Abstract
Environmental pollution by way of oil spillage and gas flaring are the lots and bane of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, where the country’s oil exploration activities are carried on by the oil multinational companies (MNCs). The cries of the people as well as several non-governmental organizations for attention to the area were not only spurned, but were at intervals rebuffed with crackdown and repression from successive administrations in the country, with the strong connivance of the oil MNCs. The situation reached a crescendo, when the people of this region took to self-help by bombing, kidnapping and abducting the expatriates and other categories of personnel of the oil MNCs in exchange for monetary ransom. The government not able to bear the embarrassment and the drop in daily oil production, coupled with the substantial loss of revenues devised the amnesty programme in 2009 as solution to the quagmire. The paper is aimed at examining the circumstances causing the crisis situation in the area, and the attendant consequences to the people of the areas and to the global community. It will attempt a critical analysis of the amnesty programme of the Federal government as a last resort and its impact at ensuring durable peace and sustainable development in the region. It discusses some of the challenges to amnesty programme and concludes with potential policy recommendations.
Highlights
With the commencement of oil exploration in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in the Niger Delta in 1956 came great excitement and tall hopes for rapid development and accelerated civilization
Long years of neglect and conflict have promoted, especially among youths a feeling of a bleak future, and see conflict as a stratagem to escape deprivation (Niger Delta Human Development Report, 2006). This resulted in the government cracking down with the strong support, active influence and connivance of the oil multinational corporations (MNCs), which reached a crescendo with extra-judicial hanging of the Prize nominee Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other kinsmen in November 1995, by the infamous government of the maximum ruler- General Sani Abacha (Oshionebo, 2009)
The underlying economic, social and environmental problems that triggered militancy in the Niger Delta needs to be addressed, as without this, it is doubtful if amnesty alone could bring durable peace to the volatile region
Summary
With the commencement of oil exploration in commercial quantities in Oloibiri in the Niger Delta in 1956 came great excitement and tall hopes for rapid development and accelerated civilization. Several developmental initiatives have been taken by the Nigerian government to enhance the socio-economic development of the region, such as the establishment of development boards, provision of basic infrastructural facilities, among others While some of these initiatives are laudable and need to be strengthened (Ukiwo, 2010), they have failed to achieve endurable peace in the region because they failed to address the root causes of the Niger Delta conflicts. The paper attempts a critical analysis of the amnesty programme of the Federal government as a last resort and its impact at ensuring durable peace and sustainable development in the region. The fifth section concludes by making recommendations aimed at resolving the conflicts and ensuring an enduring peace in the Niger Delta region
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