Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Olawale Olaopa, Ibikunle Ogundari, Mike Awoleye, and Willie Siyanbola
financially self-sufficient, while making a contribution to meeting the
cost of the central government. In 1958, shortly before independence,
the chick commission Report, like others before it, recommended
revenue sharing based on 50 per cent derivation, 30 per cent to the
regions, and only 20 per cent to the federal government. At the same
time the marketing boards were regionalized and their reserves
distributed (46 per cent to the west, 33 per cent to the north, and 21
per cent to the East). In 1964 the Binn Commission reduced the
share of the federal government to only 15 per cent, and increased
allocation to the regions by 5 per cent making it 35 per cent. It
should be emphasized that this revenue sharing formulae, based
largely on the principle of derivation, was accepted by all the regions
and considered fair.
But beyond that, it encouraged economic
competition among the regions as well as the enhancement of
financial self-sufficiency.
This was the fiscal situation until 1966 when the military seized
power in Nigeria. Over the next 30 years that the military were
directly in power or, indirectly through their civilian surrogates, they
destroyed the fair and orderly revenue allocation system established
by the British colonial government, with the complete agreement of
Nigeria Political leaders at independent in 1960. The Gowon military
regime began in 1970 with Decree 13 which reduced by 5 per cent the
revenue shared on the basis of deriavation.
In 1976-79 the
muritala/Obasanjo regime further reduced by 20 per cent the revenue
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