Yenagoa—The Foremost Ijaw sociocultural organization, the Ijaw National Congress (INC), has rejected the 3% and 5% Host Community Development Trust Fund proposed by both chambers of the National Assembly in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) for host communities.
In a statement signed by the group’s national president, Prof. Benjamin Okaba, the INC berated the National Assembly for treating the Ijaw people unjustly by proposing a meager 3% & 5% as Host Community Development Trust Fund.
While calling on President Buhari to display statesmanship by declining assent to the bill, the INC noted that “if these injustices are not abated, we will do all that is peaceful and legal to seek our leave of this contraption called Nigeria.”
The statement reads in part:
“How can one explain the continuous orchestration of injustice by the majority against the minority in the National Assembly? This Greek gift is rejected by the Ijaw people. You cannot continue to rub Peter to pay Paul.
“Slashing the compensation for the host communities to a ridiculous percentage and increasing the percentage on searching for more petroleum reserves in the “frontier basin”, and redefining the meaning of host to include communities where oil pipelines pass through is disgusting and provocative.
“For the umpteenth time, if these injustices are not abated, we will do all that is peaceful and legal to seek our leave of this contraption called Nigeria.
“The lawmakers from the majority ethnic nationalities, who incidentally occupy majority seats in both chambers, have once more optimized their numerical strength as foist by an unbalanced and discriminatory political structure, to place regional interest above the will of the disadvantaged and with utter disregard to the glorious principles of Justice, Equity and Fairness, the very basis of our dream for a united Nigeria.
“We are constrained to call on the Honourable Minister for Petroleum Resources (State) Mr. Timipre Sylva, to use this opportunity to inscribe his name in gold and on the side of posterity by standing firm with his people and against those who have vowed to continuously deny us the control and management of our God-given resources and have shown that the only thing they value about us is our oil and not what we suffer even in extracting these resources from the bowels of our ancestral land.
“Our legislators and top government officials who play leading roles in this administration are also called upon to throw their weight behind the will and wish of the people by rejecting this slavish allotment and support us for a better deal which is a minimum of 10%.
“They should bear in mind that while addressing this critical existential concern of our people and our future, there is always a Comeback and Payback time.
“We reject in its entirety the 3% and 5% provisions as compensation, the redefinition of host communities and other provisions including the allocation of 30% of our oil resources to grope in the dark in the name of exploitation of a paradox of extreme kind that is not in symphony with common sense, equity and good conscience.
“The Ijaw Nation is more convinced that the call for restructuring, true federalism and resource control is the only way out for Peace, Justice and Equity to reign in this country and the guarantee for our continuous commitment to the Nigerian project.
“This scenario has also reignited our search and pursuit for self-determination and self-actualization in a clime that has brutally raped our sensitivities and rights to peaceful and prosperous existence.
“The perpetrators of these obnoxious policies and laws that infringe on our fundament human and environmental rights should equally be reminded of the dire consequences and find themselves to be blamed in the event of any eventuality.
“To this end, we call on Mr. President to demonstrate statesmanship by taking bold steps to quell this rising tension by refraining from signing the Bill until the National Assembly approves 10% as the Host Communities Trust Fund.”
