Oil Extraction, Grievances and Local Attitudes Towards Violence. Evidence from a Survey in Nigeria's Oil-Rich Niger Delta

Abstract

Previous research on the resource-conflict-nexus argues that grievances are central in explaining political violence. However, there have been few attempts to conceptualize and systematically test which kind of grievances are linked to support of violence in resource-based societies. This paper contributes to fill this gap. The theoretical framework develops two complementary hypotheses. One suggests that grievances at the group-level matter and the other argues that individual-level grievances explain attitudes to anti-state violence. To test these arguments, the paper relies on a survey experiment of 550 individuals in Nigeria’s oil-rich Rivers State. The analysis shows that higher levels of individual-level grievances (health grievances, lack of access to public services) are significantly linked to supporting violence against the Nigerian state, whereas group-level grievances (unfair revenue distribution, environmental pollution, political deprivation) is associated with violence support. The findings are somewhat controversial as they contradict recent studies on group grievances while supporting research on individual motives in civil wars.