reports.