The first title in a planned series of classic texts, written and published in Africa, on the history and culture of the Niger Delta. Long out of print, this book brings together oral traditional evidence and all other available historical material including the work of the eminent historian of the Niger Delta, Kenneth Owuka Dike. The study is an attempt to reconstruct the early history of the Ijo people of the Niger Delta, from the nineteenth century, using their own mostly oral traditions. The work has been considerably revised and updated to include material and research conclusions from the ongoing Ijo History Project on Niger Delta history chaired by the author.

History of The Urhobo People of Niger Delta is the most comprehensive compilation and study of various aspects of the history of the Urhobo people of Nigeria's Niger Delta. It begins with an examination of the prehistory of the region, with particular focus on the Urhobo and their close ethnic neighbour, the Isoko. The book then embarks on a close assessment of the advent of British imperialism in the Western Niger Delta. History of The Urhobo People of Niger Delta also probes the arrival and impact of Western Christian missions in Urhoboland. Urhobo history is notable for the sharp challenges that the Urhobo people have faced at various points of their di?cult existence in the rainforest and deltaic geographical formation of Western Niger Delta. Their history of migrations and their segmentation into twenty-two cultural units were, in large part, e?orts aimed at overcoming these challenges. History of The Urhobo People of Niger Delta includes an evaluation of modern responses to challenges that confront the Urhobo people, following the onrush of a new era of European colonization and introduction of a new Christian religion into their culture. The formation of Urhobo Progress Union and of its educational arm of Urhobo College is presented as the Urhobo response to modern challenges facing their existence in Western Niger Delta and Nigeria. History of The Urhobo People of Niger Delta extends its purview to various other fragments of the Urhobo historical and cultural experience in modern times. These include the di?culties that have arisen from petroleum oil exploration in the Niger Delta in post-colonial Nigeria.

Dr. Dike has made a contribution to the study of Nigeria's principal formative period by drawing on local as well as British sources for his material. He describes how the revolution in trade reacted upon the social and political systems and how the existing native governments were gradually supplanted by British sonsular power. His study ends with the recognition of the British claim to supremacy in the Niger territories at the Berlin West African Conference of 1885.

The Izon of the Niger Delta is a global history of the Izon, Ijo, or Ijaw people from their homelands in the Niger Delta, through Nigeria, the West and Central African coastlands, and in the Africa diaspora into Europe, the America's and the Caribbean. It is a preliminary study which raises questions and opens ground for further research. The book provides chapters that take an overview of issues on the environment of the Niger Delta, an analysis of the Ijo population, the language, culture, resources, history and linkage to the rest of Nigeria and the world. In effect these chapters provide a synopsis of the Ijo in the past and their situation in the present.

This book examines the depiction of the Delta region of Nigeria through literature and other cultural art forms. The Niger Delta has been thrust into the global limelight due to resource extraction and conflict, but it is also a region with a rich culture, environment, and heritage. The creative imagination of the area’s artists has been fuelled by the area’s pressing concerns of indigenous peoples, minority discourse, environmental degradation, climate change, multinational corporations' greed, dictatorship, and people’s struggle for control of their resources. Taking a holistic approach to the Niger Delta experience, this book showcases artistic responses from literature, visual arts, and performances (such as masquerades, dances, and festivals). Chapters cover authors, artists, and performers such as Ben Okri, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Isidore Okpewho, J.P. Clark, and Bruce Onobrakpeya, as well as topics like the famous Benin bronze figures and Urhobo Udje dance. Affirming the wealth and diversity of the region which continues to inspire creative artistic productions, The Literature and Arts of the Niger Delta will be of interest to researchers of African literature, arts, and other cultural productions.

This collection of papers documents efforts to harness oral historical sources and academic study of the past for public education and understanding of the present. It is concerned with learning from history: the relevance of looking back for contributory answers to contemporary questions. The study has particular regard for the history and current situation of the Niger Delta, offering a view of Nigeria's history from a marginal position. Contents: the Ijaw and the Niger Delta in Nigerian history; Cross River State in historical focus; FESTAC remembered: cultural tolerance in the Nigerian nation; the western Niger Delta: origins and relations; history and policy in the Niger Delta crisis; Izon: the historical perspective; peace making and conflict resolution in Nigeria: a historical perspective; an internal cultural route to peace in the Niger Delta; Niger Delta youth: taking control; and the future in Nigerian discourse. The author was Professor of History at the University of Port Harcourt. Now Pro-Chancellor of the new Niger Delta University, he is still active in research and writing.

Nigeria is the sixth largest producer of oil in the world and one of the major suppliers of oil to the US. Set against a backdrop of what has been called the scramble for African oil, this text documents the consequences of a half-century of oil exploitation and production in one of the world's foremost centres of biodiversity.