From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
People of Niger Delta region said they have given Federal Government three months to convene a national dialogue of representatives of the ethnic groups in Nigeria, to chart a new course for the country.
They have also told the governors of South-South States to establish regional security outfits to protect lives and property from rampaging killer herdsmen and bandits.
The demands were among the matters contained in communique issued at the end of a zonal conference of the South-South, which brought together representatives of ethnic nationalities in
the Niger-Delta region.
It was organized by the Savannah Centre for Diplomacy, Democracy and Development (SCDDD) in partnership with Agape Birthrights Development Initiative, with the theme: Restructuring: Imperatives for Sustainable Development, Unity and Security, held in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, at the weekend.
The communique was signed by the delegates representing the respective ethnic nationalities in the South-South including the Convener, Annkio Briggs, Amb Godknows Igali, Col. Tony Nyiam (retd), Col. Chinedu Owhonda (retd), Prof. G.G. Darah, Dr. Don-Pedro Obaseki, Frank Tietie, Etiido Ibekwe and Livingstone Wechie.
In the communique, they demanded: “The Niger Delta people who are the breadwinners of Nigeria, demand to be heard and fairly treated with equity by the oppressive Nigerian State, and by extension, the insensitive Nigerian political class, as the only basis for peaceful co-existence.
“We, the people of the Niger Delta, demand restructuring, with the states as the federating units and devolution of more powers to the states.
“We, the ethnic nationalities of the South-South, affirm the right of peoples to self-determination and to fully control their resource to stop and put an end to further deprivation and despoliation of their environment which they have suffered in the last 60 years.
“We, the people of the Niger Delta hereby give the Government of Nigeria a three months window, within which to cordially address our concerns towards re-federalizing the polity, by convening a national dialogue of the representatives of the ethnic groups in Nigeria, to
chart a new course for the country.
“At the expiration of this three months window, we, the people of the Niger Delta will commence the process that will guarantee our freedom and progress.
“Our people should mobilize all human resources to see that fiscal federalism and devolution of powers are includes in the constitution.
“The people of the Niger Delta will take all lawful measures to develop an agenda for freedom and liberation and development of the region.
“The Niger Delta ethnic nationalities hereby demand that the governors of the South-South immediately set up security outfits in their respective states and network with each other in the region to protect our territories against terrorists, criminals, land grabbers and other
criminals who often operate as bandits and kidnappers.
“Niger Deltans demand that the governors of the South-South region immediately set up community based defence forces in all Local Government Areas of the South-South”.
They demanded further that Federal Government should as a matter of urgency, discontinue the selective appointments, posting and deployment of mainly non middle-belt and Southern Nigerian security officials to the Niger Delta region to end the oppression of the people.
“The Niger Delta demands equal representation, control and headship of all relevant security and military organizations in the country.
“The Niger Delta demands and expresses the desire for a provision in the Nigerian constitution for the exercise of the inalienable right to self-determination through a referendum in line with international laws.
“The Niger Delta demands total ownership rights to lands, natural resources, seas and waters by communities wherever such are located in the region.
“The Niger Delta has resolved to put an end to all oppressive and repressive tendencies by the Nigerian State against our region and warns that we shall no longer tolerate same from other
nationalities.
“The Niger Delta people demand immediate environmental remediation and clean-up of Niger Delta, which has been deliberately devastated by crude oil exploration and exploitation.
“The Niger Delta Governors should as a matter of extreme urgency take the issue of food security as to prevent the starvation of our people in the event of any food blockade.
“The Niger Delta governors are to ensure protection of the flora/fauna and take interest in general environmental protection, including endowments above or beneath the soil for sustainable development.
“The Niger Delta people demand that the federal government desists from selling out our resources to the Chinese or Sukuk promoting countries, to secure any project.
“The Niger Delta people demand their enjoyment of the right to own and bear arms for self-defence as law-abiding citizens. The selective grant of firearms licences is hereby condemned and denounced. This is necessary considering the present state of insecurity in Nigeria.
“The people of Niger Delta demand the establishment of an Environmental Tribunal, specifically aligned with oil industry standards on pollution and to carry out Environmental Audit and cleanup of the entire affected areas of the region.
“The people of Niger Delta demand the proper funding of the oil industry regulators through NOSDRA and State Ministries of Environment to ensure their independence and prevent
unnecessary interference.
“That Niger Delta States should establish and adequately fund functional laboratories to enhance or empower the Niger Delta people with access to such facilities to conduct environmental test on various sites of interest.
“That the right to a clean environment should be enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution as a fundamental right.
“The Niger Delta people demand that the governors of the South-South States, apart from Bayelsa State, must take immediate steps to give legislative backing to the 2021 Asaba
Declaration on the issue of abolition of Open Grazing in the Niger-Delta region”.