AfDB

Nigerians say that when Niger Delta sneezes the whole country catches cold. Thus the oil resource from the Niger Delta is the backbone of the Nigerian economy. Second, the oil resource from the Niger Delta is the major factor that is holding Nigeria together as a country. The Niger Delta, an area of dense mangrove rainforest in the southern tip of Nigeria, comprises nine of Nigeria’s...

In the spring of 2009, I received a call from a third party who wanted to know if I would be interested in chatting with Mr. Henry Okah. Years earlier, I had received similar offer from another party in regards to Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo. Along with Mr. Government Ekpemupolo (a.k.a. Tompolo), these are the principal personalities in the Niger Delta conflict.

The Niger Delta region has been Nigeria’s breadbasket since the end of the Nigeria-Biafra civil war in 1970, when oil export surpassed agriculture as the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. But in spite of the billions of dollars earned from the sale of oil, the region suffers from severe neglect. In addition to sweltering poverty and high unemployment, the region is characterized by...

Nigeria as we know it today came into existence on January 1, 1914, when Sir Frederick John Lugard merged the Lagos colony with the Southern and Northern protectorates.1 The unification of these politically, culturally, and socially dissimilar areas was in pursuit of Britain’s agenda for overseas possessions and trading posts and other resources of national interest that was in...

According to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),1 the Niger Delta covers an area of 70,000 square kilometers and accounts for 7.5 percent of Nigeria’s land mass. Its coastline of 560 km accounts for two-thirds of the Nigerian total coastline. There are nine oil-producing states in the region: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo, and...

This chapter gives us a brief snapshot of the prevailing state of underdevelopment in the Niger Delta at the time of the crisis. In order not to reinvent the wheel, this chapter relies heavily on two seminal works. The first is the Niger Delta Human Development Report1 by the United Nations Development Program, written in 2006. The second is the Niger...

The Portuguese were the first to venture into Africa in the fifteenth century. Other Europeans followed. They came mostly out of a sense of curiosity; the desire to expand Christendom; the need to civilize Africans; and of course, to initiate and expand political, diplomatic, and economic possibilities. Thereafter, good intentions and exchanges gave way to ulterior motives and, ultimately, to...

The Niger Delta constitutes one of the greatest challenges to the Nigerian state. And indeed, every Nigerian government since independence has had to contend with problems emanating from the region. In 1966, for instance, the government was jolted by a band of militants, led by the late Major Isaac Adaka Boro, who championed a twelve-day revolt and in the process declared independence for the...

The Niger Delta is home to some of the most colorful characters with interesting noms de guerre. Some are charismatic and flamboyant, self-assured, and well-liked. On the other spectrum are the dubious, unimaginative, dense, provincial, and nondescript types. But, of course, there are the normal and compassionate types with an expansive worldview who, in spite of the anarchical and lawless nature...

In the first year of his administration, President Olusegun Obasanjo established the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), which was responsible for implementing the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan. But when aggregated, his government performed poorly in terms of how the grievances of the oil-producing communities were handled. For instance, for electoral expediency,...

The presidential amnesty program achieved four main goals: the calming of nerves, which allowed oil companies to continue their activities and in the process allowed the government to earn billions of dollars. Second, it made certain individuals—contractors, militants and militant commanders, and elites in and outside of the region—wealthy. Third, the lull in violence gave domestic and...

The Niger Delta presidential amnesty brought a measure of peace and tranquility to the region.1 However, as with previous conflicts in the history of the country, the government has not been able to find a lasting solution to the factors that gave impetus to the crisis. Historically, the Nigerian government has not been good at bringing conflicts to their logical conclusion. But...

We begin with three propositions. First, considering the postindependence history of Nigeria—especially in terms of how the country handles conflicts, social programs, and social dislocations—it is hard to think that the Niger Delta crisis will ever be resolved to the satisfaction of the oil-producing communities, the elite who own the oil wells, the multinational oil companies, and...

The Niger Delta crisis is not so complex that it cannot be resolved. No matter how long and complex human-induced problems are, they eventually get resolved so long as all parties genuinely want a resolution. The several decades of blood-letting between the Irish Republican Army and the British government, were eventually resolved. Therefore, the Niger Delta is not a solution-defying region. The...

In Africa, it is rare for an incumbent president to lose an election. It is so rare that many Africans cannot remember such occasions—until the most recent in Nigeria when President Goodluck Jonathan (of the People’s Democratic Party), lost to retired General Muhammadu Buhari (of the All Progressives Congress). The first sitting president to lose an election was President Aden Abdullah...

Sabella Ogbobode Abidde holds a PhD in African Studies from Howard University. He is currently an associate professor of political science in the department of history and political science at Alabama State, and is also a member of the graduate faculty. He teaches courses in international relations, comparative politics, African government and institutions, African American...

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