The Development of Underdevelopment in Andoni (Obolo) of the Niger Delta

Abstract

Modern-day Andoni (Obolo) is a manifest product of the interaction of external factors of near perpetual subjugation and internal social forces of underdevelopment. Adopting an eclectic theoretical and methodological approach utilizing archival records, oral tradition sources, commission reports, published and unpublished works, this article explains the dynamics of external, internal, and environmental factors in the trajectory of the development of underdevelopment in Andoni (Obolo) in a historical perspective. The study shows that Andoni had started negotiating its development pathway before it was radically blocked by the processes of the trans-Atlantic trades; British colonialism; environmental constraints; internal schisms; and the post-colonial politics of patrimonialism, resource predation and primitive accumulation that collectively forced a dependent structure on the social formation.