From Ameachi Prosper (The New Diplomat’s Delta state Correspondent)
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State has stirred the hornet’s nest and incurred the wrath of oil producing communities when he posited that it would not be feasible for oil producing communities to have direct control over the 13 per cent derivation from the federal government.
Agitations have been on among the oil bearing communities on the need to directly access the fund, but Okowa dampened that chance while speaking at a press conference, Wednesday.
“If they are agitating for 13 percent to be paid to them directly what then happens to the remaining percentage?” the Governor asked.
According to the governor, it would not be realistic for every oil-producing community to rise up and have direct access or control of their resources, stressing that a scenario where Oil bearing communities have direct control of their derivation fund could create tension.
However, Governor Okowa may have angered the Oil and Gas Host Communities of Nigeria (HOSCON) with that position.
Recall that HOSCON had alleged that the inappropriate application of the total 13% Derivation funds by Oil producing states in the country, has left local communities in the Niger Delta region devastated.
HOSCON being led by the Amayanabo of Twon-Brass in Brass Kingdom and Chairman, Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff and a former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (DESOPADEC) Chief Wellington Okrika had said that various oil-producing states currently deploy the 13% Derivation funds for purposes other than for the development of host oil and gas communities of the Niger Delta region.
According to HOSCON, this development is completely at variance with the aspirations of the toiling, environmentally degraded oil and gas producing communities that bear the direct impact of gas pollution and other environmental disasters.
HOSCON with representatives drawn from the nine oil-producing states of the Niger Delta argued that the 13% derivation should not be paid to states rather it should be routed directly to the Oil producing communities because” they are the ones that bear the full brunt of the environmental crisis, disasters and emergencies.”
Comrade Joseph Amagada who says he is from an Oil-producing community in Delta state expressed surprise at the governor’s position.
Recall that recently, a delegation of HOSCON comprising Amayanabo Diette-Spiff and Chief Okrika in their agitation to push through their demands for a direct disbursement of 13 % Derivation to host oil producing communities paid an official visit on the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege where they reiterated their position.
The delegation which was led by the Amayanabo of Twon-Brass in Brass Kingdom and Chairman, Bayelsa State Traditional Rulers Council, Chief Alfred Diete-Spiff and a former Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, (DESOPADEC) Chief Wellington Okrika argued that direct disbursement to host oil and gas communities would help address the hydra-headed developmental challenges facing host communities as the 13% Derivation being paid to states is being deployed inappropriately by states.
The position held by Okrika and Diete-Spiff has been widely backed by locals, including the ex-agitators in the Niger Delta, who believe the fund should be rightfully channelled to the communities that laid the golden egg.
At the meeting, Omo-Agege who also chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, reportedly told the delegation that as a Senator who also represents host oil and gas communities , he appreciates HOSCON pains and identifies with their concern, promising to weigh in.
The New Diplomat gathered that following the alleged inappropriate application of the 13 percent derivation , the Federal Government is considering the establishment of an agency to handle the responsibility of disbursement and monitoring of developmental funds accruing to the Niger Delta region.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Ita Enang, who revealed this recently when he met the HOSCON delegation in Abuja, said the commission will address the challenges of deprivation and underdevelopment of the region.
Senator Enang lamented that the oil and minerals producing communities have been deprived of their entitlements by the states government in the region.
According to Enang, the Agency will be charged with the responsibility to monitor and ensure that money that go to Niger Delta states as derivation fund is applied for the development of the area where that minerals was gotten from.
He said, “We had also articulated a position to His Excellency, Mr. President that the money is given, not to the state government, but through the state government to the communities, since they have refused to comply and their refusal to comply is causing the communities to look up to the federal government.”
But Governor Okowa raised question on Wednesday while addressing the press at Asaba as to the logic for the direct disbursement of the 13% Derivation to host oil and gas communities of the Niger Delta region.
“If they are agitating for 13 percent to be paid to them directly what then happens to the remaining percentage?,” the Governor asked.
