By Nelson Utip
Chief James Onanefe Ibori, a former governor of Delta state has urged governors, legislators, and other leaders of the South-South not to fail the people of the region by repositioning it through fiscal federalism.
Ibori spoke in celebration of the 24th anniversary of the South South Governors, Legislators, and Leaders’ Summit held in Asaba, Delta State, on March 31, 2000.
Tony Eluemunor his Spokesperson in a statement noted that in spite of all the associated gains of the Niger Delta struggle, much is yet to be accomplished with new challenges arising.
An advocate of fiscal federalism, James Ibori was governor of Delta state from 1999 – 2007, and was a strong voice for resource control and true Federalism.
He used the occasion on Saturday to congratulate South-South governors, state legislators and National Assembly members on their elections.
He congratulated Delta State’s Sheriff Oborevwori; Edo State’s Godwin Obaseki; Cross River’s Bassey Otu, Akwa Ibom’s Umo Eno, Rivers’ Sim Fubara, and Bayelsa’s Douye Diri, Ibori saying that the baton from the three sets of governors before them in this Fourth Republic was now firmly in their hands and is beyond infrastructure.
Ibori also posited that the enthronement of true fiscal federalism was a higher calling for which they must respond and take charge on behalf, and for the benefit, of their people.
He believes that ten months after inauguration, all the rancour and bitterness should be left behind
“From where I stand, the question is, what’s the trajectory of the Niger Delta Region? “We must pull together to answer that question to the benefit of Nier Deltans.” He said.
It would be recalled that Ibori convened the first summit 24 years ago to cater for the development of the region, he called for the present leaders to address both old and new salient problems of the region.
24 years ago at the summit Ibori said: “The land and environment are our natural patrimony.
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Any legislation that is aimed at taking our land rights from us should matter to us at all times, at least for the sake of our children and the generation unborn.
“It is against this note of serious concern that I humbly draw the attention of Your Excellencies and distinguished lawmakers to the land Use Act, 1978, which vested ownership in the country in both the State and Federal Governments. “To the unwary or uniformed, it does not take away the right of the people to use and occupy their land.
“But for the more informed, it is one of the instruments by which our people and States have been denied the right to their patrimony under and over land.
“This is more serious when we realize that little or no attempt is made to remedy the damage done to our environment through the massive exploitation of our underground and undersea natural resources for a ceaseless period of almost 40 years.
“We are witnesses to the evils of environmental degradation, impoverishment and displacement of our people from their homesteads, farmlands and fishing streams, poor industrial base, youth restiveness, communal conflicts and violence, high rate of criminal activities, physical underdevelopment, mass unemployment and the associated problems of insecurity that oil and gas exploration have inflicted on our environment and people.”
On Saturday while expatiating the issues, he noted that new problems have cropped up such as cases of cattle herders seizing the bushes of the entire South-South zone, killing farmers, raping women and kidnapping people while the Police remained comatose and the people frozen by fear, Chief Ibori’s words appeared to have foreshadowed their emergence.
“This definitely brings to the fore calls for state and community policing. “Now, the South-South has to go beyond the lip service some of our governors paid to the establishment of state security agencies and combine forces to raise a South-South zonal self-defence team and seek ways to enforce the law against open grazing enacted by most of our state legislatures,” he said in the statement, adding that the South-South states must cooperate with each other in providing social amenities as Delta and Edo states, under him and Gov. Lucky Igbinedion, collaborated in the Onicha-Ugbo to Uromi road construction, through Idumuje-Ugboko, Ubiaja and Ewohimi which sliced over an hour from Asaba to Abuja trip and opened once remote areas to commercial activities.
