On The Defacing of Ane Igala by Coal mining Activities

 

Environmental degradation is part of the injuries of a failed country.

A country that holds down the neck of the weak for the strong to feast on.
A country that supervises the perpetual raping of her citizens mainly to satisfy a privileged few. Why are some Nigerians more Nigerian than others?
Injustice everywhere.

While we were pushing for resource control at the return of democracy, so many of our people never saw the need for it but rather blindly joined the northern Nigeria who had no need for resource control to quench the agitation for resource control. What an unholy alliance..
Who joins a struggle merely for the sake of it without weighing the benefits? Who does that?

In 2006 forgive me if I didn’t get the date correctly, I can’t be specific for now, right at the Senate constitution review committee sitting in Jos, our own governor then H.E. Ibrahim Idris sponsored delegates from Kogi to go and kick against resource control without proper consultation with his people.
Who bears the pains of the environmental degradation occasioned by the ongoing coal mining in our land today?
Who’s environment is being destroyed?
Our resources are being milked and exported for the gains of others while we continue to bear the pains that comes with it.
What a country, what a Nigeria..

Ane Igala Restoration (AIR) is consistent in pointing the way to the Igala nation.
In the memorandum submitted to the Senate committee on the review of 1999 constitution dated 24th of September 2020, AIR on behalf of the Igala nation strongly called for the following
1. Boundary adjustment, state creation and er-adjustment to reunite us with our people in the other states.
2. Restructuring to accommodate the current realities of Nigeria
3. Resource control
4. Reformation of the electioneering structure.
In the same vein at the House of Representatives special committee on constitution review zonal public hearing at Lokoja on the 2nd of June 2021, AIR reiterated the aforementioned position and called for resource control again.

Igala nation can not be so blessed with numerous mineral resources including oil and yet continue to watch from the sidelines while people from afar come to exploit and export to their own advantage and we continue to lick the wounds of environmental degradation.

Everybody’s eye is on the political industry for quick cash out.
We’ve totally left others to use us to make reforms that favours them.
It is shameful and unacceptable.

With the heavy deposits of diverse mineral resources dotting across the length and breadth of Ane Igala, we have no business with underdevelopment, lack of social amenities, unemployment etc in Igala nation.

Let us continue to engage the current system and push for reforms that are in tandem with the Igala national development dream. We must push for reforms that will make us take ownership of our resources and manage it to the benefits of all.
We must push and keep pushing.

Megba chakaa!

Dr. Apostle Ocholi Odekina

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