Ayo Adebanjo, leader of Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has told former President Olusegun Obasanjo that oil in the Niger Delta does not belong to Nigeria.
Adebanjo, who addressed a press conference in Lagos on Wednesday, was reacting to earlier comments made by Obasanjo that the oil in the region belonged to the entire country.
Adebanjo backed leader of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, Chief Edwin Clark, who had engaged in a war of words with Obasanjo over the latter’s declaration
Clark had in a letter accused Obasanjo of showing hatred for the people of Niger Delta when he spoke at a peace and security meeting convened by the Global Peace Foundation and Vision Africa recently in Abuja.
Obasanjo, in his reply, insisted that it was wrong and unconstitutional for Clark or the people of the Niger Delta region to lay claim to crude oil or any mineral resources found in the area.
Reacting on Wednesday, Adebanjo said the former president’s comments were provocative.
The Afenifere leader recalled that there was peaceful co-existence among ethnic groups in Nigeria until 1966 when the military took over the government and “abrogated the constitution agreed to by our founding fathers and set up the present 1999 constitution.”
He appealed to Obasanjo to join hands with the other patriots to ensure President Muhammadu Buhari restructured the country.
