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ABSTRACT
The conflicts in the Niger Delta region of southern Nigeria emanated from oil and gas; land and boundary disputes; chieftaincy and chieftaincy title related crises. The Niger Delta question to be precise is rooted on issues related to the corporate responsibility failures of the multinational oil companies and the low development inputs from the federal government in the region since the exploitation of the crude in the late 50s. The inhabitants became frustrated as peaceful calls to look into the many issues by the appropriate bodies were overlooked and took up arms by 2003, and the ensuring conflict was prosecuted through the use of brute force. This conflict had drawn responses from within and outside the country. The European Union whose relationship with Nigeria had been frozen back in after June Twelve became an active intervener in the peace building efforts to end these conflicts when full cooperation restarted in 1999. The EU’s ‘Quick Support Package’ that marked Brussels return in 2000 involved an European development fund (EDF) support to execute its maiden development project in the Niger delta, Micro Project Programmme in three states of the region by 2000. Since then, it has carried out tens of thousands of projects that targeted the socioeconomic development and advancement of the livelihood of the people of the region in both urban towns and rural villages. These projects include; construction and rehabilitation of roads, bridges, schools, markets, water facilities and sanitation, health centres; establishment of agricultural facilities, cooperatives and microfinance bodies; support to the peace building efforts of the Amnesty office, PANDEF, and other NGOs and youth engagement. The EU had also deepened the peace ushered in by the Amnesty in 2009 through the awarding and execution of its multibillion naira Niger Delta Support Program under is 10th EDF. This was in line with its philosophy cutting the stems of conflict triggers in the Nigeria – the problem of underdevelopment and poverty. The study establishes that by 2016, about half a billion Euros had been spent by the EU in its aid and intervention in the burgeoning conflict in the Niger Delta.
