Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, insisted that the oil found in the Niger Delta region belonged to Nigeria constitutionally, but denied accusation that he was against the oil producing region.
However, Obasanjo, in his December 28, 2021, letter, avoided the issue of Zamfara gold that Niger Delta elder, Chief Edwin Clark, raised in his earlier letter.
Clark had said: “By the way, may I ask you, why you have not made a similar outburst against the open declaration of the governor and the people of Zamfara State, that the gold under their soil belongs to them? Where were you when people went to the Villa, accompanied by the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, to present a gold bar to President Muhammadu Buhari? It was mined by the government and people of Zamfara State, as their property. Your Excellency probably did not speak because Zamfara State belongs to the North, whose interest you continuously hold dear to your heart.
“This inconsistency is what many other elder statesmen, like myself, are unable to tolerate. If this country must remain peaceful and united, it must be based on truth, justice, equity, same rules for all. As the saying goes, what is sauce for the sauce is sauce for the gander”, Clark argued.
Clark had accused Obasanjo of holding a deep seated disdain for the people of the oil producing region based on the former president’s assertion that oil found in the Niger Delta belong to Nigeria and not the region.
Obasanjo, in his six-page letter titled, “My response to the open letter by Clark”, said, “Let me proceed with the most basic constitutional fact that you cannot have two entities in a sovereign state.”
Those who purchase crude from Nigeria “enter into a contractual relationship with Nigeria and not the Niger Delta.”
Obasanjo went further: “I have never shown any anger, distraught with Niger Delta region nor any part of Nigeria.
“Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them.
“I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, unstatesmanlike, and nor am I anybody’s lackey.
“You use your own yardstick to judge others. I hope you think and adjust. Negotiation achieves better results than dictation.”
Obasanjo was responding to assertion by the National Secretary of the INC, Ebipamowei Woduat, a forum convened by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa in Abuja that Nigeria should allow Niger Delta to derive full benefits from the oil found in the region.
But Clark, who is the leader of the Pan-Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), and chairman of the Board of Trustees, INC, had in his open letter, said Obasanjo’s comments that the oil found in the Niger Delta does not belong to the people of the region represents his continuous arrogant stance and negative disposition against Niger Delta.
However, while responding yesterday, Obasanjo insisted that he has never hated Niger Delta while reiterating his stance that oil found in the region belonged to the Nigerian federation.
“For me personally, I have never shown any anger or distraught with Nigeria nor with any part or region of Nigeria. I will rather pick points on leadership or policies and I will continue to do so,” the president said.
He added that his records before and after the civil war in Niger Delta region were without blemish and it was all goodness and goodwill to all the people of Nigeria and Niger Delta.
“But if you take my holding a constitutional position on federalism and reiterating the position of our past constitution – 1963 Constitution as I understand it as anger or grievance against the Niger Delta or Nigeria people that will be a very wrong position to take because until I can be legally and constitutional persuaded, otherwise i will continue to hold my ground.”
Obasanjo, who added that the 1963 Constitution did not confer ownership of oil and other mineral resources on any of the then regions, insisted that just as the Niger Delta’s oil belongs to the Nigerian federation, the minerals in other parts of the country also belonged to the country.
“The gold in Ilesha, Osun State and the lead in Ebonyi State all come under the same law and constitution. There is no part of Nigeria whose interest is not dear to my heart. And stating in your letter that it’s only that interest of the North that I continually hold dear to my heart is the type of Bukah gossip that knowing you as I do since 1975, I am not surprised that you echoed,” Obasanjo said.
“Some of the languages you have deployed to describe me in your letter are offensive, uncouth and I totally and completely rejected them.
“I am not inconsistent, hypocritical, un-statesman, and nor am I anybody’s lackey. You use your own yardstick to judge others. I fear God and I respect those who respect themselves, and I hope it is about time you change from a tribesman to a statesman,” Obasanjo said.