Ann-kio Briggs is the President of Agape Birthrights, an NGO. She is an Environmental/Human Rights Activist and a house hold name in Nigerian politics. In this interview with Barth Ndu, she bares her mind on a lot of issues bothering on Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole. Here are excerpts from that interaction.
Good afternoon Madam, it is customary that you introduce yourself before this chat.
My Name is Ann-kio Briggs
Niger Delta is a very special zone to Nigeria and we know why, it houses 80 of resources that sustain Nigeria. Can you say that Niger Delta has had a fair share of what comes from the zone?
I cannot say Niger Delta has had a fair share of its resources at all and this has gone on for a very long time.
That is the reason why I want the Niger Delta to stop agitating for resource control and instead fight to reclaim ownership of the resources that belong to the Niger Delta. The neglect and degradation has gone for so long and I don’t think anybody from the Niger Delta can do anything about it.
We have somebody from the Niger Delta today as president for two and half years, when he finishes his 8 year tenure, another person will come that maltreatment continues, so I am looking beyond that, I am looking at a situation, time when Niger Delta will own what belongs to her and probably pay tax to the federal government at an agreed percentage according to its revenue as it is obtainable in civilized or advanced countries.
In Texas for instance, the oil belongs to the owners of the land, that only pay tax to the central government.
Madam, when you’re agitating for resource ownership for Niger Delta being a zone in a federated unit, are you also agitating the same thing for the rest of the zones in the country or do you want to go solo and after other zones will emulate the Niger Delta?
Ofcourse, I am advocating it for other zones. There are places where you have tin, gold and silica etc, I believe that other zones should began to agitate that their governors engage foreign partners to explore the resources in their domain and develop the areas.
The middle belt for instance, has enough food, that can feed the country and even be exported. The north has groundnuts and other resources that can also be explored to develop the area. If that is done you won’t have the problem of neglect and injustice as you have today.
The only resource the federal government is claiming today is the oil and gas in the Niger Delta. I believe if the zones do this, the areas will develop faster and the country will be better for it.
How do you intend to achieve this agitation, do you want to sensitize the zones to buy your idea or how do you intend to carry out this sensitization?
Well I have started the sensitization, for instance I am talking to you now, when people buy your newspaper they will get the message and possibly buy the idea. For over 50 years nobody has used the resources from the Niger Delta to the interest of the region. It is high time we understood that we cannot sustain Nigeria on the back of the Niger Delta.
That is why we are agitating for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) where Nigerians will gather and bring about the peoples constitution. If for instance I own the oil in my backyard and the man who has gold owns his gold, and pay tax to the federal government at an agreed percentage, based on his income, Nigeria will be better developed.
I believe that all the people from different zones should understand that Nigeria cannot be sustained by blackmail, injustice and all that.
When you talk of peoples constitution, I am aware that there is a process going on now in the National Assembly (NASS) to amend the constitution. Are you saying that you don’t believe in the amendment and the process?
The first page of the 1999 constitution is a lie that it is the peoples constitution. That constitution is not the peoples constitution because it was handed over to President Olusegun Obasanjo by the military in a hurry. The peoples constitution will protect the interest of all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. The issue of sitting down to discuss as a people is critical to the survival of Nigeria as a country.
Nigeria is more than 100million people, how do you think the process of sitting down and agreeing on a constitution is possible. Are you saying that the NASS cannot deliver an acceptable constitution to the country as our representatives?
What is acceptable is that every ethnic group should at least have, one representative at the NASS. Other countries representative don’t loot the treasury of their countries as politicians in Nigeria do.
So we have a long way to go before we can build this country. We are a third world country and undeveloped. Let us not deceive ourselves that we are developed or developing. Since almost 100 years Lord Lugard put two different regions with different cultures into one, it has been chaos and what do you expect if not chaos.
One would have expected that now that the Niger Delta has produced a president these agitations would have gone down. Are you saying that having a Niger Deltan as president of Nigeria is a misplaced priority?
How can you say that, don’t you see that since Jonathan became the president of Nigeria trouble started, Boko Haram was created, Christians were being killed, churches were bombed and youth corpers from the south were killed, that is why I no longer believe in the noble idea that mooted the NYSC which was to heal bitter wounds of the civil war.
Even at that, the youth service has been abused when Niger Deltans who served in the north came back without job placement while the northerners who served in the Niger Delta were retained in NNPC and other oil companies in the south-south. You can see that since a man from the Niger Delta became the president, some people think a Niger Deltan should not be there.
Some people think that Jonathan should not go for second tenure. Maybe we should have 36 vice presidents or 6 presidents and weak (ceremonial) president. Maybe that will help the situation. If I go to the SNC, the first thing we will ask for is that the Land Use Act be repealed and the land returned to their owners.
Issue of SNC has been there for so long and successive presidents have shied away from convening the contentious SNC. Do you see Jonathan succumbing to that agitation?
The thing about SNC is that it is the demand and will of the people. If the people are asking for it, the best I will do as the president is to make sure my people have what they want. It is the peoples right to ask for what they want and it is the responsibility of the politicians to listen to the peoples demand. Otherwise if it is where politics is played how it should be played, they will vote you out if you fail to grant their demand. It is just that in Nigeria things are not done properly.
Recently, the NASS went round the 774 LGAs for constitution amendment, spent our money and all the LGAs called for autonomy of the local government councils, did they give that? These are the kind of politicians we have in Nigeria.
Nigeria is majorly Islam and Christianity, so why could somebody now want to impose one religion on the other. How is it that NASS now want to sign into law a child marriage? A child of 13 years in still a baby, how can a 50 year old man marry a 13 year child. It is disgusting. That is the kind of NASS we want to amend constitution that will govern the country. There are things that are not agreeable in the country and it is only in a SNC that we can decide whether Nigeria will remain one country or not.
The 2015 is around the corner and of politicians are at it again clamouring for the second tenure or otherwise of President Jonathan, what is your take on this?
My view is that all these arguments are blackmail against the South South, the same people who claim to be fixing it, are the people opposing the president’s return. They said Jonathan had an agreement, that was what they said during Obasanjo’s administration and they couldn’t produce the document. Even if Jonathan signed such undertaking he has no right to right such agreement on behalf of the South South.
It is only the Nigerians (electorate) that have the right to tell Jonathan not to go for second tenure, he is a Nigerian and qualified to present himself for re-election. Nobody has the right to tell him not to re-contest, it is not the right of the Atikus, the Babangidas or anybody. I appeal to Nigerians to please vote for him, because Jonathan will run and I believe that his second tenure will produce better result. If Jonathan is not allowed to present himself for second tenure, it is oppressive, offensive, it is unacceptable, it is injustice and we will not allow it. IF A MAN FROM THE NIGER DELTA IS NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO GOVERN THE COUNTRY, THEN THE OIL FROM THE NIGER DELTA WILL NOT BE GOOD ENOUGH TO BE USED TO SUSTAIN THE COUNTRY. The final right to decide who contests election rest on the electorate.
You are aware that a Niger Delta Governor. Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi is part of the gang up to stop Jonathan from going for second tenure. What do you say to this?
It is very unfortunate that Amaechi is from Niger Delta and Jonathan is from the same region. All the years South South has always supported the northern political position. It is therefore strange that out of 6 governors of the South South only Amaechi is opposing the South South presidency. But anybody that is opposing the president of Nigeria from coming from South South is not in the best interest of the Zone.
He has a right, but his right should not infringe on other peoples rights.
I’m happy because other South South governors are in support of South South presidency in 2015. We will resist anybody or group of persons that will resist Jonathan from becoming president in 2015. It is unfortunate in a country of disunity as it is in Nigeria today that a South South person is working against the interest of the South South.
We heard that some federal lawmakers want to initiate impeachment processes to remove the president. What do you make out of this?
Impeachment processes are what the opposition uses as last resort to get rid of bad government, but in Nigeria when a bunch of lawmakers are put in a hotel they come and impeach whoever you want to be removed. Obasanjo was also threatened with impeachment and he survived it. I want to say that the impeachment threat is a blackmail against the Niger Delta and Jonathan.
I want to say that any attempt to remove Jonathan by politicians that are dissatisfied with him by force will lead us to a NO without a doubt that we are not Nigerians, and this will us lead us to say that no matter how small we are in the South South, that the oil from that zone will not be used to sustain the country. When the man from the Niger Delta is not good enough to govern the nation.
What is your message to Niger Deltans or Nigerians on the little political problems that are almost engulfing Nigeria.
It is not the entire Nigerians that are the problem of the Niger Delta. It is a few, handful of greedy northerners and Nigerians.
What I will tell the Niger Deltans is that we have given enough of our soul and right to survival to the country. I will tell the rest of Nigerians that they have taken enough from the Niger Delta. We will no longer accept environmental degradation.
We are a people created by God, we have the right to develop, we need roads, electricity, schools and the rest of good things of life like every other people. ###
