WATER IS NOT CRUDE OIL Intended Federal Government Control of Water Resources is Going Too Far. Call to Resist the National Water Resources Bill, 2020

WATER IS NOT CRUDE OIL
Intended Federal Government Control of Water Resources is Going Too Far. Call to Resist the National Water Resources Bill, 2020
By Frank Tietie

The requirement for licensing is the most legally oppressive manner to take over the natural resources of a people.

The preamble of the 1969 Petroleum Act vests the control of the exploration of petroleum and ownership of all on-shore and off-shore petroleum resources
in the Federal Government of Nigeria

The sad story of the impact of the above provision is clear for the whole world to see. We have witnessed over 50 years of mindless exploitation and degradation of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria by International Oil Companies (IOCs) who, in cahoots with the Nigerian Federal authorities have continued from independence to date, to mine and sell crude oil to fund the most profligate and irresponsible management of petroleum wealth so far, in the history of the whole world,

Crude oil, like water is a blessing but it became a curse to Nigeria and the people of the Niger Delta because it was poorly managed and controlled by a central Federal government which used it to fuel corruption and other nefarious interests, without caring in the least for the people and environment of the region from where the crude oil is produced.

The people of the Niger Delta region are the most conquered people in the world. They watch daily, helplessly as their environments are being degraded with the exploitation of the crude oil that is naturally deposited in their land of origin.

To ensure the free and constant flow of crude oil, in order to fund the profligacy and consumerism of the Nigerian government, the social space of the people of the Niger Delta is constantly militarized and its people brutally policed. The young people of the region are repressed and terrorised. They don’t even have a sociosphere that would enable the development and pursuits of their dreams and aspirations. I was there and only escaped the horrors of the region by sheer grace of God. The communities in the Niger Delta region are constantly embroiled in local conflicts brewed by the divide and rule mechanisms that have been put in place by conflict merchants, all in favour of continued oil exploitation of crude oil by the IOCs.

It is this horrible fate that the control and management of petroleum resources by the Federal Government has foisted on the people of the Niger Delta that is about to be replicated with the case water by the National Water Resources Bill, 2020.

Water may appear cheap and everywhere in Nigeria thus, it can easily be overlooked. But that is not true. Water is more important than crude oil in too many ways. We can do without oil. After all, it has been more of a curse to us in Nigeria. It probably would have been better if we didn’t have crude oil deposits in Nigeria.Just see how crude oil has fueled corruption, underdevelopment and bred trouble wherever it was found. Unlike crude oil, we can’t do without water and the troubles associated with water conflicts will make those associated with crude oil look like child’s play.

Section 2 of the National Water Resources Bill vests use, management and control of all surface water and ground water in the Federal Government of Nigeria, provided such water affects more than one state as contemplated by Item 64 of the Exclusive Legislative list in Part 1 of the Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution.

Not that the rivers and creeks which criss cross all of the states of the Niger Delta region are all connected. It is these that the Federal Government now aims to control by the pending bill. It is not only control of surface water but ground water inclusive, that the Federal Government now aims to control. I leave the implications of such control to your imagination, given the history of crude oil management by the same Federal Government. This will form the subject of another of my writing and a focussed advocacy subject to resources.

It is understandable that the Petroleum Act was enacted by the military and it was during the civil war so there were no many opportunities or none for that matter, that afforded the people of the Niger Delta the right to accept or reject the highly consequential provisions of the then intended law to govern petroleum resources management and control.

This time around, it should be different. Therefore, every Nigerian and particularly people and groups from the Niger Delta area must read all sections of the intended law and consider them against the backdrop of the past, present and future of the country with that of the Niger Delta region. I have therefore undertaken to send copies of the bill to anyone upon request.

When an unjust law is passed, it is very difficult to reverse its negative effects. When the people of the Niger Delta realized the inequities against them and how oppressed they are by the legal regime of the Petroleum Act, they turned to militancy as a means of liberation but it failed them. Therefore they are still in the same place as things never changed and their future fortunes are uncertain. Even political palliatives in the forms of 13% Derivatiion money, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs (MINDA) and Amnesty Programme have left the region still highly underdeveloped relative to where it ought to have been, considering the likes of Dubai and Rotterdam. Instead, willing collaborators from the Niger Delta have turned these political interventions by the Federal Government into cesspools of mind boggling corruption and the people of the region will continue to suffer.

In this new era where the calls for restructuring are loudest and the Federal Government is being told to divest itself of needless control of legislative items so that Nigeria can indeed develop as a true federation, where the peoples of states can harness their resources for their perculiar development, it is therefore unthinkable and in fact amounts to direct provocation for the Federal Government to aspire to control local water resources to the extent of having to travel to Abuja for example, to obtain a license from the Federal Government just to drill a borehole. The Federal Government by the implications of the intended law can also grant control of iverine areas to persons and companies of its choice to conduct livestock business irrespective of the sensitivities and concerns of the people of the region. The pending National Water Resources Bill, 2020 is indeed, going too far and must be resisted! The bill should be dropped forthwith.

Frank Tietie
Human Rights Lawyer & Executive Director Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER)
Writes from Abuja

WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED…. New CAMA is No Threat to Religious Freedom in Nigeria

WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED….
New CAMA is No Threat to Religious Freedom in Nigeria

By Frank Tietie

It is not compulsory to register a church or mosque in Nigeria. Section 40 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees the right to freely associate as a group of persons provided, not as a secret cult or for any other criminal purposes.

Any group of persons either Moslems, Christians or Traditionalists like the Igbe cult prevalent in Urhobo land, that I am familiar with, can actually operate legally without having to register with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). That is a fundamental right of every Nigerian which has the force of law that is fundamental to the existence of Nigeria itself.

However, the law provides for the optional, twin benefits of corporate personality and perpetual succession to any group who so wish, only on the condition of registration with CAC.

When therefore, any group of persons decides to be registered, it means such a group has submitted itself to be regulated by the law applicable body corporates. It remains optional anyway.

Groups cannot continue to claim the twin benefits of registration and reject the corresponding responsibilities to such benefits.

Thus, for example, many persons including institutional donors won’t give money to an organisation, whether a mosque or church if they knew such an organisation is owned by one man who lays personal claim to all the property of the group.

Again, other persons won’t support a religious organisation that doesn’t have a clearcut succession plan. Many members of some organisations have often grumbled when its leadership is passed onto either the wife, son or daughter of the founder, upon his passage to the other dimension.

Any group of persons that holds out itself to be registered either as a church or mosque must operate according to the minimum standards of transparency, accountability and predictability in the management of its property, particularly financial resources.

There have been recent cries against some of the provisions of the new CAMA which many claim are meant to detract from religious freedom. That cannot be correct.

Firstly, the controversial provision of Section 839 of CAMA which enables CAC to suspend trustees on certain conditions and in conjunction with the court, appoint interim managers for the association, deals mainly with the property of such an organisation.

Property is at the heart of the matter, not religious freedom. A good example in the application of the said provision is the recent suspension of the trustees of the Mountain of Fire and Miracles in the United Kingdom for failing to file its financial reports on time and for other financial discrepancies by some of its past leaders. In the place of the suspended trustees was appointed interim managers whose primary duties include reviewing the financial and governance processes of the church. This does not in any way affect the objects and activities of the church in terms of worship, including preaching and teaching of the reverred Word of God. The UK authorities, reasonably did not have to appoint a sheikh or mulah to superintendent over the church. Only persons with knowledge in such areas as accounting, management, administration etc were likely appointed.

Recently, the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) was accused of receiving money from a terrorist organisation to prepare Southern Nigeria for an invasion under a radical islamic agenda. MURIC would require not much defence if it has always run all of its finances so transparently as the new law now demands.

CAC has always enjoyed such wide discretionary powers in the repealed law that it could transfer the property of one defunct organisation to another that it considers to have similar objects.

There has been clearly, a regime of abuse in the management of the property of religious organizations in Nigeria. Apparently, requirement for full financial disclosure will be seen as a threat by religious leaders who live insidiously lavish and opulent lifestyles where they didn’t have to account to anyone. In some of these groups, the finances are so opaque and no member would dare to ask questions or else he or she could be considered to be possesed of the devil.

Also, many Moslem clerics will be very uncomfortable to be required to constantly document and declare their sources of income together with expenditures when they weren’t used to doing so, all in the name of preventing the possible funding of terrorist activities in Nigeria.

Some churches and Islamic groups have been reported to be engaged in money laundering and terrorist related financing respectively.

Recently, a bank paid 575 million Naira to a church pastor in Abuja which was believed to be laundered money for onward passage to the embattled suspended acting Chairman of the EFCC, Ibrahim Magu. The allegations against MURIC are also quite instructive on how these organisations can be conduit for laundered funds.

The requirements for transparency in the Not- for- Profit sector as contained in the new CAMA are not strange to our legal environment. Similar provisions are contained in the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) Act of 2015. Thus, when Jim Obazee, as executive secretary of FRCN tried to apply those provisions on Pastor Enoch Adeboye, he was seriously attacked by Nigerian Christians (including me) and he was severely punished with an outright suspension and an ultimate sack.

Even though Nigeria has been so badly governed by successive administrations, there is nothing wrong in seeking to apply international best practices in the management of the Not-for-Profit sector.

As an ardent fan of conspiracy theories from George Orwell, HG Wells to David Icke who purvey dystopic worldviews, I quite understand the fears that are associated with this new CAMA but I think it should not be much cause for alarm as another contemplated law that seeks to empower the Federal Government to acquire and control natural creeks, rivers and streams across Nigeria, including the Niger-Delta.

Frank Tietie
Human Rights Lawyer & Executive Director, Citizens Advocacy for Social & Economic Rights (CASER) writes from Abuja

Inauguration of the National Technical Working Group on Review of National Policy on Social Protection.

Inauguration of the National Technical Working Group on Review of National Policy on Social Protection anchored by the Fed. Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning ( FMFBNP) . ToR include : incorporation of relevant& emerging national & global issues; dev of a clear ,inclusive, measurable & acceptable Social Protection policy to address vulnerabilities/ poverty in Nigeria; development of strategic mechanisms for institutionalizing the policy as step to legislation of social protection policy ; dev of strategic implementation road map etc. National Tech Working Group is Multi- sectoral- MDAs, International Agencies & other stakeholders’ reps.