NIGERIA has begun implementing a new revenue sharing formula with its nine oil-producing states by which the latter receive 13% of oil revenues. An official statement published by national newspapers on Tuesday said the government has disbursed a total of 11,9-billion naira ($1,1-billion) to the states for their share of oil revenues for the first quarter of 2000. The shareout of oil revenues has been a highly contentious issue since President Olusegun Obasanjo took office last May, ending 15 years of military rule. Demands by local communities for a greater share of oil wealth are at the root of widespread unrest and attacks on multinational oil companies in the Niger Delta, which accounts for most of Nigeria’s nearly two million barrels per day oil output. Crude oil exports account for over 90% of Nigeria’s foreign earnings.