This thesis addresses issues of the Niger Delta question which represents
one of the most intractable sources of socio-political destabilization in the
Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study is on the intricate dynamics amongst
the Nigerian state, the transnational oi l corporations, the oil producing
communities and the insurgent militia conflict. It investigates and explicates
the "paradox of plenty" and the "resource curse", the "absentee government"
and "state capture" and the debilitating effects of petroleum politics in Nigeria.
The economic exploitation of the Niger Delta region's vast crude oil reserves
by transnational oil corporations and government authorities is juxtaposed
with the spectre of environmental degradation, human rights violations, and
the recurrent rule of impunity. The protracted problems of the Niger Delta
region thus, provide us with a pertinent analytical and contextual framework
for the study of the dynamics and issues of transparency in other African
petro-dollar states. It is argued in this study that the Niger Delta crisis is a
conflict of values and fight for resources arising from decades of unacceptable
standards of oil exploration and the absentee character of the Nigerian State .
By its very nature, the study called for a qualitative approach, supplemented
by unstructured interviews using aide memoirs with selected officials, on the
basis of their innate knowledge of the subject matter. The legal comparative
research method, with a historic component also played an integral role in this
study.
Some key findings and conclusions:
1. The study found that the Niger Delta crisis graduated from mere
political agitations for state creation and provision of social amenities to
extreme acts of hostage-taking and a twist of violence as a result of
treating a major problem affecting the development of the Niger Delta
people with levity for too long a period.
2. The study found that the on-going crisis in the Niger Delta region of
Nigeria is a conflict of values and fight for resources amongst the oil-bearing
people of the Niger Delta, transnational oil corporations and
the Nigerian Government.
3. The study established some causal nexus between oil and poverty; oil
and corruption; and, oil and human rights abuses.
4. That, the Niger Delta crude oil conflict is essentially a manifestation of
state capture and inertia on the part of the Nigerian Government.
5. The study found that the Niger Delta economies are "criminalized" and
are often characterized by conditions of anarchy and impunity. And this
disorder is embedded in the dynamics of resource extraction, the
nature and role of "shadow" state actors, as well as the interplay and
patterns of relationships between organized criminal syndicates and
the transnational oil corporations in the host communities.
The study recommends, inter alia:
I. That steps be taken by government to re-define its philosophy of
national economic development from a state-driven to citizens-driven
philosophy. To this end, Nigeria must seek to develop by developing its
citizens, the aggregate of whose satisfactory living conditions should
form the criteria for measuring national development.
II . That effort must be made to steer the nation towards proper fiscal
federalism. The present "food is ready" economy whereby federating
units are enslaved to national "cake sharing" instead of value
generation, discourages entrepreneurship and sustainable
development. It promotes undue dependency on petroleum products,
inequity and ethnic distrust.
Ill. That Nigeria needs productive resource control, not just development
in the sense of house and bridge building. What is needed is a
noticeable leap in the standard of living in the Niger Delta. Thus,
people and not federal accounts must be the object of improvement.
IV. It is recommended that government should ensure robust, independent
and co-ordinated oversight of the oil industry including its impact on
human rights.
V. Transnational oil corporations should undertake full corporate social
responsibility and comprehensive assessment of the social and human
rights impacts of all oil and gas projects, ensuring that adequate
information is provided to affected individuals and communities and
that the process is transparent.
VI. It is strongly recommended that an Oil Pollution Liability Trust Fund
should be established by the Federal Government in concert with oil
companies. The fund will be made up of a percentage of tax levied on
oil companies and a percentage of earnings of the Federal Government
from oil. The fund should be used in ameliorating the conditions of the
impacted environment and people.
It is hoped that these findings and recommendations will go a long way in the
quest for significant environmental and social improvements in the Niger Delta
region of Nigeria. / Thesis (PhD.(Law) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2011
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:nwu/oai:dspace.nwu.ac.za:10394/16024 |
| Date | January 2011 |
| Creators | Bribena, E K |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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