Fresh agitations may erupt over scrapping of Niger Delta Ministry – Security Expert warns FG
By Victor Akan
● Says proposed 15% deduction from states allocation by FG unconstitutional
A Port Harcourt-based security expert, Dr. Olalekan Jackson-Ojo, at the weekend, advised President Bola Tinubu to revisit the scrapping of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MNNA) to forestall fresh agitations and unrest in the oil-producing States.
Reacting to the scrapping of MNDA and the creation of a single ministry to handle Zonal Development Commissions, Dr Ojo said President Tinubu did not consult critical stakeholders and leaders before scrapping the ministry.
He disclosed that issues that gave rise to agitations in the oil-producing States have not been fully addressed, and it is premature to scrap the ministry that was created to manage the issues.
According to Dr Jackson-Ojo, who is a Fellow of the International Institute of Professional Security, “before the formation of Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs you know what people of Niger Delta like Avengers, Egbesu Boys and others were doing because they were fighting for their rights because of degradation of their farmlands, their water and environment pollution they suffered.
“Somebody came and said,’Ok, in order to pacify these people, let’s form the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs to further enhance the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commissions.’
“Now, immediately after the ministry was formed, 95 per cent of the agitation died down. That is to say the people were very happy with it.
“One president came and established this ministry to make the people happy, but you (Tinubu) came to scrap it. The people of the Niger Delta may not be happy about this.
“Before this Ministry is scrapped it would have been better to call the Stakeholders in Niger Delta to educate them, to hear from them, to listen to them and to hear their views before you do this.
“I hope we are not inviting another Niger Delta agitation because we know if there is any agitation in Niger Delta, it will affect the economy of the entire country. We should be careful.”
Dr. Jackson-Ojo also added that the proposed deduction of 15 per cent of statutory allocation of states by the federal government is unconstitutional and will definitely lead to several litigations.
“They (FG) also said 15 per cent of statutory allocations will be deducted from the states.
“That is another problem this administration wants to brew. It is going to be something that will be challenged in law court because the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria did not permit anybody to deduct 10 Kobo from the statutory allocation of the States.”
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