Since Nigeria achieved independence from British rule in 1960, successive military and democratic governments have failed to deliver the most basic economic development to the peoples of the Niger Delta.
This is despite the huge wealth that has been derived from the region's oil and gas reserves. Nigeria is currently the eighth largest supplier of petroleum globally, and provides the USA with approximately one fifth of its oil.
As of writing, militants have shut in a quarter of Nigeria's oil production, 800 000 barrels per day. An increasing trend of politically motivated violence ahead of 2007's elections, and gang warfare that has been on the rise since 2003, causes over 1500 conflict deaths a year. This places the conflict in the Niger Delta on a par with ongoing violence in Chechnya or Colombia.
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"By the people for the people" is a concept far removed from the political realities of 'democrazy' in the Niger Delta.
Unrepresentative politicians maintain patronage networks that dominate business and public life. Ordinary people are denied real democratic representation, and receive little by way of economic development.
Small, tangible engagements at a local level by all stakeholders in the Delta's human and natural wealth - aimed at promoting peace and self empowerment of communities - could go a long way to ensuring the expected political violence in the run up to the 2007 elections does not accelerate. A worsening conflict could destablise the whole region. |
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Violence pays in the Niger Delta. Violence establishes and maintains power. Violence is tool that politicians and communities can use to bring about change. Violence offers social mobility to people who feel they have been "pushed to the wall", and have no other options. In an ever more polarised society, violence is increasingly accepted as the way to get things done.
SDN works with partners to create peaceful, community-led solutions to the Delta's many problems. |
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Corruption not only undermines the potential for sustainable change in the Niger Delta it maintains the political patronage system that prevents it. Until there is a fundamental shift in political will to root out this evil then the domination of corruption and failure to invest in legitimate business opportunities will continue to destabilise the Niger Delta. |
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"My Coconuts are polluted on the inside" one Niger Delta farmer told SDN's researchers in 2006. The land is scarred by the oil industry. Burning wounds - gas flares - belch fire and noxious fumes into the sky 24 hours a day. Poisonous black gold is continuously spilt over the rich, fertile land, affecting every living organism.
The farmland, rivers and natural environment of the Niger Delta are a rich, locally-owned resource which - like the Delta's people - will be around long after the oil wells run dry.
If nutured properly over the next decade, the Delta's rich environment - and not just its vast oil and gas reserves - could be the key to a sustainable economic future. |
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Issues 