Baron Roy
About 70 billion dollars of crude oil is sold annually and all the money goes to Abuja. The people of the oil producing areas suffer the effects of oil exploration and production activities, and get close to nothing in return.
A token 13% of the net oil income (not gross) is given to their state governors. And the locals that are the original owners of the oil are kept under strict control by the military and other security goons. Their poverty is ensured by the Nigerian system.
The oil producing people are mainly:
Izon
Urhobo/Isoko
Ibibio/Anang
Ogoni
Igbo
Itsekiri
Benin.
These ethnic nationalities listed above are the oil producers whose patrimony is controlled by Abuja.
The City of Lagos is a dynamic place…3 major seaports controlling 95% of the maritime trade in Nigeria.
The Lagos Ports generate about 2 trillion Naira per annum. Every single dime of that is controlled by Abuja.
The Lagosians are forced to live with mind-boggling traffic around Apapa. The traffic is so horrible that the very thought of having to drive through Apapa/Malu Roads actually spike your blood pressure.
Robbers have a field day in the traffic; countless manhours are wasted in the traffic. The road facilities are overstretched; the bridges are heavily weakened and roads more like bomb craters.
A great part of Lagos looks more like a giant slum than a modern city. Lagos gets close to nothing from the huge sums raked in by Abuja on the maritime trade.
The negative effects of the maritime trade are borne by the Lagosians; they’ve got zero say and the government doesn’t compensate them. The ports and access to the ports are controlled by military and police from Abuja.
The Yoruba are the most recognized owners of Lagos.
Dear Readers, the ethnic nationalities that bring the bulk of the national income are listed above. And they mostly get exactly nothing for their contributions to the Abuja Treasury.
Common Sense says that the ethnic nationalities would have some sorts of organised structures that could challenge the insane deprivation of their people by Abuja.
Common sense says that organisations like Ohaneze, Afenifere, Urhobo Progress Union, MOSSOP, NSDSM, Benin Kingdom and others should have solid structures and policy positions that would emancipate their people and nationalities to get the best for their peoples. Alas, that common sense has been established to be a very scarce commodity!
These ethnic nationalities have no recognizable policies, many have no Think-Tanks, they have no coordinated structures complete with premiers, secretary generals, assemblies, or what-have-you that could provide some sort of organic alternatives to the Nigerian system they’re saddled with.
All we have are organizations that pay lip service to the carnage wrought upon their own people. With the lack of leadership from these obviously cheated people, Abuja treats them all like some inconsequential bugs. With the poor or zero leadership for these ethnic nationalities, the Abuja government gets stronger still and impunity soars!
With soaring impunity from Abuja and the tightening of internal colonialism by the federal establishment, it would have been expected that the aforementioned ethnic nationalities would adapt and rejuvenate the need to stamp their authorities as the legitimate voices of their peoples, they did no such thing.
While their hapless peoples waited for these organizations to engage the federal government, the leaders got mired in the APC/PDP morass and joined the federal government to legalise the oppression of their peoples and validate the Constitution and structure that repress them!
It’s a disgrace that whole constituent nationalities are held down by a constitution they neither wrote nor agreed to. But it’s a calamity that the ethnic nationalities have absolutely refused to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling! Rather than engage the federal government to create autonomous regions and equity for their oppressed peoples, they actually join the oppressors to further the oppression of their own people!
Dear Readers, the caliphate might have cheated us in a lot of ways, but our own ethnic nationality leaders have caused more harm with stupidity, greed and lack of discipline. Common sense seems alien to the people oppressed….
We must organize ourselves to engage the government and seek autonomy and emancipation. Nobody would help is but US!
We must #restructureOrBurst….
