The former President of the Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, has said that Nigeria has, for a while, had the culture of trying to shortchange the people of the Niger Delta and the gains that belong to the region.
The former IYC President, who is popularly known as Asari Dokubo, said this in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Tuesday where he expressed his disappointment about the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu the scrap the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, a decision he called a “total betrayal” to Niger Deltans.
He said, “This decision is a betrayal of the people of the Niger Delta. Total betrayal. There has been this culture in Nigeria of trying to shortchange the people of the Niger Delta, taking, robbing us of our gains.
Asari Dokubo then clarified that his opposition to the scrapping of the Niger Delta Ministry was rooted in his commitment to represent the interests of his people, rather than personal relations with President Tinubu as he said, “The opposition to the decision to scrap the Niger Delta Ministry has nothing to do with my personal relationship with President Ahmed Bola Tinubu. I am just an individual. My personal relationship with Alhaji Ahmed Bola Tinubu is personal. I am a representative of my people, I was chosen and elected by my people to lead them based on a broad based grass root system, the Ijaw Youth Council. Having said that, like I said before, we were in the trenches with Ahmed Bola Tinubu, and he’s the least person that we expect to have taken this decision.
Dokubo outlined the historical context of the struggle for fair representation and resource control, noting that the Ministry was a product of significant sacrifice by Niger Delta communities. He said, “This ministry came into being on the blood and sweat of the people of the Ijaw nation. I was incarcerated in 2005 and the struggle started, the agitation started soon after the former governor of Bayelsa State, Alamieyeseigha, was also incarcerated. Oil production came down to 700,000 barrels. And in order to assuage, in order to placate the Ijaw people, Yar’Adua started with a 7-point Agenda, and one of this 7-point agenda was the issue of the Niger Delta and the Niger Delta Ministry was created by President Yar’Adua.
“The people of Ogoni and Ijaw said if for us to be part of an independent Nigeria, the issue of the underdevelopment of these two nationalities must be addressed. And at that time, oil was discovered mostly in the territories of these two nationalities, and the British Colonial government set up the Wilkin Commission which set up a special area, and they set up the Niger Delta Development Authority- 5 per cent from the Federal Government to contribute, Eastern Region- 5 per cent, and Western Region- 5 per cent. And the government of Tafawa Balewa adhered to this contribution of 5 per cent, the Eastern region and the Western region, like what is happening today, refused to contribute.
“Now, after the brouhaha of the civil war that took place, they decided to create what they call River Basin for every gutter, every drainage found in other parts of the country, and they gave them fanciable names. They converted this special area which was of constitutional direction, an authority that was embedded in the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, they now changed it and equated it with these so called river basins they have created. Now, they totally destroyed the character and nation of the Niger Delta Development Authority.”
“A person just came in 1999 and he redefined what Niger Delta is, Niger Delta became OMPADEC, Oil Producing Area. So Abia became Niger Delta, Imo became Niger Delta, Edo became Niger Delta, Ondo became Niger Delta, Akwa Ibom became Niger Delta, Cross River became Niger Delta, he diluted the meaning of Niger Delta. Niger Delta is created by the river Niger and its tributaries, it’s simple. Nigeria always looks for something that does not exist in reality,” he said.
When he was then asked if he considered that the Niger Delta Affairs ministry was scrapped because it was said to be ineffective, he said, “We are talking of law, we are not talking of effectiveness. The wishes and caprices of a leader does not amount to the law of the country. NDDC was created by law, it was not created by wishes and caprices of a leader, that when I decide a thing, it becomes law.”
“As we speak, the law has not been amended. So, what we are talking about, who decides what is effective? Everything about Nigeria is inefficient because of corruption, because of wanton corruption, so that is corruption everywhere. All institutions are affected by corruption, so nobody will say it is always the Niger Delta that is not efficient. What we are saying- you yourself have said I called for the scrapping of NDDC last year when I said they should scrap NDDC and return OMPADEC, which was the right nomenclature for that body called NDDC, and then create a special authority as it was before for the Niger Delta.
“Having said that, they have created South East Development Commission, North East Development Commission, whatever development commission. Where is the money going to come from? The money of the Ijaw, Ogoni, Itsekiri, Urhobo people, and Igbo people. They tell us that oil is no longer important in the world, but it is our oil money that they are using,” he added.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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