Human rights activist, Ms Annkio Briggs has advocated for the self-determination of the Niger Delta people and urged member states of the United Nations to support the demand by people of the oil-rich region for the control of their resources. She argues that the nation has short-changed the region for too long.
She spoke to newsmen after she addressed a conference entitled: “Nigeria: Equity, corruption and justice” on behalf of a group, Niger Delta Self Determination Movement (NDSDM) in Lagos. Excerpts:
The Niger Deltans are asking for self determination while the Biafrans are asking for a separate state of their own, what is the difference in the two agitations?
The Biafrans are saying that they want a different country but we are saying that we want self determination so that we can control our immediate areas of responsibility and pay tax to the federal government. That does not seem that we are asking for a different country of our own. It sounds like people who want to do for themselves what no other people can do for them. It is like confederation. What we have today is precisely that the centre takes everything and decide what you get whether you are dying, dehydrating or not. When they give you your allocation, they feel you have taken your quota for the month.
On the issue of the Biafrans, if the Nigerian government wants to discuss with the Boko Haram, why not discuss with the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Odi was destroyed and so many Niger Delta areas have been destroyed. What would have impressed me is that if President Buhari is going about asking for help to rebuild the North East and to negotiate with Boko Haram so that we can have security and stability, then he should include places like the Niger Delta and the Igbo people and find a way round their grievances and not have this mentality that 95 per cent voted for him and that five per cent did not vote for him.
Credit: SunOnline
