Like other areas, the Niger Delta people, feeling marginalized and yet demanding resource control, have made many demands on President Bola Tinubu’s government.
Prof. Benjamin Okaba, president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), said the Niger Delta has suffered high levels of multiple degradations due to oil exploitation and exploration, as oil and gas are the country’s mainstays.
He lamented that the Ogoni clean-up, intended to be the start of strategic engagement to right past wrongs, seemed to be a mirage.
Thus, the incoming president should address the Niger Delta’s environmental deterioration. Address oil company-community best practices.
“Secondly, the PIA insults us; the three percent allocated to host communities is unacceptable. We firmly feel that a minimum derivation principle of 50% is the best way to achieve sustainable environmental development.”
He said, “Resource control is very important. Nigeria has recognized the importance of derivation since 1946, so it was part of the 1960 and 1963 constitutions. Gold in Zamfara State, if communities cooperate, is owned by the landowners.
We all know that Zamfara State traders sell gold and other minerals in Saudi Arabia and other countries. If Zamfara residents may possess gold, why not oil?
“One good thing about President Tinubu is that he was an activist and had issues with a past president, so we want to believe he understands these things and the Niger Delta problems. As president, he is expected to improve these things.
Thirdly, our educational system, especially tertiary institutions, has declined. Due to private sector engagement, basic and secondary schools can manage, but higher institutions, notably universities, cannot.
Thus, the education budget should be raised to achieve the UNESCO requirement of 26%. He also mentioned the concerns of insecurity, deteriorating standards of living, and the growing cost of living as topics to address, adding that the economy is suffering from high inflation and life in Nigeria is very challenging.
Indeed, he should ensure that the government provides basic services to raise living standards and boost industries.
“The east-west road and other major south-south roads are terrible. Niger Delta infrastructure is unthinkable. It’s sad that the economy’s center lacks excellent roads, schools, and infrastructure. We emphasize resource control,” Okaba said.
The Movement for the Survival of Izon Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEND), Kennedy West; the Niger Delta Non-violence Agitators Forum (NDNAF), Wisdom Ikuli; and Bayelsa State APC Chairman, Dennis Otiotio, all called for Tinubu to address underdevelopment, marginalization, and restructuring.
Ikuli suggested that the Tinubu administration establish fiscal federalism and financial autonomy so that component units may control resources in their territories and pay royalties to the center.
He said, “Since the discovery of crude oil and gas in 1956 at Oloibiri-Otabagi in present-day Ogbia Local Council of Bayelsa State and subsequent discoveries of the same in other parts of the geographic Niger Delta region, the region has continued to feed the entire country that operates a mono-economy that depends solely on wealth from crude oil and gas.
“Unfortunately, these natural resources and wealth, which are supposed to be great blessings to the people, have rather become a curse, because the generous and very hospitable people of the region are sidelined, deprived, marginalized, and denied benefits from their God-given wealth. Regional economic and environmental genocide is the worst.
“Tinubu should restructure the country and ensure fiscal federalism and financial autonomy. The component units should manage resources and pay royalties to the centre.
“Feeding-bottle democracy will become a very productive and resourceful democracy and system that will encourage healthy competition and developments among states.”
Ikuli advised Tinubu to build coastal roads and rails to connect the region: “He should resuscitate the seaports in the Niger Delta and also build new ones, like the Agge seaport, knowing that the vast wealth of countries is in the marine sector, especially as this will also help to decongest the seaports in Lagos.
“The government should provide basic social amenities, like electricity, water, hospitals and other health facilities, schools, etc., as well as genuine clean-up of the polluted Niger Delta region.” He should run a government of national unity and ensure that deserving Niger Deltans are given adequate responsibilities.”
Otiotio also urged the next president to address floods, erosion, and the East-West road’s longstanding neglect.
“The environmental pollution in the oil and gas industry, particularly in the Niger Delta, should be adequately addressed, as well as the completion of the East-West road,” he stated.
West called Tinubu a man of decency who understands the people’s needs, especially as he led the restructuring call.
We anticipate restructuring under his reign to offer minority ethnic nations a sense of belonging, and the only way to achieve this is by reforming this country. He also stressed constitutional amendment.
“We want the ports to work like Lagos ports,” he stated of the Niger Delta. We want all Niger Delta ports to be operational and financed by the Ministry. This year’s N10 billion ministry budget is ridiculous.
The government must settle all NDDC counterpart contribution funding arrears. We want a government that won’t meddle with the NDDC because that’s why it’s become a political patronage sector.
“Now that it has a functional board, they should be allowed to function without ambiguity and given the necessary guidelines.” Stakeholders in Cross River prioritized security, economics, the judiciary, foreign debt, nation-building, and climate change.
We the People Executive Director Ken Henshaw stated, “There are five things extremely urgent for the President to address because he inherited a divided country on account of the outcome of the election that brought him into office, which has left many people aggrieved.
“If Tinubu wants to save Nigeria, he should first address his own election and be bold enough to admit that the process that brought him to office was fraught with some irregularities, just like the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua did.
Second, he must confront national insecurity, particularly in the Northwest, Northeast, South-South, Southeast, and other regions. Security must be handled immediately since areas of Nigeria are asking to leave due to injustice, strife, and bloodshed.
He added: “The third is Nigeria’s external debt. He will inherit tremendous debt and a falling income. He must confront rising domestic and foreign debt.
The Buhari government completely suffocated Nigeria’s economy. At the present exchange rate, the cost of living has skyrocketed, and more Nigerians are falling below the poverty line. Why can’t we have meaningful corporate investment and a business climate? Tinubu must address this.
Finally, the president must confront climate change immediately. Climate change affects Nigeria, from deserts up north to flooding and shifting agricultural patterns down south, whether he likes it or not. Climate change affects everything.
Henshaw stated that he must solve these five concerns properly.
Dr. Martins Egot believes the incoming president must promptly address national insecurity since no government or democracy can survive without it. “For society, there are basic things that the government needs to address, chief of which is security, because there is no way a government or democracy can thrive without security,” he said.
“Where people cannot freely travel across the country, businesses are truncated, and nothing happens. He must first assure national security since previous governments have spoken about it but failed to deliver. His first responsibility is national security.
“Then going forward, I’m sure that if we have that, our economy will improve, because I tie the economic situation in the country today to insecurity. Businesses fail. Due to the high exchange rate, we must provide a healthy business climate for local and foreign businesses and farmers.
“If Tinubu can fix these two things, I think we will have a better change than before his government.”
