A CASE FOR THE PARTICIPATION OF THE OIL PRODUCING STATES AND COMMUNITIES IN THE OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL OF PETROLEUM RESOURCES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Although crude oil production has boosted Nigeria’s economy, the positive impacts are hardly felt by the oil producing states and communities. The oil producing states and communities are suffering greatly from the negative impacts of crude oil production and are been neglected. The suffering and neglect of the oil producing states and communities have led them to a lot of agitations. The attempt by the Federal Government at using force to suppress these agitations, using interventionist agencies to alleviate the suffering of the oil producing states and communities and increasing the revenue sharing to oil producing states to 13% have not yielded much result. This work therefore examines the Nigeria laws on the ownership and control of petroleum resources in Nigeria. The paper finds that the Nigeria legal regime vests exclusive ownership and control of petroleum resources in the Federal Government thereby denying the oil producing states and communities the right to participate in the ownership and control of petroleum resources found on their land. The paper recommends the amendment of the Constitution and the relevant petroleum laws, in order to make provision for a tripartite joint ownership and control of petroleum resources between the Federal Government, the oil producing states and communities.