North, South Rift Deepens Over Revenue

THE furore generated by some members of the Northern Governors’ Forum on the need to review the revenue allocation formula and onshore-offshore dichotomy may have moved from the political to the intellectual realm, and a hardening of positions.
Indeed, the new song is that the country must return to the negotiation table to define its corporate existence along the line of justice, equity and fairness in the allocation of resources to the federating units.

While the North clamours for more revenue to its region through a revisit of the revenue allocation formula and divestment of the offshore resources from the allocation to the littoral states of the Niger Delta, the latter zone wants total control of its oil resources.

It wants this done through an upward review of derivation from the current 13 per cent to 50 per cent.

Dr. Junaid Mohammed, physician and politician, described as an aberration the onshore/offshore dichotomy law, which awards more revenue to states in the oil-rich Niger Delta far ahead of states in the North.

Which is why he wants the matter revisited, insisting it had never been settled.

Said Junaid, “Nothing in the current Nigeria can be settled because we are a transitional country, as everything about our economy, about our security and about our politics is far from being settled”.

“And I am sure we are likely to go back to the drawing board, to start all over again on so many issues, especially the issue of the revenue allocation formula because the issue of the onshore/offshore dichotomy is ultra vires.”

Offsetting Junaid’s position, Professor Kimse Okoko, president, Conference of Ethnic Nationalities of Niger Delta (CENND) and former president of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), said the North’s quest to re-open the onshore/offshore settlement has fired up the Niger Delta people to crave for complete ownership and control of their natural resources.

Okoko said: “Why should we revert to the onshore/offshore dichotomy?

“Even as the issue has been sorted out in the court, the northern elite don’t want to give up. They are interested in the country continuing to do business as usual, so as to remain in control. Unfortunately, it can never happen again.

Okoko the 13 percent derivation must go “under a restructured federal system that will allow us control our resources.”

Similarly, Delta State governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, wants an increase in the derivation from 13 per cent to 50 per cent to enable the Niger Delta tackle its myriad of problems in security, human capital, infrastructure and environment.

“My position is that one way we can be assisted to address the myriad of challenges that we face and to compensate for the violence and despoliation visited on our environment, is a modest increase to 50 per cent derivation. It is entirely in order,” he added.