Annkio Briggs says Nigerian leaders are confused
A prominent female activist from the Niger Delta, Ankio Briggs, on Friday, September 16, 2016, painted a picture of the suffering in the Niger Delta wondering why the federal government continues to think the use of force would resolve the situation in the tensed region.
She also mocked the government of the country telling those in search of the Niger Delta Avengers and other agitators where to find them.
The woman also told a large gathering at the second edition of the Tunji Braithwaite symposium organized in Lagos state by The Tunji Braithwaite Foundation that Nigeria was never created by God, but the British colonialists for their own economic benefit.
According to her, nobody wants Nigeria to break up, but what the Niger Delta Avengers and other agitators want is for the region to be developed with the money that comes from the oil explored in the area.
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“Nigeria was not created by God. Nigeria was created by a man called Lord Lugard for selfish economic reasons,” Ms Briggs who has been an activist for over 18 years said.
She maintained that Nigeria is too big for the crop of leaders that have ruled so far and that are still ruling, adding that this is the reason these leaders remain confused.
She noted that because of oil, “we have leaders who cannot think."
"When you have 36 states and you are depending on nine states to sustain those states, then it is unfortunate.
"When you have eight local governments in Bayelsa state and you have 44 in Kano state and that Kano takes 44 of what Bayelsa produces, and you say you are looking for the Avengers…"
She wondered why Nigeria still makes it look like it is being ruled by the western world.
“They tell us the resources that we have, they tell us how much of those resources that we have, they tell us when the resources would run out, they tell us how much they would buy the resources…they used to buy it (crude oil) for $150, I can’t stop asking myself how the price went down. What mechanism did they use to bring the price of crude oil down?" She asked.
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She urged the people to know that bad governance is not an accident but the result of the people’s silence.
“We produce over 96 percent of the country’s resources today and yet we get about 13 percent and somebody asks: ‘what are you doing with it?’ The I ask what are you doing with the other 87 percent?"
Recently, the minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also said violence will not resolve the Niger Delta crisis which now includes attacks on oil installations by militants and other agitators.
Source: Legit.ng
