By By Francis Abulu
KEMI Badenoch’s unwavering stance against injustice and corruption in Nigeria has undoubtedly made her a target of sinister plots and criticism. Her refusal to turn a blind eye to the stream of injustices perpetrated against the Niger-Delta people, who have been denied their rights to resource ownership due to an outdated law, is truly commendable.
It is ironic that those celebrating this injustice are the same ones opposing Kemi Badenoch. Her commitment to speaking out against corruption and promoting accountability is a testament to her strong character. Talk about the law that whatever is underneath the earth belongs to the Federal Government of Nigeria but that on the surface is for the federating States! This obnoxious law deprives the people of Niger-Delta their rights to Oil ownership. Where “federal might” is applied to disproportionately take 87 per cent of the money accruing from Oil and Gas for the centre while resource owners go home with a paltry 13 per cent!
Generally, Nigerians celebrate this monumental injustice except few individuals like Kemi Badenoch. Consequently, President Bola Tinubu’s 2025 Appropriation Bill presented to the National Assembly on Wednesday, December 18, 2024 was based on this injustice. Not unexpectedly, they celebrate it!
The fact that some Nigerians are only now realising the importance of fair taxation, yet fail to apply the same principle to the oil and gas sector, clearly underscores the weighty and nauseating systemic issues that Kemi Badenoch has stoically undertaken to fight against.
Sadly, ours is a nation of men of short memories. Today’s leaders, who were against the renaming of the University of Lagos after the late Moshood Abiola, are just waking from their deep slumber by the renaming of the University of Abuja in honour of Yakubu Gowon, the country’s former military leader. They say one thing, but do completely different things.
Where former President Muhammadu Buhari once said, “Attack on Boko Haram is an attack on the North”, no responsible citizen would identify with people who steal, mindlessly kill, and destroy as people who are fighting for them! Without doubt, this statement emboldened these terrorists to wreak havoc on the nation, Nigeria; and, no responsible citizen will applaud it. The so-called progressives celebrate it because they hope to make political capital out of it. Truly, they exploited the Boko Haram and associated security challenges as a campaign tool and eventually gained power in 2015.
More than ever, what Nigeria needs today is True Federalism that will devolve power to the States or regionalism that recognizes and allocates 50 per cent revenue to resources’ owners as it was practised in the 1960s. A nation of equity, peace and justice where the Niger-Delta people and other minority groups will no longer be brutally oppressed and exploited.
Kemi Badenoch’s determination to stand up for what is right, even in the face of excessive opposition, is truly inspiring. Her commitment to justice and accountability is a beacon of hope for a better Nigeria.
Francis Bekesuode Abulu Esq. is an associate with E. K. Omare & Co.
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