Fresh agitation: N'Delta Youth Council Demands Resource Control Over Zamfara Gold Mining 

By Ezekiel Kagbala 

Following the lifting of the ban on mining and exploration activities in Zamfara State, Northern part of Nigeria, the Niger Delta Youth Council has demanded that States in the Niger Delta region should also control their oil and gas resources just as Zamfara State controls gold found in the state.

NDYC, in a statement, on Thursday, January 30th, 2025, by its national president, Chief (Comrade) Bené Youkore Mamamu in Warri Delta State, demanded that the Federal Government should also allow Niger Delta to directly sell her oil just as in the case of Zamfara gold.

The council said; "If the government has decided to jettison the exclusive legislative list of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) which made minerals including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys, and natural gas to be exclusively under the control of the federal government, then let there be equity in resource management.

"Niger Delta Youths will no longer accept the unwillingness of the Government to allow the Niger Delta region own and control their Oil while at the same time endorsing Zamfara State government mining of gold in its domain.

"The government must address the injustice of allowing one region to enjoy its resources while depriving the other, the government should stop every action that is capable of instigating conflict in the region."

It could be recalled that Mining activities in Zamfara, which holds huge gold, lithium, and copper deposits, were suspended, The Nigerian government lifted the ban for mining exploration to commence in the northwestern state.