Consolidating or Corrupting the Peace? The Power Elite and Amnesty Policy in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

Abstract

After granting unconditional amnesty to militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta region in 2009, the Nigerian federal government launched a comprehensive peace-building program anchored on disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) in a bid to arrest violent attacks on oil infrastructures. Puzzlingly, nearly a decade of costly DDR programming has not engendered sustainable peace in the region. This study, which draws on both primary and secondary sources of data, examines the resurgence of violence in the Niger Delta by problematizing the informal relations between power elites and youths. Analysis of responses from in-depth interviews with various stakeholders in the peace process reveals that politics in the region is embedded in and governed by the informal logic of patron–clientelism and corruption. As a result, the post-conflict peace-building mechanisms of amnesty and DDR programs designed to build peace through youth empowerment have been captured and corrupted by power elites. In their do-or-die struggles for power positions and oil revenues, the elites have criminalized some ex-militants by mobilizing them as thugs, kidnappers, and oil thieves, thus posing a huge threat to sustainable peace and democratic consolidation in the region. The study indicts political desperation, systemic corruption, poor policy execution, and weak public institutions for the impunity of the elites and criminalized youths. It recommends value re-orientation and strengthening of public institutions to mitigate corruption and social violence among leaders and followers alike.