Amb. Godknows Igali Leads Call For Increased Resource Allocation To 50%

Renowned Historian, former diplomat and National Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ambassador Godknows Igali, OON, has called for increased resource allocation to host communities, proposing that areas producing natural resources should retain 50 per cent of the revenue generated.

Dr Igali made the call during an appearance on the podcast Conversations with Prof. Jideofor Adibe, where he addressed ongoing debates over resource control, fiscal federalism and economic justice in Nigeria.

The veteran administrator emphasised that host communities bear the primary environmental and social burdens of resource extraction, making a more equitable revenue-sharing formula necessary.

“It is important that the community that has the resources keep 50% of the derived resources,” Igali stated.

According to him, the current 13 per cent derivation principle is grossly inadequate, given the scale of environmental degradation, loss of livelihoods, health challenges and underdevelopment suffered by oil and mineral-producing communities over decades. He argued that no meaningful development can take place in host communities when the bulk of the wealth generated from their land is taken away, leaving them to grapple with pollution, poverty and neglect.

Amb. Igali stressed that resource control is not about secession or division, but about fairness, equity and the principles of true federalism. He maintained that communities that produce the wealth of the nation deserve a fair share that can guarantee infrastructure, education, healthcare, environmental remediation and economic empowerment.

The proposed 50 per cent derivation principle reflects aspects of Nigeria’s pre-independence and First Republic fiscal arrangements, under which regions retained 50 per cent of revenue derived from certain natural resources within their territories before subsequent changes to the country’s revenue allocation system.

That arrangement, he noted, encouraged healthy competition, productivity and accountability among regions, as each region was motivated to develop its own resources for the benefit of its people and the nation at large.

Igali’s remarks come amid ongoing discussions among policymakers, regional stakeholders and socio-political groups advocating for structural economic reforms, equitable community development and environmental remediation across resource-producing regions in the country.

He therefore, called on the Federal Government, the National Assembly and other stakeholders to revisit the revenue allocation formula and embrace a more just system that rewards production, protects the environment and restores dignity to host communities.

For many in the Niger Delta and other resource-producing areas, Igali’s position has reignited the long-standing conversation on fiscal justice, one that continues to shape Nigeria’s quest for unity, equity and sustainable development.