ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) has faulted former President Olusegun Obasanjo for using the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria to support his claims that crude oil in the Niger Delta belongs to the country and not the region.
President, INC, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, made the Congress position known while speaking on ‘The Morning Show’ programme of Arise Television on Thursday.
He described Obasanjo’s position as a second-thought as it contradicted his earlier argument that mineral resources in the Niger Delta were given by God for all Nigerians.
Okaba argued that the former president could not be relying on a constitution that had been variously rejected and described as a fraud and a military document imposed on Nigerians.
The INC chief said the unitary characteristics of the 1999 Constitution which Obasanjo celebrates, had become the major reason Nigeria was collapsing on all sides as the constitution remained a faulty foundation of the country.
Okaba stated: “The Nigerian (1999) Constitution, which Obasanjo is now relying on, is a product of unrepresentative drafting and, to a large extent, most of the provisions therein are military-driven. So the constitution is fraudulent, satanic and it has not served anybody any good.
“In fact, the 1999 Constitution is a foundation for the collapsing of Nigeria; every fabric of Nigeria, the economy, educational system, infrastructure are all collapsing.
Reforms will not save the situation. We need overall restructuring, because OBJ talked about reforms believing that, that will help to bring normalcy to Nigeria.
“But we know that under a constitution that is faulty, not people-driven but hurriedly put together a few weeks before the ascendancy of Obasanjo to power (in 1999), cannot do us any good. So the various agitations across the country are clear evidence that for Nigeria to work, we must do away with this constitution and go back to the basics.
“And in a federation, resource ownership, fiscal federalism are paramount and every constitution that talks about federalism and does not recognise ownership of resources by the people is faulty.”
He said that Section 140 of the 1963 constitution, which Obasanjo made reference to in his open letter of reply to that of Ijaw nation leader and elder statesman, Edwin Clark, gave 50 per cent of proceeds from mineral resources to regions in recognition of their ownership of the resources.
He contended that the former president was “representing a class of people who had fought so hard to sustain a system that is colonial, military-driven and serves hegemonic interest against the interest of other people in Nigeria.”
Okaba further said: “So the 1999 Constitution remains an albatross, a problem and is the reason why we are where we are today. And those who are fighting tirelessly to sustain the status quo are doing it for self-seeking purposes; to protect their hegemonic interest.
“It is high time we restructured and allowed people who feel dissatisfied with the current system to seek self-determination. If not, like we said earlier, if they make restructuring impossible, they make the re-bundling of Nigeria inevitable.”
Obasanjo had a few weeks ago claimed at a peace and security forum while attacking the INC national secretary, Ebipamowei Wodu, that mineral resources in the Niger Delta belonged to all Nigerians and not the region because they were given by God.
But the Congress and Clark insisted in their separate reactions that the crude oil and gas in the Niger Delta belonged to the people and not the country, accusing Obasanjo of hatred against the Ijaw and the people of the Niger Delta.
However, Obasanjo in an open letter to Clark, denied hatred for Niger Delta people, stressing that going by the provisions of the constitution, mineral resources belonged to the entire country.
Obasanjo cautioned against emphasis on tribe instead of the state.