The Unfinished Revolution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: Prospects for Environmental Justice and Peace

179 Pages·2018·2.994 MB·English

by  Cyril Obi (editor), Temitope B. Oriola (editor)

The Unfinished Revolution in
Nigeria’s Niger Delta
The 1990s heralded waves of spectacular forms of local resistance and glo-
balized protest against oil exploitation and environmental pollution in oil-
producing regions of the developing world. One of the most spectacular local
uprisings against global oil multinationals was led by the Ogoni people who
were protesting against the exploitation and marginalization of oil- producing
ethnic minority communities in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. However, the
hanging on November 10, 1995 of nine Ogoni ethnic minority and environ-
mental justice activists, including Ken Saro-W iwa, only served to exacerbate
protests in later years. Within a decade, dozens of locally rooted insurgent
groups emerged in the Niger Delta and construed themselves as part of the social
movement for ethnic minority rights and environmental justice which dates back
to colonial times. However, the trajectory of the revolutionary momentum has
changed over time, reflecting a mix of progressive, opportunistic and retrogres-
sive trends.
This book provides a critical study of the trajectory of struggles in the Niger
Delta since 1995, paying attention to continuities and changes, including recent
developments linked to the shift from local resistance, to the rupturing of the
Presidential Amnesty peace deal (largely to the Movement for the Emancipation
of the Niger Delta) and the resurgence low- intensity sporadic armed militancy—
led by the Niger Delta Avengers militia among others. The contributors critically
interrogate the nature of the region’s political economy, socio- economic trends
and trajectories over the past two decades. This collection also accentuates the
lessons learnt, prospects for self- determination, socio- economic and environ-
mental justice and peace in the aftermath of the hanging.
Cyril Obi, Social Science Research Council (SSRC), New York, USA.
Temitope B. Oriola, University of Alberta, Canada.
Routledge Studies in Peace, Conflict and Security in Africa
Edited by Cyril Obi
Social Science Research Council, New York, USA
1 The International Criminal Court and Peace Processes in Africa
Judicialising Peace
Line Engbo Gissel
2 The Unfinished Revolution in Nigeria’s Niger Delta
Prospects for Environmental Justice and Peace
Edited by Cyril Obi and Temitope B. Oriola
For more information about this series, please visit: http://www.routledge.com/
Routledge-Studies-in-Peace-Conflict-and-Security-in-Africa/book-series/RSPCSA
The Unfinished Revolution in
Nigeria’s Niger Delta
Prospects for Environmental Justice
and Peace
Edited by Cyril Obi and
Temitope B. Oriola
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Cyril Obi and Temitope B. Oriola;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Cyril Obi and Temitope B. Oriola to be identified as the
authors of the editorial matter, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
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without intent to infringe.
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ISBN: 978-0-8153-5841-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-05602-1 (ebk)
Typeset in Times New Roman
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Contents
Notes on contributors vii
1 Introduction: the unfinished revolution—the Niger Delta
struggle since 1995 1
CYRIL OBI AND TEMITOPE B. ORIOLA
2 MOSOP since 1995: somewhere between hope and despair? 12
KIALEE NYIAYAANA
3 The Urhobo militant movements and the contentious Ijaw
domination of the Niger Delta struggle 28
SAMUEL OYEWOLE
4 A critique of the Joint- Military Task Force (JTF )
deployment in the Niger Delta 41
DAMILOHUN D. AYOYO AND TEMITOPE B. ORIOLA
5 Presidential Amnesty and resource control militancy in a
petro- state 60
MITTERAND M. OKORIE
6 Comparing socioeconomic and human development in
Nigeria and other oil-p roducing countries 76
ADEROJU OYEFUSI
vi Contents
7 From peaceful to non- peaceful protests: the trajectories of
women’s movements in the Niger Delta 103
ABOSEDE OMOWUMI BABATUNDE
8 The resurgence of militant groups in the Niger Delta:
a study of security threats and the prospects for peace
in Nigeria 120
CHIBUzOR CHILE NWOBUEzE AND JAMES OKOLIE- OSEMENE
9 The framing strategies of the Niger Delta Avengers 138
TEMITOPE B. ORIOLA AND IBIKUNLE ADEAKIN
Index 159
Contributors
Ibikunle Adeakin is a lecturer in the Department of History and International
Studies, Ajayi Crowther University, Oyo, Nigeria. His research interests
include political economy of Nigeria, militant insurgency in the Niger Delta
and Islamism and populism in Nigeria.
Damilohun D. Ayoyo is a doctoral student in criminology and socio- legal
studies, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Canada. His
research interest encompasses the differential impacts of policing, armed
conflicts/insurgencies and terrorism, state-s ponsored violence/crime and
social movements. He has published articles in reputable journals such as
Social Movement Studies and Sociology.
Abosede Omowumi Babatunde lectures at the Centre for Peace and Strategic
Studies, University of Ilorin, Nigeria. She holds a Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict
Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. Dr. Babatunde is a member of
the Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP), Nigeria; International
Peace Research Association (IPRA); and Council for the Development of
Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). She has been awarded
several distinguished academic fellowships such as the African Humanities
Postdoctoral Fellow (2010) and the Amer ican Council of Learned Societies
and the Research Fellowship in Peace Studies (2013) at the Consortium for
Peace Studies, University of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. She is a 2016 Indi-
vidual Research Grantee of the African Peacebuilding Network of the Social
Science Research Council (APN/SSRC). She is a 2017/2018 Fellow of the
Rachel Carson Centre for Environment and Society, Ludwig- Maximillian
University, Munich, Germany. Her research interests include conflict reso-
lution with emphasis on traditional models of conflict resolution, resource
governance, human rights and security, peacebuilding and gender.
Chibuzor Chile Nwobueze is a senior lecturer in the Department of History and
Diplomatic Studies, Rivers State University of Education, Nigeria. He holds a
Ph.D. in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria.
His research focuses on issues of human development and conflict trans-
formation particularly in situations of complex conflict and intractable youth
viii Contributors
violence. He is involved in peacebuilding training programs, and with the
development of peace and conflict studies curricula. He is a member of
Society for Peace Studies and Practice (SPSP).
Kialee Nyiayaana is a senior lecturer in the Department of History and Diplo-
matic Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. He was a 2013 Individual
Research Grantee of the African Peacebuilding Network of the Social Science
Research Council (APN/SSRC). He was also a research fellow at the Centre
of Criminology, University of Cape Town between January 2015 and March
2015. He was an African Leadership Centre’s Peace, Security and Develop-
ment Fellow at King’s College, London between September 2013 and
October 2014. Dr. Nyiayaana was a 2008/2009 Junior Fulbright Scholar at
the Department of Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Graduate School of
Humanities and Social Sciences, Nova Southeastern University, Florida. His
teaching, research interests and area of specialization include ethnic identity
politics and conflicts in Nigeria; the United Nations in international peace-
building; conflict resolution, peace and security; and small arms proliferation
and conflicts. His publications appear in several international journals such as
African Security.
Cyril Obi is a Program Director at the Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
and leads the African Peacebuilding Network (APN) program, bringing his
extensive research, networking and publishing connections and experience on
African peace, security and development to the Council. Dr. Obi has published
extensively on the politics of natural resources, environmental conflict, politics
and governance in the Niger Delta, globalization and Africa’s international rela-
tions. He serves on the editorial boards of reputable international journals:
African Affairs, African Conflict and Peacebuilding Review, African Security
Review, Governance in Africa, International Political Science Review and the
Strategic Review for Southern Africa. He is also an international contributing
editor to the Review of African Political Economy. Dr. Obi is the general editor
of the Routledge Book Series on Peace, Conflict and Security in Africa. He has
also authored monographs and edited several books.
James Okolie-O semene is a lecturer in the Department of International Rela-
tions, and the coordinator of the General Studies Unit, Wellspring University,
Benin City, Edo State, Nigeria. He holds a Master of Arts degree in Peace
and Conflict Studies from University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is currently a
doctoral candidate in the Institute for Peace and Strategic Studies, University
of Ibadan. He has several publications in the areas of terrorism, counterinsur-
gency, violence research, human rights and peace education. He has presented
papers at international scientific conferences in Africa, America, Europe and
the Middle East. He is an associate member of the Society for Peace Studies
and Practice (SPSP).
Mitterand M. Okorie is a doctoral candidate in Conflict Transformation and
Peace Studies (CTPS) at the University of Kwazulu- Natal, Durban, South
Contributors ix
Africa. He holds a MSc.Econ (Masters of Economic and Social Studies) from
Aberystwyth University, United Kingdom and a BA in International Rela-
tions from Eastern Mediterranean University, North Cyprus. Between 2015
and 2017, he taught Peace and Conflict Resolution at Michael Okpara Univer-
sity of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria.
Temitope B. Oriola is Associate Professor of Criminology and Sociology at the
University of Alberta, Canada. A recipient of the Governor General of
Canada Academic Gold Medal, Professor Oriola’s works appear in leading
scholarly journals, such as British Journal of Criminology, Critical Studies on
Terrorism, Review of African Political Economy, Sociology, Studies in Con-
flict and Terrorism and Third World Quarterly, among others. He is the
author of Criminal Resistance? The Politics of Kidnapping Oil Workers
(Routledge, 2016 [orig. 2013]).
Aderoju Oyefusi lectures at the Department of Economics, University of Benin
and the Department of Economics, University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He holds a
Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Benin, which is based on collabo-
ration among eight universities in Sub- Saharan Africa, including the Univer-
sity of Ibadan. Dr. Oyefusi is a member of the Nigerian Economic Society
(NES). He has won various research awards. These include being the recipi-
ent of the first prize in the Faculty of Social Sciences and overall second prize
for excellence in research in the inaugural University of Benin Annual
Research Day (UBARD) Competition in 2015. He has also consulted for
international organizations, such as the World Bank, African Development
Bank, African Economic Research Consortium, the Hong Kong Research
Grant Council, United Nations University-I nstitute of Natural Resources in
Africa (UNU- INRA) and the Social Science Research Council (SSRC) as
well as a number of private organizations. Dr. Oyefusi was a postdoctoral
research fellow at the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge,
UK from October 2008 to April 2009. His areas of research interests include
natural resource management and development; environmental economics,
analyses and policy; sustainable development and inclusive strategies; public
sector economics and policy, including public- private partnership (PPP)
models; and the political economy of Sub-S aharan Africa.
Samuel Oyewole is an independent researcher. He holds a BSc in Political
Science and International Relations from Osun State University and an MSc
in Political Science from the University of Ilorin, both in Nigeria. His
research interests are in the field of military and strategic studies, crisis man-
agement and political economy. His works have appeared in African Security
Review, Astropolitics, Australian Journal of Maritime and Ocean Affairs,
Defense and Security Analysis, Journal of Asian and African Studies, New
Zealand International Review, Strategic Analysis and Studies in Conflict &
Terrorism, among others.