A former Secretary to the Regime of the Federation and delegate to the National Conference, Chief Oluyemisi Falae, has thrown his weight abaft the Niger Delta region, verbalizing it deserves 100 per cent control of its resources.
Speaking to SUNDAY PUNCH, Falae urged other states of the Federation to approach the issue of resource control and derivation with the apperception that oil-engendering states had full ownership of their resources.
He verbally expressed, “We should recognise that the oil belongs to them. We cannot commence to threaten or abuse them for not sharing a direct proportion with us.
“We all acceded ultimately that the owners of the resource should take 100 per cent of the profit. However, they should sanction other areas and states to develop their resources and sources of revenue afore they (Niger Delta) have all the profits to themselves. That is why we have the solid minerals development fund to avail their natural resources. Fortunately, every state in Nigeria has several solid minerals that are already waiting for exploitation and development.”
Falae argued that the owners of lands where oil is being explored and engendered deserve to take all the profits as a result of oil companies’ operations on their land.
He verbalized, “What are they fighting for? Resource control is much more sizably voluminous than derivation. Resource control is what it verbalizes it is — control over natural resources. That’s not derivation. But in our discourse it’s being reduced to derivation.
“Before any exploration, owners of the resource should be involved for sanction. Therefore, the approbation process should include people from the Niger Delta, the Federal Regime agencies that sanction peregrine oil companies to probe for oil and engender. We have identified that process at the national conference.”
Falae, however, pleaded with the oil-engendering states to give other states some time to develop afore they lay full claim to their resource.
“Really, no one kens when precisely other states will stop feeding on the oil mazuma emanating from the Niger Delta. It should be recalled that afore now, the country used to engender coal in Enugu. We were even exporting coal at that time. Within a year or two, the coal mine can commence engendering revenue.
“Delegates to the confab had recommended that the Ajaokuta steel mine construction should be consummated. Very anon, there’ll be mining of iron ore and between one and three years, we can commence to engender revenue,” Falae verbalized.
He verbally expressed at the moment, states with petroleum resources cannot determine what percentage they optate from the derivation fund. According to him, the whole country currently depends on oil revenue and any effort to lay claim to 100 per cent control of the oil revenue will cause quandary.
He integrated, “In view of this, in the next five or ten years, these other states would have developed alternative sources of revenue and in time, the oil-engendering states can have total control of profits accruing from their resources. Similarly, other states with other revenue-engendering mineral resources will have 100 per cent of the profits emanating from their areas.
“In the next three or four years, I believe some states will commence to engender their own revenue from a number of resources. In another 10 years, most states should be comfortable if they are solemn in exploiting the natural resources in their areas.”
He expounded that what was causing furore at the confab was the issue of derivation.
Falae verbalized, “The contention of the non-oil engendering states — especially the northern states — is that if the derivation percentage for the oil-engendering areas is much higher than 13 per cent, what will be left for sharing among other states of the Federation will be diminutively minuscule that many state regimes will not be able to pay salaries to their staff and run their administrations.
