Discussions on issues listed under the Exclusive and Concurrent Lists in
\nthe 1999 Constitution took priority position on Thursday as the Committee
\non Devolution of Power continued its deliberation at the on-going National
\nConference holding in Abuja.<\/p>\n
However, initial focus was on the contentious issue of fiscal
\nresponsibility as it concerns resource control, sharing of revenue and the
\nsharing formula.<\/p>\n
Repeatedly, Co-Chairman of the Committee and former Governor of Akwa Ibom
\nState, Obong Victor Attah called Committee members to order as emotions
\nalmost took over although that was not the first issue slated for
\ndiscussion.<\/p>\n
After listening to comments and arguments, Attah in his remarks, said as
\nthe co-chairman of the committee, he would do his best to be impartial in
\ndecision-making but it would be impossible for him to pretend not to come
\nfrom somewhere.<\/p>\n
He cautioned against attempt by anybody to reopen the issue of
\nreintroducing the on-shore off-shore dichotomy or any dichotomy between
\nnaturally occurring and man-made resources, \u201clet us think instead of how
\nto ramp up the derivation percentage over time, remembering that it used
\nto stand at 50%.\u201d<\/p>\n
The former Governor urged the Committee to examine how to make remedial
\nmeasures to reclaim polluted lands and waters and how to stop further
\ndegradation.<\/p>\n
Above all, he said, \u201cwe have to look at how to assist all other parts of
\nthis country to develop their inert potentials and resources. This is the
\ndirection in which I thought the discussions were leading us.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we follow that way, we would, by consensus, have practicalised the
\ntrue concept of being our brother\u2019s keeper which does not suggest the
\ninequitable pattern of you bring, we share, but rather the one that says I
\nbring, you bring, together we grow.\u201d<\/p>\n
The co-chairman drew attention to the fact that oil will one day finish in
\nthe Niger Delta and that the craze to share oil revenue has not allowed
\nanybody to consider what will happen to the impoverished oil producing
\ncommunities when the wells dry up.<\/p>\n
He analysed: \u201cLet me say that the people of the Niger Delta are very
\nconscious of this and indeed this has been their greatest fear. Time will
\ncome when the oil will dry up completely, then what will happen to the
\npeople of the Niger Delta? No farmland and no fishing in the polluted
\nwaters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Attah said available information indicate availability of oil in the
\nnorth; and that it was not quite long ago when gas emissions were
\nconfirmed in Kiru in Kano State.<\/p>\n
He disclosed that the stream that runs from Chad Republic goes through
\nBorno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, to Niger and to Libya<\/p>\n
The co-chairman also mentioned rich deposits of limestone, high quality
\ngold and even the presence of uranium as part of what he called the
\npresence of a scandalous amount of solid mineral deposits across the
\nnorth.<\/p>\n
Then he asked: \u201cWhy have we not developed this sector and elevate it to
\nthe same status level as the oil industry? Time will come – I would rather
\nsay that time has come; and this committee has the ability and therefore
\nmust chart the way through consensus.\u201d<\/p>\n
Presently, he informed the delegates that building a one-kilometer road in
\nthe Niger Delta costs not less than N900 million because first, \u201cyou have
\nto dam the water and pump it out; next you excavate and cart away all the
\nbad earth sometimes to a depth of two metres or more.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you backfill with good material which you obtain from a great
\ndistance, then you compact and build your road\u2026. Even the driveway to your
\nhouse has to be land filled and built with concrete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Co-Chairman of the Committee and former Inspector General of Police,
\nIbrahim Coomasie, in his comments on resource control cautioned against
\nuse of intimidation in a bid to win arguments.<\/p>\n
He said every member should think maturely and make contributions in a
\nmature manner so that the country will gain from their experiences and
\napproach, adding, \u201cWe have been a country for 100 years, now we are
\ncharting a new course. We have so many things in common.\u201d<\/p>\n
Coomasie said resource control remains a settled issue \u201cas contained in
\nthe Constitution,\u201d explaining that government\u2019s over-dependence on oil,
\n\u201cwhich is the bone of contention,\u201d has led to the stagnation of other
\nrevenue-yielding sources.<\/p>\n
The co-chairman disclosed that federal monthly allocations to Akwa Ibom,
\nRivers, Bayelsa and Delta States were far more than what all the states in
\nthe north earn within the same period.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should look for compromise. I know what my people in the north want.
\nBut I will leave that for other members to say. We have to be very careful
\nof what decision we take, we have to be careful about our opinion, we must
\nnot try to intimidate anybody,\u201d said Coomasie.<\/p>\n
In the course of examining and transferring items from the Exclusive List
\nto the Concurrent List, disagreement erupted on Item 39 of the Exclusive
\nList which deals with Mines and Minerals, including oil fields, oil mining
\nand natural gas.<\/p>\n
While delegates from the south believed moving the item to the Concurrent
\nList would create opportunity for state governments to have a say in the
\nexploitation of such minerals, delegates from the north believed it was
\nanother way of endorsing resource control.<\/p>\n
During the debate, delegates from the south insisted that what was
\nrequired was not transfer of ownership of minerals to the states but
\ninvolvement of the states or the regional governments in the exploitation
\nof such minerals without a hundred per cent stringent control by the
\nfederal government.<\/p>\n
Emotions almost spilled over when delegates from the north were of the
\nopinion that unlike other items on the list, any attempt to shift the item
\nfrom Exclusive to Concurrent would amount to a breach of the Constitution.<\/p>\n
Attah, who moderated the session, quickly stepped in and repeatedly
\nexplained why delegates should be guided by the need for a comprehensive
\ndevelopment of the nation using available resources instead of holding
\neach other in suspicion.<\/p>\n
At the end, he advised all members of the committee to return on Monday
\nwith a suggestion on how the monopoly of control of mineral resources by
\nthe federal government could be extended to the state although the federal
\ngovernment would always grant the required license for the mining of such
\nminerals.<\/p>\n
Other items already moved from the Exclusive to Concurrent List included
\nBankruptcy and Insolvency; Registration of birth and deaths; Commercial
\nand Industrial Monopolies; Labour Matters; and Evidence, finger prints
\nidentification and criminal records.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, all the three sub-committees on National Security
\ndeliberated on the memoranda received from the public and other working
\npapers according to the thematic heads assigned to each sub-committee, but
\ndue to lack of memoranda from certain government agencies, the committees
\nrequested the Conference Secretariat to invite the agencies to either
\nattend their meetings or submit memos to enable the committee carry out
\ntheir work effectively.<\/p>\n
They agencies are: The Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Federal Road Safety
\nCommission (FRSC), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Nigeria Prisons Service
\n(NPS), Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), National Drug Law
\nEnforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA),
\nDefence Intelligence Agency (DIA), National Intelligence Agency (NAI) and
\nthe Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA).<\/p>\n
While continuing on their deliberations on the memos received, the sub
\ncommittees agreed to meet in plenary on Friday (tomorrow), to assess the
\nlevel of work done by each committee and to review their interim reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Discussions on issues listed under the Exclusive and Concurrent Lists in the 1999 Constitution took priority position on Thursday as the Committee on Devolution of Power continued its deliberation at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n