Mkpoikana Udoma
11 October 2018, Sweetcrude, Port Harcourt — Resource control and restructuring of the country’s current structure has been pointed out as the only panacea to a genuine peace in the oil-rich Niger Delta region, and the nation in general.
A stakeholder and Pan Niger Delta Activist, Ms. Ankio Briggs, who make the call said the present structure of the Nigerian state poses bottleneck to the people of the Niger Delta by disallowing them access to their natural resources.
Speaking at the Rivers State Government House recently, as one of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC delegates, Briggs declared that the country has no option but to immediately restructure, noting that restructuring simply means resource ownership and control.
She regretted that the 2014 National Conference report was dumped because of its far-reaching recommendations towards addressing some of the challenges facing the Niger Delta and the minority question.
According to her, “Restructuring simply means resource ownership and control.
“The Niger Delta region, like the proverbial goose that lays the golden egg, has over the years fuelled the Nigerian economy through the exploitation of its resources, but there is nothing to show for the development of the region.”
Briggs further called on stakeholders in the Niger Delta to see the clamour for restructuring as a clarion call, saying that those opposed to the restructuring of the country were the enemies of the region, who want the people to live in perpetual poverty.
She warned that the Ijaw people will resist any attempt to scuttle the call for a restructuring of the country, which she described as the hope of Nigeria’s future.
“The issue of restructuring should be treated as a national emergency. Nigeria must respond to the imperative of justice for it to stand as a nation.”
