OIL, ENVIRONMENT AND SECURITY IN THE NIGER-DELTA OF NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

            The displacement of cash crops as Nigeria’s main sources of revenue and foreign exchange earner by oil, with its attendant generated oil activities, is of grave concern to both the country and the international community for the following reasons:

(i)                It manifested the unending contention between the majority and minority ethnic groups in Nigeria

(ii)              The domestication of the international contradictions of the capitalist mode of production occasioned by the involvement of multinational oil companies (MNOCS) in the exploration and production of Nigeria’s oil resources.

(iii)            The impact of oil activities on both the environment and the subsistence political economy of the people of the Niger Delta.

(iv)             The impact of oil activities on national and international security and

(v)               The struggle and cross-gender class alliance struggle against the continued destruction of the environment and its biodiversity (ecocide) and the repressive response of the state to the peoples’ protests.

The research examined the political economy of Nigeria and the impact of the emergence of oil on the political economy of the country. It analysed the contention between the majority and minority ethnic groups in the country and their bearings on the fiscal federalism of the country. It also looked into the consequences of the displacement of cash crops (found in the majority ethnic groups’ areas) as the main sources of government revenue and foreign exchange earner by oil (found in the areas of the southern minority ethnic groups of Nigeria that predominantly constitute the Niger Delta region). The (re) action of the people and the response of the state to such (re) action; and the increasing incidence of pipeline vandalization propelled by the prevalence of aggression cues in the Niger Delta that pulled on the frustration-Aggression disposition of the people of the Niger Delta. The roles of the oil multinational companies, international organisations, international civil society groups, consumer nations of the North and South of the world, were also examined.

            The findings of this research, are intended to provide a better understanding of the causes of the Niger Delta crisis with a view to containing the problem and preventing its snowballing into the international system through the processes of contagion and diffusion. The findings also enhanced our knowledge of the inevitability of social conflict and the fact that social conflicts are invitations to lapses in the system that needed to be redressed to enhance the state’s utilitarian service to the people.

            The work used the combination of theories to form the basis of its theoretical framework. These were the resource competition, resource capture and the dominant class theories of ethnicity and the theories of segmentary opposition and security. These theories, expoused the variables that influenced the exploration and production of oil in Nigeria, the causes of the violent protests by the people of the Niger Delta and the repressive and brutish response of the state to the people’s protest. Also used were the George Modelski’s model of “International Relations of Internal War” and Raph Brenda’s model of “The Internationalization of Internal conflict.” These two models explained satisfactorily the possibility of the internationalization of internal conflict.

            The methodology adopted for this study was the survey of a combination of primary and secondary materials. Generally, analysis followed the qualitative and analytical approach based on descriptive history. The study relied preponderantly on secondary data sourced from the libraries of the Universities of Benin and Ibadan, the Department of Petroleum Resources, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Federal Office of Statistics, Federal Ministry of Finance etc.

            The study was guided by the following basic assumptions:

1. In a federation, the viable constituent units provide the leverage for the weak or not too viable, to survive or endure the federation.

1. At peace time, there is a preponderant interest on the political and socio-economic dimensions of security in relation to the military dimension – this makes for development
2. The state guarantees the containment of civil disturbance without contravening international law e.g. Laws of War etc.
3. The state has dynamic mobilization force to guarantee civil defence through threat detection and prevention.
4. That consociational paradigms are contrived to contain the incidence of marginalization, deprivation, suppression and alienation
5. That international organisations have enforcement machinery in the event of infringement on binding international treaties
6. That multinational oil companies discharge their corporate responsibilities to host countries.
7. That when state government themselves become perpetrators of violence, violations of human rights and other humane national and International binding laws, the victim(s) seek redress from outside.
8. That Non-governmental organisations put pressure on states and or oil multinational corporations to abide by binding international treaties

The study revealed the interconnectedness of Oil, Environment and security and explicated the root of the Niger Delta Crisis. It also revealed the character of the state, the social forces at play and their respective intentions at engaging in the conflict. It showed that the state is becoming increasingly repressive, authoritarian and biased in the management of the Niger Delta Crisis. Furthermore, that the experience of marginalization, deprivation, suppression and ecocide, suffered by the people of the Niger Delta, were common knowledge to the six geographical zones of the country and other stake-holders in the oil sector. It was evident that the abatement of the crisis was not in sight because of the spread of aggression cues all over the Niger Delta that impinged on the psyche of the Niger Delta people as a group leading to Frustration-Aggression (violence).    

The study commended the total integration of the people and the Niger Delta region into the Nigerian state through the faithful implementation of existing consociational policies and the contrivance of new ones that will address the peculiarities of the Niger Delta region. Furthermore, that the state should discountenance its present “Tit for Tat” strategy of managing the Niger Delta crisis for the strategy of “Gradual Reciprocation in Tension-reduction (GRIT).” Finally, it suggested the necessity of courting the co-operation of the international community, to undertake a special developmental programme, to address the prevalent aggression cues in the Niger Delta.