“Liberation Movements” and Rising Violence in the Niger Delta: The New Contentious Site of Oil and Environmental Politics

Abstract

The contest for the ‘soul’ of oil and its revenues in Nigeria have thrown up several actors representing diverse interests, most notably the stale, oil multinationals and oil-hearing communities. This paper is primarily concerned with what it called the new contentious site of oil and environmental polities in the Niger Delta. The contention revolves mainly around the interpretations ascribed to the current but unprecedented wave of violence in the region by the contending forces in oil and environmental politics. In the reading of militias’ activities, there is a simultaneous convergence and divergence between the state and the oil majors. Both refuse to attribute rising violence to liberation struggles, as claimed by the militants. They, however, differ over the best tactical approach to the problem. The oil majors seem to prefer a more violent approach to taming the monster, which violence in the Niger Delta has become. This is in sharp contradiction to the states’ preference for a relatively less violent approach. This ‘new’ disposition of the state makes it all the more interesting, given the fact that the Nigerian state is notoriously reputed for its excesses in the Niger Delta over dissent. Overall, rising violence in the Niger Delta represents the continuation of the resource struggle by another means. Notable criminal tendencies became inevitable due to the insensitivity of the government and in order to sustain the struggle.

Acknowledgments

This article is a revised version of a paper presented at the Wars and Conflicts in Africa Conference, organized by the Department of History, University of Texas at Austin, USA, 28–30 March 2008. The author thanks participants on the Niger Delta panel for their useful comments. The author also thank the Research Grant Committee of Redeemer's University for the grant to attend the conference.

Notes

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16. William L. Waugh, “Political Violence,” in Frank N. Magil, ed., International Encyclopedia of Government and Politics (London: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, 1996), p. 1057.

17. Ibid., p. 1058.

18. Quoted in Adebanwi, “Democracy and Violence,” p. 332.

19. Ibid., p. 330.

20. Ibid.

21. Ibid.

22. Omotola, “Citizenship, Ethnic Violence,” p. 756.

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26. Omotola, “Dissent and State Responses in the Niger Delta, Nigeria.”

27. For interesting expositions on this, see, Ben Naanen, “Oil Producing Minorities and the Restructuring of Nigerian federalism: The Case of the Ogoni People,” Commonwealth and Comparative Politics 31(1) (1995); Ben Naanen, “The Niger Delta and the National Question,” in Eghosa E. Osaghae and Ebere Onwudiwe, eds., The Management of the National Question in Nigeria (Ibadan: The Lord's Creation, for Programmes on Ethnic an Federal Studies, PEFS, 2001), p. 217.

28. J. Shola Omotola, “From the OMPADEC to the NDDC: An Assessment of State Responses to Environmental Insecurity in the Niger Delta, Nigeria,” African Today 54(1) (2007), pp. 73– 89.

29. Willink Commission Report, Chapter 5, Paragraph 4. Quoted in Human Rights Watch, The Price of Oil, p. 92.

30. Okonjo-Iweala, Soludo, and Muntar, “Introduction,” p. 1.

31. See, “Nigeria Earns $36bn from Oil, Gas Annually,” The Punch, 27 November (Lagos), 2006, p. 1. Quoted in Osuoka, “Oil Gas Revenues and Development Challenges for the Niger Delta and Nigeria.”

32. Human Rights Watch, “Chop Fine: The Human Rights Impact of Local Government Corruption and Mismanagement in Rivers State, Nigeria,” Human Rights Watch 19(29) (January 2007), p. 16. Quoted in Osuoka, “Oil and Gas Revenues,” p. 1.

33. Tom O’Neil, “Curse of the Black Gold: Hope and Betrayal in the Niger Delta,” National Geographic 211(2) (February, 2007), p. 102.

34. UNDP, Niger Delta Human Development Report (Abuja: UNDP, 2006), p. 184.

35. C. O. Opukri and Samuel I. Ibaba, “Oil Induced Environmental Degradation and Internal Population Displacement in the Nigeria's Niger Delta,” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 10(1) (2008), p. 185; Nyemutu F. Roberts, The State, Accumulation and Violence: The Politics of Environmental Security in Nigeria's Oil Producing Areas. Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER), Monograph Series 17, 2000, p. 33.

36. Roberts, The State, Accumulation and Violence, p. 34.

37. C. O. K. Kaladumo, “The Implications of Gas Flaring on the Niger Delta Environment.” Paper presented at the 8th International Seminar on the Petroleum Industry and the Nigerian Environment, Port Harcourt, 18–21 November 1996, p. 35.

38. Saliu and Omotola, “The National Political Reform Conference.”

39. Professor John A. Ayoade, a delegate to the NPRC, shed more illuminating light on the Niger Delta question at the NPRC. He revealed the submissions of delegates from the Niger Delta and the acquiescence of the NPRC that the Niger Delta question would have been long resolved if they had political power. He disclosed this at a recent Nigerian Country Roundtable on Diversity and Unity in Federal Countries, where he blamed disjunction between the locations of Political Power and Natural Resources (oil) for the Niger Delta crisis. The program was organized by the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan and Coordinated by Professor Rotimi Suberu of the same department—under the Forum of Federations and International Association of Centers for Federal Studies (IACFS) “A Global Dialogue on Federalism,” 17 January 2008. This author was one of the participants at the Roundtable.

40. Decree 203 of 1992. Oil Mineral Producing Area Development Commission, “Policy Briefing: The Dawn of a New Era” (Port Harcourt: OMPADEC, 1992). Quoted in Human Rights Watch, The Price of Oil, p. 46.

41. Ibid., p. 46.

42. Georges J. Fynas, “Corporate and State Responses to Anti-Oil Protests in the Niger Delta,” African Affairs 100(398) (2001), p. 38.

43. Luckly O. Ovwasa, “Oil and the Minority Question,” in Hassan A. Saliu, ed., Issues in Contemporary Political Economy of Nigeria (Ilorin: Taytee Books, 1999), pp. 81–98.

44. Section 7 of the NDDC Act, 1999. Niger Delta Development Commission Act, No. 2. Available at http://www.waado.org/NigerDelta/Documents/NigerDeltaDocuments/NDDCActs.html (accessed 27 November 2005).

45. See Sections 14 and 18 of the NDDC Acts for sources of funding and control, respectively.

46. Victor T. Jike, “The Political Sociology of Resource Control in the Niger Delta,” in Hassan A. Saliu, ed., Nigerian Under Democratic Rule, 1999–2003, Vol. 2 (Ibadan: University Press Plc, 2005), p. 159.

47. For a comprehensive assessment of the OMPADEC and NDDC, see J. Shola Omotola, “From the OMPADEC to the NDDC: An Assessment of State Responses to Environmental Insecurity in the Niger Delta, Nigeria,” Africa Today 54(1) (Fall 2007), pp. 73–89.

48. Egbosa E. Osaghae, “Ethnic Minorities and Federalism in Nigeria,” African Affairs 90(355) (April 1991).

49. Isaac Boro led the revolt, declaring the Niger Delta Republic in 1966, the first practical attempt to secede in Nigeria. See J. Shola Omotola, “Dissent and State Excesses in the Niger Delta, Nigeria,” Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 32(2) (February 2009), pp. 129–147.

50. Ehosa E. Osaghae, “Managing Multiple Minority Problems in a Divided Society: The Nigerian Experience,” Journal of Modern African Studies 36(1) (1998), pp. 1–20.

51. Saliu and Omotola, “The National Political Reform Conference.”

52. Onwasa, “Oil and the Minority Question,” pp. 94–95.

53. Roberts, The State, Accumulation and Violence, p. 57.

54. James Rowell, James Marriot, and Lorne Stockman, The Next Gulf: London, Washington and the Oil Conflict in Nigeria (London: Constable and Robinson Ltd, 2005), p. 24.

55. Quoted in ibid., p. 15.

56. Frynas, “Corporate and State Responses,” p. 45.

57. Rowell, Marriot, and Stockman, The Next Gulf, p. 14.

58. Frynas, “Corporate and State Responses,” p. 45.

59. J. Shola Omotola, “From Importer to Exporter: The Changing Role of Nigeria in Promoting Democratic Values in Africa,” Political Perspectives 2(1) (2008), pp. 1–28; J. Shola Omotola, “Democracy, Good Governance and Development in Africa: The Nigerian Experience,” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 9(4) (2007).

60. Omotola, The Next Gulf?, pp. 20–22.

61. “Insight on Conflict: Niger Delta.” Available at http://www.insightonconflict.org/conflict-area/niger-delta-index.html (accessed 7 February 2008).

62. Michael Watts, “Petrol-Insurgency or Criminal Syndicate? Conflict and Violence in the Niger Delta,” Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), 34(114) (December 2007), pp. 637–660.

63. Ibid., p. 637.

64. “Insight on Conflict: Niger Delta.”

65. Ibid.

66. John, C. Daly, “Nigeria Continues to Slide Toward Instability.” 2006. Available at http://www.Legaloil.com/NewsItem.asp?DocumentIDX=116394085&category=news (accessed 7 February 2008).

67. BBC, 23 November, quoted in John C. Daly, “Nigeria Continues to Slide,” p. 1.

68. Stephanie Hanson, “MEND: The Niger Delta's Umbrella Militant Group,” Council on Foreign Relations Publication. Available at http://www.cfr.org/publication/12920 (accessed 7 February 2008).

69. “After 11 Deaths in New Year's Day Attacks: Ateke Tom Declared Wanted as Oil Hits $100,” The Nation, Thursday, 3 January 2008, pp. 1 and 4.

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72. Hassan A. Saliu, Luqman Saka, and Arazeem A. Abdullahi, “Environmental Degradation, Poverty and Conflict; Towards an Explanation of the Niger Delta Crisis,” Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 9(4) (2004).

73. Quoted in Tom O’Neill, “The Curse of the Black Gold: Hope and Betrayal in the Niger Delta,” National Geographic 211(2) (February 2007), p. 116.

74. John Owubokiri, “Militancy in the Delta: Communism in Materialism,” Vanguard, Tuesday, 10 April 2007, p. 43.

75. Ateke Tom, quoted in “When Militancy Brings Back Old Rivalry,” The Nation, Saturday, 19 January 2008, p. 14.

76. O’Neill, “The Curse of the Black Gold,” p. 116.

77. Hanson, “MEND,” p. 4.

78. Estelle Shirbon, “Nigerian Oil Delta Rebels Pull Out of Peace Talk.” Available at http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSL15227222 (accessed 7 January 2008).

79. Daly, “Nigerian Continues,” p. 2.

80. J. A. Bisina, “UK Police Arrive Niger Delta to Stem Kidnapping,” Daily Independent, Lagos, Tuesday, 12 August 2003.

81. Daly, “Nigeria Continues,” p. 1.

82. Ikelegbe, “Beyond the Threshold of Civil Struggle,” p. 87.

83. Charles Dokubo, “Proliferation of Small Arms and National Security,” in Hassan A. Saliu, ed., Nigeria Under Democratic Rule, 1999–2003, Vol. 2 (Ibadan: University Press Plc, 2005); Ogaba Oche, “Low Intensity Conflicts, National Security and Democratic Consolidation,” in Hassan A. Saliu, ed., Nigeria Under Democratic Rule, 1999–2003, Vol. 2 (Ibadan: University Press Plc, 2005).

84. Watts, “Petro-Insurgency or Criminal Syndicate?”

85. Ikelegbe, “Beyond the Threshold of Civil Struggle,” p. 119.

86. Omotola, The Next Gulf?, p. 22.

87. Ikelegbe, “Beyond the Threshold of Civil Struggle,” pp. 94–114. See also Ike Okonta, “Behind the Mask: Militia Gains Support in the Oil-Rich Niger Delta,” Third World Travelers: Earth Island Institute Journal (spring 2007). Available at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/West_Africa/BehindMask_NigerDelta.html (accessed 7 January 2008).

88. Ikelegbe, “Beyond the Threshold of Civil Struggle,” p. 119.

89. Ibid., pp. 95, 96, 99, 101.