The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns. This book analyses the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency. Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

Anatomy of the Niger Delta crisis: causes, consequences and opportunities for peace is a firm key work providing deep insights into the complex and varied interests that are at play in the Niger Delta of Africa's most populous nation, Nigeria. The nine treatises in this book, unequivocally, identify the primary motivations and major players in the imbroglio that is responsible for the quagmire which the international oil market is faced with today. The bold academic discourses, to a large extent, blame British imperialism, global capitalism and Nigeria's political elites for the situation in the Niger Delta, which has a far reaching global effect. Each of the essays, nonetheless, paints a picture of hope for the distraught communities in the Niger Delta in spite of the dark themes that are the preoccupations of the scholars. That is, if the Nigerian government would approach the Niger Delta crisis with the absolute sincerity that it deserves.

ISSUES ADDRESSED BY THIS BOOK This book is the outcome of six years' research undertaken by the author during her PhD programme in the Department of Political Science, University of Abuja. The process of converting the thesis into a book began in December, 2015 and as a result, additional materials have been added to the original materials. The book is in four series comprising 'Conflict in the Niger Delta', 'Militancy in the Niger Delta', 'Conflict in the Niger Delta and Nigeria's External Relations'; and Conflict Resolution and Management in the Niger Delta.' Chapter One which is the introduction highlights the importance of the Niger Delta region to the Nigerian economy. It gives a detailed account of the dynamism witnessed by Nigeria's foreign policy following a boom in the economy in the 1970s as a result of crude oil. Chapter Two provides the conceptual and theoretical basis for the work. Using an eclectic method, a combination of theories (eco-violence, bourgeoisie political economy, frustration-aggression, Primordial-psychological/Ethnic Conflict Theory and linkage theories) is adopted to explain the phenomenon of crisis in the Niger Delta and its impact on Nigeria's international relations. The adoption of several theories is necessitated by the complex nature of crisis in the region. Chapter Three gives an overview of Nigeria from the precolonial, colonial to the post-colonial period. The chapter examines the change from an agrarian economy to an oil-dependent and its implication for the Nigerian economy and polity. The chapter concludes that dependence on oil has resulted in economic and political stability. Chapter Four gives a brief history of the Niger Delta beginning with an overview of the region, including the geographical location, population density, ethnic composition, and living conditions of the people in the region. The chapter will help the reader to appreciate the peculiar nature of the Niger Delta region and how this has contributed to conflict in the area. In Chapter Five, the condition of the Niger Delta region is discussed. The condition of the area to a large extent has been at the heart of the crises that have rocked the region for decades. Decades of oil exploration and negligence on the part of oil companies further compounded the problem of the region through severe environmental problems which have engendered conflict in recent times. Chapter Six gives the historical background to the discovery of oil, joint ventures in the Niger Delta and the switch from an agrarian economy to an oil-dependent economy. In chapter Seven, explorative activities and their impacts on the region and its inhabitants are discussed. The focus here is to show how oil-related activities are responsible for crisis in the Niger Delta. Chapter Eight discusses the causes of crisis in the region with some of the factors identified as resource control, activities of Multinational Oil Companies which cause environmental pollutions, and oppressive legal regimes. The chapter also identifies the role of corrupt Niger Delta in contributing to the crisis while examining the rise of militancy in the region as a consequence of the crisis. To get your copy, scroll up and click the buy button

Edited Volume dealing with the Niger Delta.Topics Covered: Militarism, resource management, development, etc.Part of the Conflict and Development Series of the Journa of Alternative Perspectives in the Social Sciences

Thesis (M.A.) from the year 2018 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict Studies, Security, grade: Austrian befriedigend (B- 7,6), University of Innsbruck, course: Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation, language: English, abstract: Thinking about security and safety evokes many memories about my family and the past. Growing up was bearable as long as I had my siblings and other family members around, despite having an almost-absent father. My father was always busy and we did not bother to ask why he spent most time away from home. As a child, I had little understanding of the insecurity that reined in the village and across the entire region. However, while growing up, I was exposed to many dangers that any other young person would never want to face in their life. From my personal perspective, the issue of insecurity has multiple dimensions. Many people would think about massive bloodshed and conflicts when the issue is mentioned. However, this does not reflect the entire story about insecurity. Insecurity could also include lack of appropriate shelter and food, human right abuses during times of violence, and inaccessibility of shelter. I have experienced all those dimensions of insecurity while growing. Safety and insecurity have an intrinsic connection; hence, the absence of safety contributes to insecurity.

The Niger Delta Region has in the past two decades experienced protracted violent conflicts. At the roots of these violent conflicts are the genuine quests of the people for sustainable development that is based on social justice, equity, fairness and environmental protection. Although richly endowed, the region is hopelessly poor. This paradox of poverty in the midst of plenty has been attributed to a myriad of factors ranging from Nigeria’s centralized federalism, to ethno-regional domination, corruption, poor governance, and oil-related environmental degradation. Development in the Niger Delta is vital not only to the stability and prosperity of Nigeria, but also to global energy security. This book provides unique insights into the challenges of development and peace building in the Niger Delta, and insights into other resource-rich but poverty-stricken, conflict-prone regions of the world.

The book examines the nexus between youth conflict and the occult drawing its insights from the oil-rich Niger Delta of Nigeria. It sees the occult represented by the Egbesu deity in this conflict as a form of religious belief imbued in this case with the powers of good. Thus, the religious occult is regenerated and re-energised as an idiom of justice and fairness within the Nigerian state by militant youth fighting the forces of the Nigerian state. Ingeniously, the young men simply dug into the cultural repertoire of the people for a hitherto popular expression of justice and perceived source of potency which they felt would not only provide spiritual protection but also pander to the popular imagination of justice. Even against the background prevalent Christianity, the Egbesu does not generate tension in beliefs but responds to the critical exigency of the immediate socio-political milieu of the people.