Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
20
ChrisAlbin-Lackey
Itwasthereforewidelyseenasapositivechangewhen,in1999,thegovern-
mentpushedthroughchangestoNigeria’sconstitutionpartiallyrestoringthe
principleofnderivation”.nAtleast”thirteenpercent(exactlythirteenpercentin
practice)ofNigeria’soilwealthmustnowaccruetothegovernmentsofthesta-
teswherethatoilisproduced
16.
Thisarrangementhasbynomeanssettledthederivationcontroversy,how-
ever.PoliticaldiscourseintheNigerDeltatodaycontinuestocenterlargely
aroundtheideaofnresourcecontrol”-thatis,thenotionthattheDelta’sstates
andpeopleareentitledtoafargreatershareoftheoilrevenuesextractedfrom
thelandandcreeksaroundtheircommunitiesthantheyaregetting.Themost
militantproponentsofnresourcecontrol”statethatalloftheDelta’soilwealth
shouldremainintheDelta,andthereisattheveryleastwidespreadlocalagree-
mentthatthederivationpercentageshouldbefarhigherthanitis.Itisalsoar-
guedthatthiswealthshouldpassdirectlytothestategovernmentsorcommuni-
tiesratherthanbeingredistributedtothemthroughAbuja,forthesakeofrealiz-
inggreaterfiscalandpoliticalindependencefromthecenter.
Repeatedeffortsatnegotiationhavefailedtoresolvethiscontroversy.The
Obasanjogovernment’sproposalofanincreasefrom13to17percentwasmet
withderisionbymanykeyactorsintheNigerDelta.Ontheotherhand,asig-
nificantpartofpoliticalopinionintherestofNigeriaandparticularlytheim-
poverishednorthholdsthateventhe17%proposalwastoogenerous.Thatatti-
tudereflectsthefactthatanyradicalincreaseinthederivationpercentagewould
largelybankruptstateandlocalgovernmentsintherestofNigeria;stateand
localgovernmentsonaveragedependonfederalgovernmenttransfersofreve-
nueformorethan80percentoftheirincome,andthosetransfersinturndepend
almostentirelyonoilrevenue
17.Thiscreatesarealimpassewithoutanyobvious
solution.
ResourceControlandMilitancyintheNigerDelta
Theresourcecontrolcontroversyhasnotconfineditselftothepoliticalarena.
ArmedgroupsthathadbeguntoproliferatethroughouttheNigerDeltaafterthe
2003electionshaveadoptedthecauseofresourcecontrolasthecentralpublic
rationaleforacampaignofmilitaryinsurgencyagainstthefederalgovernment
andmultinationaloilcompanies.Thisrhetoricaltrendwasmostnotablypio-
neeredbyAsariDukobooftheNigerDeltaPeoplesVolunteerForce(NDPVF),
whoeventuallywentasfarastodeclarethattheDeltashouldsecedefromthe
restofNigeria.ThatinturnledtoAsari’sarrestonchargesoftreasonin2005.
16ConstitutionoftheFederalRepublicofNigeria,Art.162(2).
17ForafulldiscussionofthemechanicsofrevenueallocationseeR.Suberu,op.cit.
