Crude Oil Exploration and Youth Unrest in the Niger Delta: A Study of the Rise and Impacts of Insurgency in Nigeria, 1956-2014

Abstract

This is a case study of underdevelopment, high-level poverty, and the environmental devastation of the Niger Delta, Nigeria, from where the oil-wealth of the country is derived. The effects of oil exploitation have been found to have severely damaged and impoverished the Niger Delta environment as a result of oil leaks, spills, and gas flaring that have gone unchecked for several decades. The Deltans' peaceful appeals, nonviolent action and later insurgency against the Nigerian State and the oil companies were occasioned by social injustice to which they have been subjected since exploration of petro-oil began in the region in 1956. Efforts by the Nigerian Government, the oil companies, and the international community to resolve the conflict have yielded little or no success. This study was undertaken to discover and highlight the reasons behind the Niger Delta conflict and why the efforts at resolving it have not been successful. This was achieved through five research questions. The research deployed some theoretical explanation regarding natural resource conflict by reviewing the literature and exploring its relevance for the themes of the study. It used both primary and secondary sources and data but relied more specifically on a research methodology involved in-depth interviews for gathering and reporting its findings from the field. Based on this extensive fieldwork conducted primarily in the conflict zone itself, the research established that the existing problem in the conflict is structural as the whole national socio-politico-economic system supports and thrives on corruption. Finally, the study makes recommendations about the way forward for Nigeria, advocating wise political leadership anchored in good governance processes and infrastructure, with strong political will and determination to embark on institutional reforms that would facilitate positive changes in the Niger Delta and Nigeria as a whole.