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When we speak about the struggle for justice in Nigeria’s oil-producing region, we often talk about the environmental devastation, the abandoned communities, the pipelines in our backyards, and how the wealth of the nation flows from beneath our soil while our people drink from polluted rivers. What is rarely told properly and truthfully, is the story of the political battle that led to the 13% derivation principle we know today, and the unlikely alliance that made it possible.

Before the Struggle: When the Niger Delta Received Almost Nothing

• For decades, the Niger Delta produced the wealth that powered Nigeria, yet received almost nothing in return. By the late 1990s, oil-producing states were being given just 1% of the revenue generated from their land. Meanwhile:
• Farmlands were destroyed by spills
• Fishing waters were poisoned
• Cities like Lagos, Kano, and Abuja expanded on oil money
• The communities that produced the oil remained underdeveloped

The imbalance was not only economic. It was a wound to pride.

The Stand: When the South-South Said “Enough”

At the dawn of the Fourth Republic, a new coalition formed in the South-South: governors, traditional rulers, intellectuals, youth movements, and elders. At the forefront of this movement was:

• Obong Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom
  A calm, strategic, and deeply thoughtful statesman.

Alongside him stood:

• James Ibori (Delta)
• Diepreye Alamieyeseigha (Bayelsa)
• Dr. Peter Odili (Rivers)

Together, they carried the voice of a region that had suffered quietly for too long. They demanded one thing:

Resource control – that oil-producing states should benefit substantially from the resources taken from their land.

This was not a small request.
It challenged the political and economic foundation of the country.

The Opposition: Power Was Not Ready to Shift

The Federal Government under President Olusegun Obasanjo (Yoruba) resisted fiercely.
The Northern political establishment, which had long depended on oil revenue, also stood firmly against major changes.

Their message was clear:

“If the Niger Delta controls its oil, Nigeria will break.”

But to the Niger Delta, the country was already breaking—
only it was breaking on their soil.

Court cases were filed, Constitutional dialogues were held, Tempers rose, Emotions ran deep.

The Niger-Delta needed allies—not in words, but in votes and political will.

A Bond Older Than Nigeria:

Why the Igbo Did Not Hesitate

When the struggle reached the chambers of power, something remarkable emerged:

The Igbo stood with the Niger Delta. Fully. Without bargaining. Without hesitation.

And this was no coincidence.

For centuries, the peoples of the lower Niger — Igbo, Ijaw, Ibibio, Efik, Itsekiri, Urhobo, lived as cultural cousins.

• Ancient markets linked Arochukwu, Onitsha, Opobo, Bonny, Nembe, Ndoni, and Oguta.
• Intermarriage blurred ethnic lines.
• Trade routes connected Igbo hinterlands to Niger Delta ports.
• Groups like Ikwerre, Ndoni, Ekpeye, Ogba, Ukwuani share deep linguistic and cultural roots with the wider Igbo world.

Before colonial borders and census politics, these communities saw one another as:

ani nna- "people of our land"

Thus, when the Niger Delta cried out for justice, the Igbo did not see strangers.
They saw family.

1995: The First Public Proof of Brotherhood

The Walkout That Shook Nigeria**

Before 13% Derivation…
Before the legal battles…
Before Attah’s political pressure…

There was 1995.

At the National Constitutional Conference, South-South delegates demanded:

• True resource control
• Fair derivation
• Protection for oil communities

They were mocked, dismissed, talked down upon.

So they walked out.

But history must remember this:

They did not walk out alone.

The Igbo delegates of the South-East stood up and walked out with them.**

Together.
One voice.
One bloc.
One defiance.

Igbo delegates declared:

“An injury to the Niger Delta is an injury to us.”
“You cannot take oil from a man’s land and give him crumbs.”

This was the first major Southern solidarity in modern Nigerian politics.

1999–2005: Attah, the Elders, and the Battle That Changed Nigeria

As Attah and the South-South elders intensified their demands in the early 2000s, the federal government resisted at every turn.

But in the National Assembly something crucial happened:

**The Igbo bloc consistently voted with the Niger Delta.

They never broke ranks.
Not once.**

They had no oil windfall to gain.
No immediate political reward.

Their support was:

• Consistent
• Public
• Unconditional

They saw the fight as a Southern fight — not a South-South fight.

The Victory: The 13% Derivation

After years of pressure, walkouts, unity, and legal battles, the federal government finally conceded:

13% Derivation.

Was it full resource control?
No.

But it was a beginning — the first major crack in Nigeria’s centralized revenue wall.

And it was won by South-South courage with Igbo reinforcement.

If that alliance had not existed, the percentage might have remained:

1%.
3%.
Or even zero.

Why the Igbo Support Mattered So Deeply

Because both regions shared:

• Marginalization by distant federal power
• Post-war economic suppression
• Resource exploitation without compensation
• A long struggle for political relevance

The Igbo recognized a familiar pain.
They recognized a brother’s cry.

So they stood up.

Not for money.
Not for ethnic gain.
Not for political barter.

They stood up because it was just.

Conclusion: Brothers in Struggle, Brothers in History

The story of resource control is not only a Niger Delta story.
It is a story of Southern unity — of kinship older than Nigeria itself.

It is the story of:

• Obong Victor Attah’s courage
• South-South elders’ persistence
• Igbo solidarity—unyielding, principled, and historical

A unity forged in pain.
A unity expressed in protest.
A unity that forced Nigeria to change.

The Niger Delta is still fighting.
The Igbo are still fighting.
The South still carries unfinished work.

But history has taught us something powerful:

**When the South stands together, Nigeria shifts.

When the South speaks together, Nigeria listens.
And when the South fights together — Nigeria changes.**

This is a story worth keeping alive.
A story worth teaching.
A story worth honoring.

Because the true resource we must protect is not oil —
it is unity.