Former President Olusegun Obasanjo says the crude oil in the Niger Delta region belongs to Nigeria.
He said the country will not make progress if citizens sacrifice state for tribe.
In a letter on Tuesday and addressed to Edwin Clark, Ijaw leader, Obasanjo said tribal allegiance must be suppressed for a state to emerge.
The former president was responding to comments credited to the Ijaw leader. Clark had reportedly said Obasanjo’s “hatred against the Niger Delta people is disappointing”.
The Ijaw leader’s comments came after Obasanjo allegedly attacked Ebipamowei Wodu, national secretary of Ijaw National Congress (INC), over resource control at a recent peace meeting.
lark said section 140 of the 1963 constitution provided that a natural resource found in a region is to be controlled by the people of the area.
But the former president said the provision did not imply that resources found in any region belongs to the people there.
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