The Ijaw Youth Council have warned Alhaji Usman Bugaje, a former National Secretary of defunct Action Congress of Nigeria to steer clear of mineral resources in the Niger Delta and offshore Nigeria. The statement was made after remarks credited to Bugaje implied that crude oil resources in the country were the property of the North.
Bugaje had said, “There are no oil producing states…The only oil producing state is the Nigerian state itself.”
He also said, “Whatever mileage you get in the sea, according to the United Nations Law of the sea, is a measure of the land mass that you have; that is what gives you the mileage into the sea…and the land mass of this country, that gives that long 200 nautical miles or more into the ocean, is because of that 72% of the land mass of this country, which is the North.”
Still insistent on his position, he added, “the investment came from the Nigerian state and the territory belongs to the Nigerian state.”
He further maintained, “What they claim is the off shore oil is actually the oil of the North” contending that “we should stop using these terms that have no sense at all. There are no oil producing states.”
However in its own reaction, the Ijaw Youth Council said the statements were “reckless, provocative, baseless, misleading and a display of highest level of ignorance.”
In a statement signed by the spokesman for the IYC, Eric Omare added, “there is nowhere in Articles 3, 5, 57 and 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) where it is stated that the land mass of a coastal state determines its mileage into the sea or its maritime boundary.”
The statement said,
“To the IYC, such a misleading statement coming from an elite such as Dr. Bugaje brings to the fore the reason behind most of barbaric acts coming from that part of the country.
“Contrary to Usman Bugaje’s assertion, the IYC wishes to state that there is no United Nations Law which states that the maritime boundary of a country is determined by the land mass of the country.
“For the records, there is no where in Articles 3, 5, 57 and 76 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) where it is stated that the landmass of a coastal state determines its mileage into the sea or its maritime boundary.
“The United Nations Law of the Sea which is the primary law which determines the maritime boundary of coastal states defines the Exclusive Economic Zone and the Continental Shelf to be up to 200 nautical lines measured from its baseline which is the low water mark along the coast.
“Hence, the land mass of a country is not a consideration in determining its maritime boundary. Therefore, Dr. Bugaje’s statement is a deliberate ploy to mislead his northern brothers to prepare the ground to oppose the legitimate demand of the Niger Delta people to control their resources at the forthcoming National Conference.”
The IYC is very much aware of the game plan of the Northern Elders Forum. The IYC is watching and ready for the challenge!
“We wish to further state that the initial and present investments in the oil and gas industry is not the investment of the Nigerian state or Northern Nigeria as Dr. Bugaje would want people to believe .
“It was the multinationals who came to explore oil during the colonial and post-colonial era that did the initial investment and subsequent investment of government in the oil industry is from the proceeds of the Niger Delta oil.
“Furthermore, the groundnut and economic resources produced from the North were never used to develop the Niger Delta and the oil and gas industry.
“Northern leaders and especially elites like Dr. Usman Bugae are advised to bury their frivolous claim to Niger Delta oil and think of creative means to harness the resources found in the North.”
The IYC concluded that “the Niger Delta oil belongs to the communities and people of the Niger Delta and by extension the states where the oil is found and produced.”
Granting a stern warning, the statement further said: “Niger Delta oil does not belong to Northern Nigeria and the Nigeria State. The IYC is capable and ever ready and willing to defend, protect and assert the Niger Delta communities and people ownership of its oil and gas resources both onshore and off shore.”