A political historian and controversial figure in Nigeria, Dr. Usman Bugaje said, there is no oil producing State in Nigeria, stating that those who pride themselves around claiming to be from oil producing State did not read Nigeria’s Constitution 1999 as amended well.
According to him, mineral resources, anywhere in Nigeria belongs to the Federal government of Nigeria and by extension the people of Nigeria, insisting that the idea that oil is owned by a section of Nigeria was at variance with the Constitution.
Dr Bugaje stated this in an interview with Vanguard last week, in which it is partly reprinted on CAPITAL POST on Thursday.
“It is not a controversial statement. Go back to our constitution, which is the grund norm. Look at what it says about the ownership of natural resources. According to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the ownership of natural resources is vested in the Nigerian state itself.
“The idea that there is an oil producing state is at variance with our constitution. It is an idea manufactured by an ignorant mind, a mind that does not even know the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“Nobody can own the oil, gold, or whatever natural resources that God has given this country, except the Nigerian state designs another process of ownership.”
Bugaje insisted on observance of the Constitution, stressing that gold and other mineral resources in Zamfara State in the North West Nigeria, does not belong to the people of Zamfara, but Nigeria, emphasizing that Zamfara people under the present Constitution cannot possess their mineral resources.
He said: “If that’s been done in Zamfara, then it is against the constitution. How many things have they done against the constitution? I don’t support what they do there or anywhere. I go by what the constitution says, and if you don’t like it, you can change the constitution.
“You can’t have a constitution yet do things in the wrong way. So many wrong things are being done, not only in Zamfara but other states, things that are at variance and an affront to our constitution.
“My point is that there is no oil producing state. The only oil producing state is the Nigerian state itself. The idea that there is an oil, gold, or copper producing state is out of either ignorance or impunity.
“The real provision is that ownership of everything under the ground within the Nigerian territory is vested in the Federal Republic, and there are rules and regulations.
“Derivation is based on the fact that because extraction is being done in a particular state, it comes with the destruction of the environment. Therefore, there is a need to make resources available that would address that destruction to cushion the effects of that particular process.
“And it is not because it belongs to anybody. It belongs to us all, and there is a formula that recognises environmental destruction in the process of mining or drilling, particularly the spillage and the way it destroys the livelihood of fishermen.”
He claimed that 78% of oil is extracted offshore, saying oil belongs to the North even as the Northern part of Nigeria remains the biggest in land mass.
He said: “I did say that the oil belongs to the North. However, let me explain. As we know, the constitution has made it very clear that oil and any other resources belong to the Federal Republic, yet you find some ignorant people talking about their oil.
“So, I said if we match that argument, we can still claim that the oil also belongs to the North. Why? Because 78% of oil in Nigeria is offshore. Due to the crisis and the environmental issues of taking oil from the land, most oil companies have found it more economical and peaceful to go through the sea. While in government, I was part of the team that was involved in the Gulf of Guinea talks (laws of the sea).
“What rule did we use? We used the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea. And what did it say? It says that every state that has a border with water would have an exclusive area, meaning a zone that is exclusive for it to do its own economic and security activities, protecting its land, its territory, and fishing.
“But, where a country wants to extend that beyond the permitted nautical miles into the sea, there are rules and regulations that would provide for how far it can go into the sea. What is the major factor that gives it mileage into the sea? It is the landmass.
“Whatever we get into the sea is as a result of our landmass as Nigeria. Now, if you divide the landmass in Nigeria, 78% of the landmass of this country belongs to the North.
“As you know, the whole of the South-East states can be put inside Niger. You can also put another five states in Niger and there will still be space. One state in the North can take more than two of the spaces of the total South-East. The North has the landmass.
“What I am saying is that if 78% of that landmass gives you that mileage into the sea where your oil comes from, the 78% of whatever mileage we get into the sea can therefore be claimed because the 78% landmass belongs to the North which is the majority.
“That is the argument. If they are not satisfied with this ownership, they can go to the National Assembly requesting a change in the constitution. That way, they can make the resources wherever it is found that of the state.”
