Niger Delta Crisis Research Articles

Niger Delta conflict and the cry for restructuring and true federalism in Nigeria: A study of Akpos Adesi's Agadagba Warriors

AbstractThe Nigerian polity, since its independence, has faced many problems. Some of these problems are high rates of unemployment and poverty, religious intolerance, inter‐ethnic conflicts, resource control, etc. Attempts have been made by the past and present governments to address some of these challenges, but all attempts have proven futile. This has led many concerned groups to call for a restructuring of the country to make for fairness in the distribution and management of the nation's resources. This paper examines restructuring and the cry for true federalism in Nigeria using Akpos Adesi's Agadagba Warriors whose premiere performance was on the 12 May 2006 as a case study. The study employs the case study and content analysis research approaches of the qualitative method. The paper claims that Akpos Adesi's play metaphorizes the main causes of anti‐Nigeria agitations, deduced from the text as ethnic sentiments, lack of equity in the sharing of the nation's resources and concentration of political authority at the central government. As seen in the play, the Niger Delta, amongst the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, contributes the highest quota to Nigeria's economy, in terms of crude oil production, which is the mainstay of Nigeria's economy. However, the lack of the practice of true federalism and unequal distribution of the wealth accrued from crude oil sales to the Niger Delta results in constant conflict between the federal government and Niger Deltans. Separatist tendencies and the clamour for restructuring of the nation by the Niger Deltans become the driving themes of this discourse.

Niger Delta Crisis and the Amnesty Programme: Evolution, Challenges and Prognosis

Niger Delta Crisis and the Amnesty Programme: Evolution, Challenges and Prognosis

Environmental Impacts of Oil Exploration (Oil and Conflicts: Niger Delta As a Case Study)

The article highlights and explains the environmental impacts of oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria, using Niger Delta as a case study. The environmental impacts discussed are negative impacts and they can also be described as oil conflicts. This borders around damages made in Niger Delta, and how they can be curbed using existing protocols, rules, laws and organizations by preventing further damages of the flora and fauna bodies in the Niger Delta. The article finds that curbing the oil conflicts in the Niger Delta has been sabotaged by both the companies involved with exploration and the government at large. It concludes that oil conflicts can be curbed or even totally eradicated if everyone shows concern in the implementation of the laws and regulations provided as a result of the conflicts.

Inland fisheries: Status, management and related conflicts in the niger delta, Nigeria

The importance of inland fisheries sector cannot be over-emphasized and its significance in providing food security and generating local income is not in doubt. Production from inland open water capture fisheries is declining due to over-exploitation and habitat degradation. The rapidly declining catch from fish landing is a possible indication that the fish yields of most Nigerian inland waters are generally low for causes that may range from inadequate management of fisheries to degradation of water bodies. Artisanal fishing in the Niger Delta is faced with myriads of obstacles emanating from human activities; one of these problems being the menace of the commercial fishing trawlers and activities of the oil companies in the area. The local supply of fish and fishery products consists of production from the artisanal (85%), industrial (14%) and Aquaculture (1%) subsectors. The high activity level in the Niger Delta has exposed the area to the dangers of pollution of water, land and air as well as oil spills which have endangered aquatic life as well as the entire ecosystem, topography and surface vegetation leading to loss of biodiversity and conflicts. The contribution of fisheries to the nation economy is very significant in terms of employment, income generation, poverty alleviation, foreign exchange earnings and provision of raw materials for the animal feed industry. In order for biodiversity conservation to be effective, management measures must be broad based.
 Keywords: Inland Fisheries, Aquaculture, Over-exploitation, Sustainable, and Pollution.

ASPECTS OF PRECOLONIAL ISOKO SOCIO-POLITICAL RELATIONS WITH THEIR NEIGHBOURS IN SOUTH CENTRAL NIGERIA

This work focused on aspects of pre-colonial Isoko socio-political relations with their neighbours in the Niger Delta region of South Central Nigeria. It attempts to illuminate the nexus between internal and external dynamics and the concomitant changes and continuities in Isoko relations with their Urhobo, Ijaw, Ukwuani and Aboh neighbours. The work is premised on the historical method and interpretations deploying primary and secondary data to achieve its objective. The study concludes that intergroup relations in the region is largely influenced by their somewhat common ancestral origin; geographical contiguity; a shared common environmental and cultural practices; and the experience of similar external influences. This is done within the context of contemporary trajectory of the socio-political conflicts in the Niger Delta with serious implications for both National and International interests.

In search of a solution: Nigerian newspaper coverage of peace initiatives in a time of national crisis

The study analyzed Nigerian newspaper coverage of various stakeholders’ peace initiatives to resolve the Niger Delta crisis of 2006 to 2009. Four purposively selected dailies: the THISDAY, The Guardian, the Vanguard and The Sun published between January 1, 2006 and October 4, 2009 were content analyzed. The population was 5,532 issues from where a sample of 553 was systematically selected. Coding was by two independent coders and the inter-coder reliability stood at 0.77 using Scott’s pi. index. The pattern of coverage indicated that the peace initiatives of local leaders (39.47 %) were the most covered, followed by the peace initiatives of the Federal Government of Nigeria/ Oil firms (23.44 %). This was followed by peace efforts of other stakeholders (27%) and NGOs (10.09 %). The result could imply that local leaders in the Niger Delta were more concerned about the crisis and wanted it quickly resolved, hence initiated more peace efforts than the Federal Government / Oil Firms widely believed to have aggravated the crisis. On individual newspaper coverage, the Vanguard paid the most attention to peace efforts by various stakeholders (31.16 %), followed by the THISDAY (27.60 %). Both papers provided more than half of the coverage of peace initiatives. More studies are needed to establish whether the newspapers overlooked some peace efforts of the Federal Government / Oil firms.

Do Economic Inequalities Generate Political Conflict? An Insight into Civil War and Niger Delta Crisis in Nigeria

The outbreak of political conflicts within countries has been a source of immense human suffering. The serious repercussions and challenges posed by these conflicts direct one to identify the factors that can be political or economic in nature for the outbreak of these domestic conflicts. The present study, without undermining the role of political factors, nevertheless considers economic factors in terms of inequality as significant for the outbreak of conflicts and particularly in understanding the Civil War and Niger Delta Crisis in the context of countries like Nigeria.

The Military Dimension of Niger Delta Crisis and Its Implications on Nigeria National Security

This article uses qualitative research method to obtain information from high-profiled respondents through verbal interaction in semi-structured interviews in addition to some secondary data to examine the military dimension of Niger Delta crisis and its implications on security sectors in Nigeria. The Nigerian militarized political system attests to the influence of long-term military rule in the country thereby the perpetual deployment of Nigerian armed forces to complement the duty of police in ensuring internal security has been found unassailable within Nigerian democratic governments. Consequently, there have been numerous cases of civilian casualties characterizing the historical record of these military interventions in which the case of Niger delta crisis has been no exception. This article finds it worthwhile to examine the outcomes of these military operations in Niger delta crisis over security sectors in Nigeria and finds them to be terrifically counterproductive. The result unveils the impracticality of military armed forces becoming instrumental in addressing economic and environmental insecurities of a state as well as the need to expand the agenda of security beyond the military armed forces. Theoretically, this article uses the Copenhagen School of Security Studies’ (CS) conceptualization of security sectors as conceptual and structural framework of the study.

A Linguistic Study of Helon Habila’s Novel, Oil on Water

Petroleum, Nigeria’s major source of revenue is obtained in the Niger Delta. Yet, the region has been besieged by a lot of crises right from the colonial era. The process of crude oil extraction, resulting in oil pollution has done serious damages to the region, thereby hindering farming and fishing, the main occupations of the Deltans. This plunged the people into the unemployment that is responsible for poverty, hardship, diseases and deaths among the people. Deltans suffer so many losses, yet they are not adequately compensated. This is the cause of the Niger Delta crises. During the colonial era, the British government established oil companies to explore petroleum to enrich her home country, Britain, at the expense of the Niger Delta. Many years after independence, the condition of the region has remained deplorable due to corruption in Nigeria. Being exploited and cheated, the people resorted to different forms of protests, violence and militancy, that have culminated in social unrest in the region. Despite all efforts by the government to arrest the situation, the Niger delta issue has remained a serious problem of public concern, which needs permanent solution. To this effect, many Nigerian literary artists such as Ken Saro-wiwa, Tanure Ojaide, Kaine Agary and Helon Habila expressed their concern over the crises in their literary works, aimed at proffering permanent solution to the problem. This reiterates the importance of literature and the literary artists to the society. This paper examines and expounds how Helon Habila deploys language resources in his novel, Oil on Water, to convey the Niger Delta crises, their security risks to the society and the Nigerian economy, as well as the decisive steps to arrest the ugly situation.

Niger Delta Crises and the Way Forward: A Study of the Mood System in Helon Habila’s Novel, Oil on Water

The Niger delta of Nigeria has been besieged by a lot of crises, which have posed serious security risks to the region. This has adversely and seriously affected not only the region, but Nigeria in general. The processes of crude oil extraction in the Niger delta have resulted in ecological degradation and oil pollutions, thereby doing a lot of damages to the farmlands and fishing waters of the people, whose major occupations are farming and fishing. Petroleum, the main source of Nigeria’s revenue is obtained in the Niger delta. Yet, Deltans are confronted with a lot of problems; they are impoverished, exploited, neglected and marginalized despite the economic value of the region to the Nigerian economy. No serious or commensurate efforts are made by the government or the multinational oil companies operating in the region to compensate the people for the losses they suffer through oil pollutions. This has resulted in a lot of protests and violence, culminating in the social unrest in the region. To this effect, there have been reactions to the crises in diverse ways. Though such efforts have yielded little dividends, the crises have persisted. Niger delta deserves priority attention in terms of human and infrastructural developments. In the literary circle, some Nigerian literary artists have expressed concern over the issue with a view to creating awareness on the seriousness of the crises, and advancing suggestions that will proffer permanent solutions to the problems. This paper examines and expounds how Helon Habila deploys the mood system as a language tool in his novel, Oil on Water, to address the Niger Delta crises. He advances suggestions to put an end to the crises in order to restore peace, and enhance sustainable development in Nigeria.

The Postnormal Condition and the Politics of Migration in Biyi Bandele’s Half of a Yellow Sun

Civil wars, political chaos, ecological revolutions, separatist agitations, ethnic conflicts and religious clashes form part of the larger body of what, following Ziauddin Sardar, we will define as “postnormal times.” The representation of borders in migration is a salient feature of African films and films on Africa, such as Hotel Rwanda, Blood Diamond, Half of a Yellow Sun, Tears of the Sun and Somewhere in Africa: The Cries of Humanity. These cinematic productions are rooted in the culture of migration, displacement, liberation and survival. The present article considers postcolonial African cinema and argues that filming migration, especially forced migration, is intricately related to the postnormal condition characteristic of African societies. Postnormality in that part of the world is largely produced by armed conflicts whose aftermath stages spectacular waves of human migration. The Boko Haram conflict, the Herdsmen crisis and the Niger Delta crisis of resource control in Nigeria and the Al Shabab terrorist group in Somalia and Eastern Africa are some of the instances of violent self-location that have necessitated discussions of refugeeism, migration and postnormality in Nigerian and African film studies. This article focuses on Biyi Bandele’s film Half of a Yellow Sun which is read in contextual juxtaposition with other films about crisis and migration. Sardar’s theory of postnormality is used in the analytical discussion of the film, which demonstrates that African cinema succeeds in representing the complexities, contradictions and chaos of voluntary and involuntary migration and provides an adequate response to the anti-oppressive reforms on that continent.

The Role of Traditional Leaders in Mitigating Violence and Enhancing Peace and Harmony in Nigeria

Violence is a global phenomenon which exists the world over. The form and manner it exists vary from one country to the other. Nigeria has been facing serious challenges of violent acts since her independence till date. These violent acts range from ethno-religious crises, communal conflicts, Boko Haram crisis, Niger-Delta Militancy, farmer/herder clashes among others which threaten peace and harmony in the country. This study examines the role traditional leaders play in mitigating the excesses of violence and enhancing the peace and harmony in Nigeria. The study predominantly relied on secondary data that include journal articles, books, newspapers, etc. In the case of analysis of data, content analysis was employed. The findings reveal that traditional leaders play an important role in reducing the violent acts and enhancing peace and harmony by a way of intervening in resolving conflicts such as farmer/herder clashes, Niger-Delta crisis and so on. Finally, the study suggests that government should empower more the traditional leaders by involving them in the resolution of conflicts and peace talks.

Oil, conflict, and the dynamics of resource struggle in the Niger Delta: A comparison of the Ogoni and Ijaw movements

Conflict in the Niger Delta has attracted significant local and international concern and reactions. Although several theses have discussed the recurring structural facets of the conflict, such as resource governance, marginalization, and neglect, which serve as the bases for understanding the grievances, a crucial question has remained unanswered: why have the Ogoni and the Ijaw, who have shared common, lived experiences, reacted differently to the same regional problems? Why has one chosen violence and the other, a non-violent contestation? This article argues that the three factors narratives, leadership, and organization have determined the dynamics of the choice between the distinct courses of action taken by each group, and suggests that the Ogoni and the Ijaw have waged distinct wars and been fighting context-specific battles constructed and framed for their individual communities.

Palm Oil and Crude Oil: Environmental Damage, Resource Conflict, and Literary Strategies in the Niger Delta

Foreign petroleum exploitation has long been a focus of writing from the Niger Delta, notably the work of Tanure Ojaide, Ken Saro-Wiwa, and authors following in their wake. In Nigeria, petroleum is an economic mainstay and “has saturated virtually every aspect of economy, polity and sociability” (Watts, “Crude Politics” 12). However, mineral oil is not the only contested natural resource that Nigerian authors examine. Existing ecocritical scholarship on literature from the Niger Delta by scholars such as Nixon (Slow Violence and the Environmentalism of the Poor) and Caminero-Santangelo (African Fiction and Joseph Conrad) has focused on authors who engage with petroleum. While their analyses of the environmental, economic, and social problems that this causes are important, it is disappointing that Wenzel and Lincoln are among the few environmentally-engaged literary critics to examine literature about the area’s long history of resource exploitation before the discovery of petroleum. As historians have often argued, the palm oil trade had caused environmental and social problems in the Niger Delta during colonial and protectorate times; commodities such as ivory and rubber were also exploited.1 Although the environmental impact of palm oil cultivation and processing was nowhere near as severe as the destruction created by petroleum, it created conflicts over resources that are remembered in the work of several Nigerian writers. Equally significant is the way that certain authors strategically omit the conflicts and environmental problems created by the palm oil trade: this article contends that this is a strategy to throw into relief the problems brought by petroleum.

The Niger Delta Crisis and National Integration in Nigeria

This paper examines the causes of the Niger delta crisis in Nigeria and assesses the impact of the crisis on the effort at building a strong and virile state where every citizen will have an undoubted feeling of belonging. The amalgamation of over 350 ethnic-nationalities into one nation state, Nigeria in 1914 marked a watershed in the history and politics of the country. Three other phenomena namely the struggle for political independence by the nationalists, the emergence of the oppressed and dominated minorities in the political and economic arrangements of the country , and the struggles for self-determination and resource control by the minority groups, particularly in the Niger-Delta region of the state became central issues. Communities in the Niger-Delta since independence are faced with political instability, ecological degradation, and wide spread poverty; leading to lack of allegiance to the country. Ethnic suspicion and antagonism which has grievous implications for national integration became the order of the day in Nigeria. This paper submits that enduring peace and stability in the Niger delta region of the Nigerian state is a major factor for sustainable national integration. This could only be accomplished with a resolute political will and determination by the citizens and government at all levels of governance in the country to see and treat Nigerians as the same people irrespective of the place of birth or ethno-regional affiliation.

Oil production, environmental pressures and other sources of violent conflict in Nigeria

ABSTRACT Globally, environmental overexploitation and degradation constitute both threats to human development and sources of tension and conflicts. In Nigeria, the degradation of the Niger Delta environment by oil production has exacerbated long-standing grievances among communities competing for scarce resources. This article seeks to examine the theoretical and existential explanations for the mobilisation by groups from Nigeria’s oil-producing communities to pursue armed struggle in engaging with the Nigerian state and multinational oil companies. Using 10 focus groups with 85 participants, the author tests the argument that violent conflicts in the Niger Delta are related to the negative pressures placed on the environment and communities by pollution of land and water resources by oil production. These pressures expose the population of the area to poverty, hunger, malnutrition, anxiety, distrust and violence. The ensuing widening inequalities have spawned simmering grievances, a survivalist culture and a politics of ethnic mobilisation.

APPLICATION OF FRAMING THEORY TO THE REPORTAGE OF RESOURCE CONTROL CONFLICT BETWEEN FEDERAL GOVERNMENT OF NIGERIA (FGN) AND PEOPLE OF NIGER DELTA

This paper sets out to identify propaganda framing techniques adopted by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) in tackling the resource control conflict in the Niger Delta. The technologies would be identified from the contents of selected Nigerian newspaper reports on the conflict.The research method adopted was qualitative analysis, specifically propaganda framing analysis of the contents of selected Nigerian newspapers. This comprised of 18 editions and 26neᴡs items and features from 2006 to 2007. In the aspect of propaganda analysis, the study relied on Entman (1993) and Zhyvora (2017) framing figurative method. In the aspect of media narratives, discourse analysis method was adopted. The paper demonstrated the connection between framing, propaganda and media narratives as it shows framing as a propaganda tactics to influence public opinion, attitude, beliefs and actions, in that frames are created and can be identified in the newspapers reports. The paper found that FGN adopted literary figurative propaganda frames – hyperbole and irony to manipulate collective opinion and attitude of Niger Deltans, Nigeria and the international community in the resource control conflict.

Challenges of newspaper reportage of the Niger Delta conflict: reporter’s perspectives of the insurgency

The paper assessed the viewpoints of reporters on the challenges of newspaper reportage of the Niger Delta conflict in Nigeria (2006-2007). The Guardian, The Vanguard and The Niger Delta Newspapers were purposively selected for the study due to both their national and local outlooks in the coverage and reportage of the conflict. In-depth interviews were conducted on two (2) correspondents each from the three (3) selected newspapers making a total of six (6), while four (4) respondents from each of the newspaper making 12 were selected for questionnaire administration. Results obtained identified ownership (41.7%) and media protective interest (33.3%) as the primary challenges faced by the media in the reportage of the Niger Delta conflict. The actions of the Ijaw Youths, militant activities (41.7%), killings (25%) and hostage taking (16.6%) considerably affected the nature of reportage during the heat days or periods of the conflict. Findings from the in-depth interviews showed that the geology (nature of terrain) of the conflict area, issue of trust from the militants and security forces exerted considerable influence on the selected newspapers failure to perform the required effective mediation and intervention role in the conflict.

Nollywood and the Niger Delta conflict – media in an advisory capacity - research

Nollywood and the Niger Delta conflict – media in an advisory capacity - research

The Niger Delta Crises in the Niger Delta Novel: Reflections on Kaine Agary’s Yellow-Yellow

Ecocriticism is a bridge-building theory; one which connects the physical environment with literature. It is the ideological point of convergence between literature and the environment, an embodiment of the interdisciplinary nature of literature, and the anchor on which the Niger Delta literary discourse is hinged. The Niger Delta region is one region that is richly endowed with both natural and human resources. But some of the questions which many literary scholars in and outside the region have been asking are: to what extent has these deposits influenced the socio-economic developments in this part of the country? Why are some of the persistent crises in the region? Thus, the study undertakes an assessment of the forms of crises occasioned by oil exploration activities in the region with focus on Kaine Agary’s fictional work, Yellow-Yellow; working within the context of postcolonial theory and the African ecocritical approach, an attempt has been made at offering measures which if adopted, would address these issues limitin