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Conflicts in the Niger Delta: assessing governance failure
Contemporary conflicts in Nigeria are caused by religious, ethnic and cultural differences, and the struggle for land claims and natural resource ownership. The current conflicts in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria seem to be defying all solutions. The remote cause of this conflict is the demand by the indigenous peoples of the Niger Delta for an increased control and ownership of oil resources in the region. That the Niger Delta conflict seems to be defying all the solutions so far proffered by the Nigerian Government, among other things, implicates the failure of the Nigerian government to provide adequate infrastructure required for daily sustenance and living of the people of the Niger Delta. For an area that produces the bulk of Nigeria’s oil export, the region lacks basic social amenities and infrastructure.
This essay will look at two issues. First, it will examine the lack of infrastructure in the Niger Delta region and investigate how this has contributed to the unrest in the region. Second, the essay will explore some of the recent solutions and recommendations by the Nigerian government and investigate why such solutions have failed. The essay will explore the way forward by recommending solutions that will be sustainable in the search for peace in the region.
Nnaemeka Ekwosimba
MA Candidate 2009
Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA)
Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada
Contact information:
Address: 432-740 Springland Drive, Ottawa. Ontario. K1V 6L8
Phone: 613 261 4493
Email: simbavinc@hotmail.com
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