The practice of true federalism in Nigeria and the equitable distribution<\/p>\n
of the nation’s oil wells domiciled in the Niger Delta region is the only
\nguarantee for peace in the volatile region, Niger Delta Environmental and
\nRights activist, Ann-Kio Briggs, has said.<\/p>\n
Speaking on lasting solutions to the violent agitation in the region,
\nBriggs, who was a member of the 2014 National Conference convened by
\nformer President Goodluck Jonathan, said the injustice meted out to the
\npeople of the region by the federal government and oil companies gave room
\nto hostility in the region.<\/p>\n
Her reaction followed sustained bombing of oil pipelines in the region
\nforcing a drastic cut in the nation’s oil output. Even with government’s
\ndecision to withdraw the deployment of troops in the region and limit them
\nto manning the waterways, the Niger Delta Avengers and other militant
\ngroups have continued to bomb pipelines and threatened to unleash missile
\nstrikes on Abuja, the nation’s seat of power.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must sit down and find a way round how Niger Delta people will have
\nop\u00adportunity to utilise what is in their region to develop themselves and
\nsecure their future.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people are complain\u00ading that all the oil wells in the Niger Delta,
\napart from the ones that the federal gov\u00adernment is sharing with oil
\ncompanies, about 90 percent or more of those oil wells, for the past 20 to
\n30 years, have been in the custody of Nige\u00adrians who are not from the
\nNiger Delta region.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are not contribut\u00ading to the development of the communities where
\nthey are making these billions of dollars.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf anybody is saying we are not being reasonable by feeling offended by
\nsuch captivation, we are mov\u00ading round in circles because people will
\ncontinue to feel aggrieved.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter where the resource is. If it is handled and shared and
\ndenied the people the way it is being de\u00adnied the Niger Delta people, it
\ndoesn\u2019t matter where in Nigeria, those people will ac\u00adtually agitate. And,
\nthese are the core reasons and we must address the core reasons,\u201d she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
She endorsed government’s dialogue with stakeholders and the militant as
\nthe way forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must remind our\u00adselves in Nigeria that politics is not a war. It is
\nnot a situa\u00adtion of winners take all. It is not a situation where a group
\nof people will determine that they have conquered certain group of people
\nin Nigeria. We are equal partners in the Nigeria project,\u201d she said in a
\nchat with Channels TV.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The practice of true federalism in Nigeria and the equitable distribution of the nation’s oil wells domiciled in the Niger Delta region is the only guarantee for peace in the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49977","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n