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.

The drivers of the mounting violence - and the potential for rapid worsening conflict in the Niger Delta - have been clear for all to see, for at least a decade. With elections approaching in 2007, a critical moment to turn the tide is approaching.

The 1990's cry for peaceful change - led by the Ogoni and local hero Ken Saro Wiwa - did not deliver results. Democracy, in turn, has so far also failed to deliver. Violence now seems to an increasing number of citizens of the Niger Delta like the only option left.

Political patronage of violent gangs and militias, corruption and separation of political decision-making - dominated by the power of oil money - from people trying to make tangible improvements for the society as a whole, have still not been addressed despite Ken and other's urgent warnings.

This shift towards domination of politics by organised violence is represented in its most direct form by the emergence of militant groups, a "standing army of the dispossessed" available to steal oil, rig elections, kidnap and kill to order. In 2005, the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force (NDPVF) hit the headlines with their threat to launch an all-out war on the Federal government. So far in 2006 the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and a rapidly proliferating number of other gangs, cults, criminal and political militias, have wrought havoc on the oil industry and have been involved with contract killings, robberies and political violence.

SDN believes that a strong civil society - including business and free media - can take the lead in promoting peaceful change. Locally-based approaches to empowering ordinary people to come up with these peaceful solutions can play a significant role in preventing an escalation of the conflict in the short term.

There are clear signals from all corners of society that a worsening conflict is expected. The fledgling democratic process in the Niger Delta has to date has been tainted by violence. There is currently a void of tangible, non-violent options on offer development for society as a whole. Although there is a widespread desire for non-violence and the promotion of stability, economic diversity and peace, these are drastically under supported by the various key stakeholders.

This general trend towards violence as a social force for change is expressed in many complex and interrelated conflicts across the region. Conflicts portrayed as ethnic rivalries often driven by politics or pure greed. In turn, community conflicts are often driven by failures of communication and misrepresentation of development assistance to one community and not another. Over the next three years SDN will work with partner groups and communities to help explain and find locally led alternatives to violence, to help improve life for ordinary people in the Delta.