Fiscal federalism must return for N/Delta devt –Orubebe

Category: News Published on Friday, 01 February 2013 00:23 Written by Vincent Egunyanga, Benin

Nigeria must return to practice true federalism as it was done in the First Republic before any meaningful development could take place in the Niger Delta region, Minister of Niger Delta Elder Godsday Orubebe said in Benin yesterday.

Orubebe said non observance of the principle of federalism as practiced in the 1960’s before military intervention deprived the region of resources they need for development.

The minister, who spoke while delivering a lecture entitled: The Challenge of Regional Development in Nigeria: Case of the Niger Delta”, at the 7th Distinguished Faculty of Social Sciences Public Lecture, lamented that in spite of its huge resources endowment, the Niger Delta region illustrates a paradox of poverty in the midst of abundant resources.

Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe, yesterday, cried that the funds accrued to his Ministry is grossly inadequate for the development of the region, therefore stressed the need for the Federal Government to use crude oil revenues to significantly fund the Ministry’s projects and programmes in order to avoid fresh crisis in the region.