Confab: Northern delegates kick against total resource control

Northern delegates to the National Conference will resist plans to insert total resource in the constitution as canvassed by some delegates, especially from the southern part of the country, it emerged on Tuesday.
According to them, advocating for total resource control would be an exercise in futility unless the 1999 Constitution is amended.
The position of the northern delegates was contained in a booklet titled: “Key issues before the northern delegates to the 2014 national conference,” circulated to all delegates in the 10 committees sitting at the National Judicial Institute.
It was also resolved by the northern delegates that they would push for the reversal of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy, which according to them ceded a national resource to only littoral states.
In addition, they are also calling for the scrapping of all institutions and programmes established as palliatives for the oil producing states.
Such include the Niger Delta Development Commission, the Ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty Programme for the Niger-Delta ex-militants.
Besides, they argued that the agitation for resource control amounts calls for cession, while all regions in the country were supposed to be equal stakeholders of the proceeds of Nigeria’s oil.
“The North rejects the frequent assertions by the south on the population figures of the North and states clearly that the rate of population growth attributed to the North over the years is extremely understated,” the booklet stated.
The booklet states the position of the northern delegates on onshore/offshore dichotomy: “The north recommends the rejection of claim to oil resources by oil producing areas that led to the cancellation of the onshore/offshore oil dichotomy which action gave way a national resource to littoral state, seriously eroding revenue available for the distribution to all part of the country. The north demands a reversal to status quo ante.
“The North recommends that all institutions and programmes established for the benefit of a few states be abolished. These include the Niger-Delta Development Commission, the ministry of Niger Delta and the Amnesty Programme for the Niger-Delta ex-militants and the Component C of the SURE-P programme, the HYPADEC.”
According to the north”s submission: “The derivation which is now at 13% should be reduced to at least 5% and must be limited only to on the onshore. The demand for resource control is indeed also oblivious of other relevant facts: the Nigerian constitution gave the ownership of all mineral resources found in any part of the country to the federal government of Nigeria.
“The history of revenue sharing between the Regions and the centre was 50:50, but limited to revenue derived from activities that involved human effort. All mineral resources had belonged to the centre, and this new adventure on resource control is totally new concept, and alien to the practice in the Nigerian.”
On the local government system, the booklet said: “The north recommends a multi-tier local government system that brings the people closer to the government and increases their level of involvement in governance.
“The north demands a new revenue sharing formula which seeks to empower the strata of government closer to the people than the centre, i.e the states, and the local governments to be able to deliver on their governance responsibilities to the people. The formula is also to ensure a strong enough federal government for the security of the country, and give the country the stability of direction and focus on human and economic development.”
The northern delegates however proposed a new revenue sharing formula, stating: “Here, we recommend a vertical revenue sharing formula as follows: federal government 26%, states 39%, local government 35%. Also we recommend a horizontal revenue sharing formula for the states and local government areas as follows: equality 35%; population 30%; population density 2%; land mass 20%; terrain 5%; internal revenue generation effort 5%%; and social development factor 3%.”