Thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment for the degree of Master of Science in Development Planning to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Architecture and Planning at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Nigeria has earned huge revenues from the exploitation of oil resources in the Niger Delta since the discovery of oil in 1956. These huge economic gains have however, not been translated into sustainable growth and development. The Niger Delta is characterized by poverty and squalor which has been attributed to environmental degradation from the activities of oil exploitation by the Nigerian government and multi-national companies in the area and also poor governance. This study adopts an exploratory case study method to explores the interrelationship between Oil Exploitation, Environmental Impacts and Conflicts in the Niger Delta and tries to answer the question what is the nature of and inter-relationships between conflicts associated with oil exploitation in the Niger Delta Area?
The Niger Delta area has experienced a lot of oil related conflicts over the decades, which have manifested in the form of peaceful protests, violence, combat with Nigerian military forces, rise of youth militia groups, illegal oil markets, vandalism of oil pipelines, hijacking of offshore and onshore oil vessels, hostage taking, kidnapping of expatriates and oil company workers in the region. Conflicts have also taken the form of inter-communal conflicts, intra-communal conflicts, inter-state conflicts and conflicts between the Nigerian Government Oil Companies and the affected communities.
The root causes of conflicts include; the high dependence of the Niger government on oil revenue for economic growth, marginalisation and underdevelopment of the Niger Delta region, struggle for resource control and derivation formula, existing systems of neo-patrimonialism, corruption, land decrees and poor governance. The major findings include; the presence of crude oil in the Niger Delta is strongly linked to conflicts experienced in the area, rent seeking practices such as oil theft and bunkering, political thuggery, corruption and the struggle for economic and political power by political elites characterise the Niger Delta region. / XL2018
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/24108 |
| Date | January 2016 |
| Creators | Akujuru, Chinem |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | Online resource (128 leaves), application/pdf |
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