Nigerian State and the management of oil minority conflicts in the Niger Delta: A retrospective view (original) (raw)
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The rise of the crude oil market and the significant boom in the 1970s, made Nigerian discovered crude oil at Oloibiri in 1956 within the Niger Delta regions of the country, a golden mine. This same commodity that brought blissful euphoria to the Nigerian state and people has equally become her political Achilles’ heel. The unanswered question has been bothered on the real cornerstone surrounding the unabated crisis in the region. It is in search of this crisis livered contention that this research attempts to critically examine the incremental oil policy, and land tenure in Nigeria as an oversight variable that the Nigerian government has yet to seriously consider in search of peace in the Niger Delta conflict resolution project. This paper therefore considered a focus on Nigerian oil policy from 1956 to the Nigerian Petroleum Act 2000, a major policy cancer that needs to be cured in order for other policies on Niger Delta to be effective. Keywords: conflicts, Niger Delta, oil and gas policies, resource control, ethnic identity, and Militants
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Nigeria oil producing region has for long remains a site of contention between the state and local groups fighting for conscious environmental practice, resource control and development. During the long years of military rule, repression and military occupation were the core of state response to agitations and protests of the people in the region. The nation's returns to democratic rule spur hope that things will change for the better. Such enthusiasm was premise on the believe that democratic rule will facilitates dialogue, herald political accountability, stimulate good governance, promote sound management of the nation's resource and wealth and facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes under the spirit of democratic governance. This article assesses policy response to the Niger Delta debacle in the last ten years of democratic rule. It discusses the successes and challenges of resolving the crisis via institutional arrangement that characterize state response under the present democratic arrangement. It point out the imperative of democratic governance as the way for constructive resolution of the environmental insecurity and crisis of development facing the region.
Scholarly and public analyses of oil conflict in Nigeria, especially its origins, often do not interrogate the nature and forms of relationships that evolved among the inland communities of South-Eastern Nigeria (where oil exploration began in the 1930s); the colonial state and the pioneer oil explorer, Shell D’Arcy; and the implications of these relationships for the management of the oil exploration process in Nigeria. This article explores the character of these relationships. It argues that although oil was not discovered in commercial quantity in these inland communities, the colonial legal/ institutional framework for oil operations advantaged the oil explorers in special ways, and resulted in unmitigated socio-ecological dislocation, and hence, local opposition. For a proper understanding of this phase in the evolution of the Nigerian oil economy, the paper explores some of the basic issues that foreground postcolonial oil conflict in Nigeria; conflict that has persisted into the 21st century. The article relies on archival and ethnographic data collected from selected communities in South-Eastern Nigeria where Shell D’Arcy explored for oil for several years, before it struck commercial deposits in the coastal villages of the Niger Delta in 1956.
Oil politics and the Niger Delta developmental conundrum
Oil has become a dominant element within the power capability profile of any nation. Nations enter into war because of oil. The Gulf War in 1991 is an example. In Nigeria the crisis is between the federal government and oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region. Despite the abundant oil wealth, there has been unimaginable mass poverty and negligible development in the region. Efforts by the federal government and oil companies to improve the quality of human lives and to provide infrastructural development, have been insufficient to ameliorate the problems. Presently, the insensitivity of government and oil companies have created more tensions and crises which not only threaten the industry, but also national security. In fact, youths within the area, by association of various ethnic militia groups, have become restive in their bid for greater control of their natural resources. The paper, therefore, examines developmental issues in oil producing communities against background of government establishing an internal security task force to deal with the youths. The paper concludes that the federal government and oil companies should change their current hostile approaches in order to work towards infrastructural development of the region.
OIL AND VIOLENCE: EXAMINING THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS AND ITS IMPLICATION TO NIGERIA’S DEMOCRATIC STABILITY, 2018
At the start of oil exploration in the Niger Delta in 1956, the oil bearing communities had anticipated some measure of industrialization and economic empowerment. Unfortunately, this was not the case as oil exploration orchestrated systemic contradictions in the region evidenced in marginalization, social exclusion and environmental degradation. The situation was further complicated by the unholy alliance between the Nigerian state and the oil multinationals which consequently engendered militancy in the region, thus constituting a grave threat to Nigeria's democratic stability. As a panacea to the crisis, this paper calls for reforms in the country's land use act, restructuring of the Nigerian federation, stringent measures against the oil firms and continued dialogue between the warring parties amongst others. The qualitative research method of secondary data collection was adopted while the frustration-aggression theory was utilized as a framework of analysis.
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Nigeria oil producing region has for long remains a site of contention between the state and local groups fighting for conscious environmental practice, resource control and development. During the long years of military rule, repression and military occupation were the core of state response to agitations and protests of the people in the region. The nation’s returns to democratic rule spur hope that things will change for the better. Such enthusiasm was premise on the believe that democratic rule will facilitates dialogue, herald political accountability, stimulate good governance, promote sound management of the nation’s resource and wealth and facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes under the spirit of democratic governance. This article assesses policy response to the Niger Delta debacle in the last ten years of democratic rule. It discusses the successes and challenges of resolving the crisis via institutional arrangement that characterize state response under the present d...
Dissent and State Excesses in the Niger Delta, Nigeria
Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 2009
The collapse of the informal alliance between the Federal Government and ethnic minorities of the Niger Delta brought significant changes in their modes of power relations. The alliance had developed as a form of buffer against Igbo hegemony and domination over these minorities. The passing of a vote of no confidence on the alliance by the minorities was largely connected, then, as now, to oil and environmental politics and attendant distributive politics that place the minorities at the mercy of the government. These underscore the resort to dissent and excesses by the Niger Delta and the state, respectively. This article explores the rise and fall of the alliance and attendant intrigues. It illustrates the character of dissent and state excesses as well as their accomplishments and failures. It concludes that the resort to dissent by the minorities and excesses by the state has had mixed outcomes, making it difficult for both parties to fully actualize their goals. Finally, the article suggests the need to address the roots of observable contradictions, which lie in the asymmetrical system of power relations engendered by oil, environmental, and distributive politics. This calls for devising an acceptable and equitable method of power sharing and revenue allocation predicated on fairness, equity, and social justice.