THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Nigeria is fraught with myriad problems and challenges, and one of them is the Niger Delta crisis. The Niger Delta crisis has been simmering for years, and it is holding the nation’s feet to the fire. The crisis is getting messier by the day, as it remains unresolved (Victor Dike, 2006: 25). The area which is described as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria lies between latitudes 4o and 6o north of the Equator and 4o and 8o east of the Greenwich. According to the Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan (2007), the Niger Delta comprises of nine states; Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Ondo, Imo and Abia.
The Niger Delta region stretches over 20,000 km2 of swamp land in the littoral fringes of the country; it embraces one of the world’s largest wetlands, over 60% of Africa’s largest mangrove forests, and one of the worlds’ most extensive (Eyinla and Ukpo, 2006). Comprising mainly of a distinct aquatic environment which embraces marine, brackish and fresh water ecosystems, it encompasses the most extensive fresh water swamp forest in West and Central Africa, and manifests an intricate network of creeks, rivers, streams, swamps, braided streams and Oxbow lakes, besides a stretch of flat and fertile land mass. Also in this region lies Nigeria’s over 35 billion barrels of proven oil reserves (Eyinla and Ukpo, 2006: 5), besides an even larger deposit of natural gas. The region also accounts for over 80% of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product and represents the economic jugular of the country.
Over the years, the region has been embroiled in crisis between the government forces and some militant elements that are aggrieved over certain fundamental issues affecting the Region. Since 2005, militants have fought with government forces, sabotaged oil installations, taken foreign oil workers hostage and carried out lethal car bombings. At the root of the problem is a crisis of underdevelopment. The crisis has been exacerbated by emergent issues of a gross distortion of Nigerian federalism in respect to resource control; citizenship rights and environmental degradation. Unfortunately, the external manifestation has been mainly that of violent agitations and criminal activities of