VANGUARD

IJAW Youth Council, IYC, has called for amendment of the constitution to allow states control and harness natural resources in their areas, noting that with illegal mining activities by individuals seemingly allowed in the north the Niger Deltans should also enjoy such over oil National President of the body Roland Oweilaemi in a statement made available to Vanguard, said with stories coming from the north over individuals mining solid minerals belonging to the nation the body will not hesitate in its drive for a constitutional reform to allow states in the Niger Delta exercise control over resources in their domain.

His words, “With the rather surprising news of illegal mining activities in the Northern part of the country where powerful individuals are allowed to tap the natural resources in their domains, IYC is calling on the Federal Government to commence the amendment of the Constitution by allowing States to harness and control the resources in their domains.

This call is becoming imperative due to the fact that Niger Delta people want to control the resources in their lands since solid minerals in the North are now reduced to individual ownership in spite of the enabling laws in the country vesting ownership of natural resources in the Federal Government.

“It’s either the government restructure the country by allowing states to harness and control the resources in their domains or we will take every steps necessary to exercise control of the resources in our father land. Despite the fact that illegal mining activities are causing a bloody crisis in the North, the Federal Government has not deemed it necessary to set up a military joint task force to checkmate the illegal mining activities because the solid minerals in the country are seen as private ownership to the feudal Lords.

“There cannot be one Nigeria if everybody in the country is not treated with the same measure. Everyday people are being killed and property worth billions of naira are being destroyed in the name of illegal oil bunkering activities by the marauding Joint Task Force in the Niger Delta region.”

The FG chose to protect the oil facilities at the expense of the oil bearing communities because crude oil is seen as a national property, while solid minerals in the North belong to the individual persons. Is this the one Nigeria they are preaching?

“President Buhari and the National Assembly should as a matter of national importance initiate the amendment of the constitution by allowing states to harness and control the resources in their domains. That is the only sour path to peace in Nigeria. Anything short of that will be disastrous to our economic survival as a nation. Niger Delta people will control her resources even if it means to be killed by the trigger-happy and the Niger Delta phobia military Joint Task Force in the region”.