By Chancel Bomadi Sunday
BOMADI — The newly inaugurated executive of the Ijaw National Congress, INC, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, has vowed to intensify its campaign for resource control in the oil-rich Ijaw territory and the wider Niger Delta region.
The Vice Chairman of INC, Dr Felix Tuodolo, disclosed this during an interaction with newsmen at the weekend, saying the High Chief MacDonald Igbadiwei-led executive would work to ensure that the Ijaw people and other Niger Deltans, who contribute significantly to Nigeria’s mineral resources, receive equitable treatment from the Federal Government through appropriate policies.
Tuodolo, pioneer President of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, Worldwide and one of the champions of the Kaiama Declaration during the late General Sani Abacha administration, said the demands of the Ijaw people before the Federal Government remained largely unmet.
He pledged that the new INC leadership would vigorously pursue the struggle for greater resource control for the people.
He said: “To be candid, we have not arrived at our destination in the pursuit of equitable treatment from the Central Government; our demands remain unfulfilled. We want to control our resources from the outset, a cause for which our forefathers tirelessly fought time and again.
“The Oil Derivation Fund has only risen from 0 per cent to 1.3 per cent, then to 3 per cent, 5 per cent, and now stands at 13 per cent. The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) stipulates a minimum derivation of 13 per cent, indicating that the Federal Government has not increased it at all.
“We are advocating for the Federal Government to raise the Oil Derivation Fund to 30 per cent, 40 per cent or higher.”
Tuodolo also lamented the environmental degradation suffered by communities across the Niger Delta as a result of oil exploration and exploitation.
He criticised what he described as inadequate measures by the Federal Government and multinational oil companies to address pollution and environmental degradation in the region.
The INC vice chairman urged the Federal Government to fulfil its responsibilities to the Niger Delta and implement measures to reverse the environmental damage suffered by its people.
He said: “The federal authorities continue to treat our environment with disregard, leading to such severe pollution that we are on the brink of losing our traditional livelihoods of fishing and farming.
“Our rivers and lands are contaminated, and our customary means of survival are nearly extinct. Furthermore, the polluted environment adversely impacts our life expectancy.
“You have heard of the situation in Alakiri, an Ijaw territory where a fire has been burning for many years; the case in Bile, Rivers State, where gas pollution has caused significant damage to the area; and the occurrence of similar situations in some Ijaw areas in Delta State.
“As an umbrella organisation for the Ijaw people, we are committed to pursuing resource control to the fullest extent of our capabilities. We aim to manage our resources independently and remit taxes to the Central Government.”
Tuodolo further pledged that the INC would work to protect the Ijaw people in their ancestral lands from threats to their existence and territorial integrity.
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