As Nigerians continue to mourn over the never ending fuel scarcity
made worse by the seeming insensitivity of the president/minister of
petroleum and the endless empty reassurances of his minister of state,
we may tend to lose sight of the other happenings that will in no small
measure further disintegrate an already divided nation.
A couple of weeks ago, the governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai,
came up with a religious bill, obviously targeting Christians in his
state. The thing about the man now known as ‘Herod of Kaduna’ is his
arrogance which prevents him from seeing the obvious flaws in his
arguments.
The man has come to believe he alone has the monopoly of
understanding issues, (I believe his condition is worsened by the legion
of blind mice all around him – whose god is their rice filled bellies.
If common sense has left the ‘Herod of Kaduna’, is he not aware that the
Nigerian constitution in section 38(sub section 1) guarantees freedom
to ‘‘manifest and propagate religion or belief in worship, teaching,
practice and observance?’’
That the president, whom governor El-rufai claims forced him to
contest has not been able to call his ‘boy’ to order, one is tempted to
believe there’s a deliberate attempt to ensure the constitution is only
operational in certain parts of the country, while other parts operate
their own laws.
A couple of days ago, stories of how Hisbah Police in Kano went about
destroying properties of tax-paying Nigerians from other parts of the
country, in the name of religious policing were reported.
At a time when Fulani herdsmen are going round, destroying farmlands
and killing the owners in other parts of the country, one wonders why
the Kano State government cannot protect the lives and properties of law
abiding citizens carrying out their legitimate businesses and
contributing to the internally generated revenue of the state.
I am yet to hear that the Kano State governor or any of his officials
has apologized to the victims of religious fanaticism. Section 41 of
the Nigerian constitution in the understanding of the Kano State
governor, probably means nothing. I am trying to imagine what would have
happened if a southern state had carried out such level of destruction
on the properties of northern visitors!
In essence, section 41 of the Nigerian constitution applies only to
those in the south, while the north under the guise of religion can act
as they like, contravening the same constitution.
In an article I wrote in 2014 ‘Regional Autonomy and Resource
Control, The Way Forward For Nigeria’, I stated my believe in ownership
and control of resources by various states while paying taxes to the
centre as should be obtained in a federalism; but section 44(sub section
3) prevents states from harnessing their natural resources.
As a matter of fact, the emphasis on ‘mineral oils and natural gas’
in this section, gives the impression that the writers of the
constitution clearly had the Niger-Delta region in mind. Any activity
regarding oil in the Niger-Delta is seen as criminal, so far the federal
government is not involved; but we have heard a state governor defend
the illegal mining in his state, attributing it to hunger and poverty.
Governor El-Rufai recently proclaimed that Kaduna State has more gold
deposit than South-Africa(a news which gladdens my heart, at last
Kaduna will be able to bring something to the sharing table). The
confusing aspect of his statement was that Kaduna has gone ahead to
invite an international mining firms that will be responsible for mining
its gold deposits and is already assembling people that will be trained
in that field. This will be done in ‘conjunction’ with the federal
government!
NB: The federal government OWNS the oil in the Niger-Delta
and only gives the states a paltry 13% oil derivation revenue, but
Kaduna’s gold will be OWNED and controlled by the state government ‘in
conjunction’ with the federal government.
Clearly in Kaduna and other northern states, where illegal minning
activities are currently going on, section 44 of the constitution does
not apply. What a country!
The new version of the PIB seeks to deprive host communities from
getting any share from the resources their lands generate and for the
devastation their communities face, while people in ‘agbadas’ and
‘babanrigas’ own the oil wells. The earlier the Niger-Delta legislators
and governors wake up to the fact that they have a people to protect,
the better it will be for the region and its future generations.
In Nigeria, it is a survival of the fittest and ONLY the strong and
smart will survive! There is no equality here and not even the
travelling president of this travailing nation can change that.
Connect with Enenim Ubon on twitter @EnenimUbon
