How South-West And North Get Over 13% Derivation

                                                                             

                                 

There is no gainsaying the fact that the South-West and the monolithic north receive more than 13 percent derivation. This position can’t be faulted because Lagos State hosts the headquarters of all the multinational oil companies that operate in the Niger Delta. Recall that the multinational oil companies were initially domiciled in the Niger Delta region but were ordered to relocate to Lagos State by the then head of state, General Yakubu Gowon. With the forceful movement of the headquarters of the multinational oil companies to Lagos State, they also pay their taxes to the state. Again, all employments by the multinational oil companies are also made in the state; giving the state advantage over the Niger Delta that hosts the crude oil.

Thus, majority of the employees in the multinational oil companies working onshore, offshore and the headquarters are of the Yoruba extraction. Also, all the administrative staffers of the oil multinational companies live in Lagos State and also pay their taxes in the state.

In addition, the oil workers living in Lagos State pay huge rents which enable landlords in the state to also pay their land use charges and tenement rates to the government. Accordingly, the state generates about N200 billion monthly from taxes and levies! It is noteworthy that without the multinational oil headquarters in the state, there is no way the government can generate such vast sum of money from taxes monthly. This is besides the monthly federal allocation to the state. Will Lagos State have been able to generate N200 billion monthly without the presence of the headquarters of the oil multinational companies in the state? Does any state in the Niger Delta receive N200 billion from the 13 percent derivation on a monthly basis? If the headquarters of the oil multinationals are located in the Niger Delta region and are also paying such humongous taxes the region won’t the region be developed than what it is now?

Likewise, the monolithic north also receives more than 13 percent derivation; this is in addition to the federal allocation to the region. This is so because the monolithic north has 19 states and 444 local government areas. A refinery is also located in the north. With this scenario, the states in the north receive more than 13 percent derivation which the states in the Niger Delta region receive. Above all, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) is located in the north and more than 50 percent of the remaining 87 percent of derivation is expended on the Federal Capital Territory. Equally, the north has always had the largest numbers of political appointees in every government owing to the fact that the region has 19 states and 444 local government areas. The north has produced more ministers of petroleum and group managing directors of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) than the entire southern part of the country. The north shares almost the same staff strength with the South-West in the multinational oil companies. Obviously, the armed forces are under the control of the north as the region also has the largest numbers of personnel in the armed forces. Similarly, the north also controls other para-military agencies such as Nigerian Immigration Service, Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp and the entire civil service as it has more employees than the entire south.

So, the money with which the Federal Capital Territory is being developed, the armed forces, political appointees and the civil servants are paid, is derived from the Niger Delta region. Therefore, Nigerians who say 13 percent derivation for the Niger Delta region is too much should encourage their states produce something so they too can get 13 percent derivation like the Niger Delta region.

The people of the Niger Delta have tolerated much oppressions and abuses from other Nigerians. No other parts of the country would allow the headquarters of the companies operating in their region to be located outside their regions. Will the north allow the headquarters of their groundnuts and cotton industries located outside the northern region? Will the southwest allow the headquarters of their cocoa industries located outside the southwest region?