Dialoguing and Youth Restiveness in the Niger Delta1[1]

By

Felix TuodoloIjaw Youth Council [IYC]

AbstractThe article explores the incidence of ethnic conflicts, social identify and resource controlagitations for sustainable development in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta. It isundoubtedly becoming a significant national problem as well as an international one as itis illustrated by an increasing wave of bloody conflicts, kidnappings, killings anddestructions within the Niger Delta region. A major question is whether or not suchforms of conflicts will play a significant role in the development of the nation and as aconsequence will encourage good governance and development for the people. Thestudy employed ethnographic methods of key-informants interviews and focus grouprespondent interviews to obtain data, while conflict and dependence theories were usedto ascertain the effects of ethnic conflicts, social identity and resource control agitationson the development and good governance in the Niger-Delta.The study revealed that there exist underdevelopment and unrestrained exploitationof natural resources in the area. The consequences of which include; marginalization,exploitation, agitation, economic dependency and insecurity. Therefore, sustainabledevelopment and national stability remain a distant perspective.Keywords:Conflict, Social Identity, Resource control, Development, Governance, Niger-DeltaSTUDY BACKGROUNDThe colonial era and its exploitative activities brought forward the issue of socialidentity agitation along ethnic lines in Nigeria. It is especially relevant for minorityethnic groups that were socio-economically marginalized and disempowered as far aseducation and politics were concerned. This was a result of “the politics of number”(population size) adopted by the colonial authorities. The situation was furtherworsened by the discovery of crude oil in the Niger-Delta in 1956 leading to thedisplacement of people, which has had important consequences for their economicactivities and social life. Moreover, unrestrained exploitation of natural resources is2done at the expense of the people in the area. They suffer from environmental crisisand intra-inter communal conflicts in their homeland.In the available literature, little or no attention has been given to the study of socialidentity and its agitation for resource control as a broad socio-political issuechallenging development and good governance in the Niger Delta in particular and inNigeria in general. Even less efforts have been devoted to understanding theunderlying causes of inter and intra ethnic conflicts, identity and resource controlagitations in the Niger Delta. The fact that ethnic identity and resource controlagitations have been overwhelmingly studied as a political and legal issue hashampered understanding of these problems. As Osaghae (1998: 25-27) argues,adjustment reforms have been in line with social identity movements that havethreatened the national cohesion of Nigeria, and Africa in general, to a great extent.A crucial point to be noted is that identity and resource control agitations by theethnic elite have led to claims of marginalization and underdevelopment. A secondpoint is that the youths are motivated and mobilized by the ethnic elite as instruments

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for conflicts in case of agitation. These claims are currently underlying social-identityand the struggles for resource control in the Niger Delta. This point also made itimperative for the study to take more seriously the view expressed by Modo (2007)on the effects of oil politics in Nigeria. Thus, Modo argues that the economic wealthof Nigeria, built on a massive exploitation of oil from the 1970s, has heightenedcultural differences as each ethnic group fights for its share of the ‘national cake’(2007: 169). What follows is an unrestrained and massive exploitation of oil in theNiger Delta that would lead to unavoidable social identity and resource controlagitations in the area. Moreover, this is done at the expense of local oil communities(the masses) which do not benefit enough from salaries, mineral rents or oil royalties.They also suffer from environment degradation of their homeland (IFRA, Ibadan2005: 2).This has a lot of implications for development and good governance in the NigerDelta. Invariably, this has aggravated existing antagonisms, hostilities and conflictsover the resources in the area. Alamieyesiaha (2005: 6), Ibeanu (1997) and Suberu(1996: 31) noted that the challenges of development in the Niger Delta were

numerous and quite pervasive in the last three decades.

METHODOLOGYThe study was conducted in the Eastern Niger Delta states in Nigeria. The choice ofEastern Niger Delta states was ideal for the study because the three selected states;Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers states are the core oil producing states. In addition, thestates are the main theatre where ethnic conflicts, social identity and resource controlagitations are taking place. They also feature social identity movements like MEND,MOSOP, Izon nation and Ogoni nation. Four communities were selected in the studyarea. They are Port-Harcourt, Ogoni, Warri and Yenegoa. The target population in thestudy consists of the entire population in the selected communities. They are youthsaged 18 – 34 years, Adults aged 35 – 59 years and Elders aged 60 and above. Theseage categories were targeted to provide information on ethnic conflicts, identity and

resource control agitations in the area.

Preamble

Recently, activities in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria took the world by storm. Increases

in the international price of oil this year, first in January 2006 when it climbed to over

$50 and again in March 2006; and in late April 2006 [as we are here] when it rose to over

$70 has been partly attributed to the happenings in Nigeria. In 2004, the rise in the

international price of oil between August 2004 and October 2004 was also attributed to

the happenings in the Niger Delta. The same reason was given for price increases in

2003.

When prices of oil rise, the way it has done recently, oil producing countries and

companies smile to the bank – more revenue! Nigeria had smiled to the bank several

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times. In the 1970s, following the rise in the price of oil and the bountiful revenue

Nigeria made from it, Nigeria’s Head of State; General Yakubu Gowon had boasted that

Nigeria’s problem was how to spend its huge oil wealth. Both former military rulers

Generals Ibrahim Babaginda and Sani Abacha presided over periods of enormous wealth

from increases in the international price of oil during the Gulf crises. Even the present

General [or Chief] Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime benefited from oil price windfalls during

the Iraqi war in 2002. This economic windfall continued even to 2005 as shown by a

recent report on the oil industry for 2005, thus:

As a result of high cost of crude oil at the international market during the year, the nation raked in over 400 million dollars as extra revenue [Tide 03/01/2006]

But on the recent increases in price this year, the same government was quoted as saying:

We’ve lost something close to a billion dollars…that is the amount that all the stakeholders have lost. And for each passing day, we are losing a substantial amount,” said Daukoru [Thisday 20/03/2005]

That is, government is complaining that recent increases in the international price of oil

did not benefit Nigeria. It is not only government that is complaining. The oil companies

are also complaining – complaining of damage to their facilities, low morale of their

work force, safety of their workers and mostly the financial losses being incurred daily.

All five oil majors are affected: Shell wept, AGIP cried, ChevronTexaco shed tears,

ExxoMobil sobbed, and Totalfinelf lamented.

But what are the recent happenings in the Niger Delta that is making both government

and the oil companies to complain. It is what both government and the oil companies

have termed as “Youth Restiveness,” which has taken a new dimension in the Niger

Delta area where the oil companies operate.

What Is Happening?

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Between December 2005 and March 2006, the oil industry in Nigeria recorded numerous

casualties to its personnel and facilities. From Rivers State to Edo State, Delta state to

Akwa – Ibom state, and in Bayelsa State, oil pipelines were blown up, flow stations were

burnt or destroyed, oil company premises were attacked, and oil workers were kidnapped

and taken hostage. In addition, the oil companies were threatened of impeding attack or

more attacks. Shivers were sent down the pine of many – oil companies, government, and

local communities who fear that government’s anger might fall them. Such fears are not

unfounded: remember Odi, Odioma, Omuechem and most of Ogoniland!

Championing this campaign of “shivering the system” are relatively unknown youth

groups foremost of which is the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta

[MEND]. The others include The Martyrs Brigade and the Coalition for Militant Action

in the Niger Delta [COMA]. These groups employed strategies unusual to the struggles of

the Niger Delta people. I do not mean to state here that kidnapping of oil workers or

damaging of oil facilities had not been taking place in the Niger Delta. The point here is

that there is a clear distinction between the occurrences of the past and the present.

Occurrences in the past were perpetuated for purely economic reasons and limited to

communities, individuals and criminal cartels. The criminal cartels also include

government officials as even members of the government’s Presidential Task Force on

Pipeline Vandalisation have been arrested for vandalising oil pipelines [Vanguard

29/03/06]. On the other hand, the present activities do not have economic motives but

altruistic - an “aluta”- when considered from the perspective of the demands made by the

groups.

Before the emergence of these groups, other youth groups have been championing the

cause of the Niger Delta people at different levels and with differing approaches. There is

the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force [NDPVF], the Ijaw Youth Council [IYC],

Itsekiri National Youth Movement [INYM], Isoko Youth Movement [IYM], Coalition for

the Liberation of Ikwerre People [COLIP], National Youth Council of Ogoni People

[NYCOP], Ikwerre Youths Convention, Egi Peoples Coalition, Isoko Front, Movement

for the Survival of Ijaw Ethnic Nationality (MOSIEN), Urhobo Economic Foundation,

Oron National Forum, Egi Peoples Coalition, among others.

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To fully understand the “Youth Restiveness” in the Niger Delta, if there is any, is also to

understand the evolution of these youth groups. How is it that in a society comprising of

respected traditional rulers, chiefs, elders, businessmen, professionals, literate icons,

proven politicians, women and youths, it is the youths that are championing a struggle for

a better society?

The Oil Companies and Dialogue

Like the government, the oil companies have towed the same line in approaching

dialogue in the communities where they operate. Ijaw communities have approached

them on dialoguing and negotiating community development programmes, reducing

environment impacts and loss of livelihood. On several instances, the agitation of the

people has been suppressed through the use of government security forces, publicity and

litigation.

In 1998, Liama community confronted a Shell contracting community on issues of

community development. Immediately, soldiers invaded the community and almost burnt

down the entire community. In Ikebiri, when AGIP was confronted to dialogue with the

community, government soldiers killed over seven persons in 1999. The same fate fell on

Olugbobiri in 1998, 1999, and 2002. In 1999, the people of Twon-Brass protested to the

AGIP oil company respect the MoU signed with the community. The company reacted by

sending government forces after the protesting people, and three youths were killed. In

Peretoru and Ojobo, government forces guarding SHELL oil flow stations killed and

wounded several persons in 2005. The story is same in other Ijaw communities such as

Bonny, Bakana, Buguma, Kula, Bille, Okrika, Ataba, Nkoro, Etiama, Ewelesuo, Diebu,

Peremabiri, Akassa, Nembe, Okokodiagbene, Aghorho, Gbaranmatu, Esaba, Egbema etc.

Dialogue as Deceit

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The trappings of dialogue and negotiations appear to be moving at the opposite direction

for the Ijaws. No wonder, at a point in time, our ancestors became sceptical of dialogues.

In 1888, Johnson, acting on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen, invited the King and chiefs

of Okrika to a meeting on board his ship, the people refused, as they do not want the

treachery that happened to King Jaja to happen to them [see Pekenham 1991]. Other

instances include:

      After the ransacking of the RNC at Akassa, the chiefs and people of Nembe

made appeasements and held several negotiations with the British consul at

Brass, yet the towns of Nembe, Okpoama, and surrounding communities were

bombarded and destroyed.

      The people of Bayelsa and the rest of Ijaw land plead with President Obasanjo

that soldiers should not be sent to invade Odi. Yet Odi was destroyed and

hundreds of Ijaws killed.

      Isaac Boro made several presentations to the Federal Government, including

taking the government to court, on the plights of the Ijaw people? What happened

to all those presentations?

      When Chief Melford Okilo as governor of Rivers state campaigned for the

principle of derivation, what was the outcome? A paltry 1.5% derivation!

      Again the Ijaws were at the National Political Reform Conference on the same

issues that have been plaguing them since oil was discovered in the Ijaw territory.

And what did they get from the NPRC? The Ijaw delegates and others from the

Niger Delta had to walk out of the conference because there was no sympathy

from the rest of Nigerians.

The Way Forward

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It is time to intensify the struggle in Diaspora. The International community will be silent

and unappreciative of the plights of the people of the Niger Delta if the peoples in

Diaspora are docile. If smaller ethnic nations and countries of the world have good

coordination, leadership and contacts abroad it will not be unwise for the people of the

Niger Delta to have a similar coordinated front in Diaspora.

In order to counter the dangerous signals being sent to the people of the Niger Delta, I

wish to make the following recommendations as part of the processes of intensifying the

struggle in Diaspora.

        Niger Delta people in Diaspora must start the processes of having a unified

structure abroad. Leadership should be decentralised to all the different

countries and continents

        Processes of identifying, contacting and consulting all Niger Deltans in

Diaspora should be embarked upon in earnest.

        Communication spaces should be established between organs in the different

countries / continents; and with the umbrella organizations in Nigeria

        The umbrella organizations at home must be strengthened and further

empowered. Economic avenues should be especially explored

        As a matter of urgency, contacts should be established with the different

governments of the different countries and all / most international bodies such

as the UN, EU, AU including human rights and environmental organizations.

The sympathy of these international bodies must be gained for the sake of the

struggle and people

        Pressure must be exerted on the parent bodies of the oil companies influence

their surrogates in Nigeria for better deal for the people of the Niger Delta

        Pressure must be exerted on the governments at home for good governance,

and transparency

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To the international, the time to act is now. The situation in the Niger Delta is

deteriorating very fast. When the signals of crises started manifesting in the Sudan,

Kosovo, Luanda, Georgia, Liberia, Ivory Coast, DR Congo etc the international failed to

act until the situation deteriorating to massacres, genocide, or pogrom. The signs are

manifesting again in the Niger Delta. It is in this light I want to agree with the Ogele Club

that your intervention is needed urgently in the Niger. I wish to reiterate that position in

the box below.

What the International community must do urgently2[3] Send an independent team to investigate all the killings, maiming, looting,

destruction and other human right abuses by government forces in the Niger Delta Conduct a referendum to ascertain the aspirations and desires of the Niger Delta

peoples Order the Nigerian government to withdraw its forces of occupation from the

Niger Delta Declare the Niger Delta area a protectorate of the UN until all the issues of natural

resources ownership and management have been acceptably determined Establish and supervise a dialogue process between the Niger Delta people and

the government of Nigeria

THE ENEMIES WITHIN

Posted: Sun 1/29/2006 4:48 PM

As expected some of our so-called "Royal Highnesses" and other self-styled "opinion leaders" have already started volunteering statements condemning the noble work our brave warriors are doing on our behalf. I think such condemnations and calls for the release of the hostages without demanding apology and concessions from the Nigerian governments tantamount to subversion. These are people who have become so scared stiff by Aremu's saber rattling that they are freely volunteering condemnation of our warriors for taking hostages as a bargaining chip.

Well, we have been hostages of the Nigerian government for over fifty years and nobody pleaded for mercy on our behalf nor condemned the leaderships of Abubarkar Tafawa Balewa, Gowan, Murtala/Aremu Obasanjo, "President" Shagari, Idiagbon/Buhari,Maradona I.B.Babangida, Abacha, and Obasanjo aka Chief Aremu of Otta.

Yet, these so-called Chiefs, lawyers and doctors with foamy mouths have the gumption to condemn a people who are expressing their genuine grievances in the only language the

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Nigerian authorities understand. After all, the hostages are enjoying our hospitality. They were given cell-phones to call home. We were even not allowed to consult and seek protection from our deities all through our ordeal in Nigeria's concentration camp.

The hostages are guilty by association as employees of a foreign company that colluded with the Nigerian government to enslave and exploit us as well as render our land and rivers totally unproductive; even the air we breathe was rendered toxic. But in our hostage situation under Nigeria, we took nothing from anybody; we neither destroyed nobody's property nor used terrorist tactics to burn down towns and villages in any part of Nigeria.

Instead, they and their British masters came and took us hostage and forcibly took our oil too. Sometimes when they got mad at us for no apparent reasons they resorted to strip searching and humiliating our young men in public and no mini-power nor super-power expressed concern nor threatened rescue operation. So, those of you who are running your mouths criticizing the actions taken by our warriors in this struggle are also enemies of the (state) - the Ijawnation - and would one day be called upon to answer for your sins.

I call upon our brave warriors to ignore these elements and others who have never been in our shoes nor seen things through our eyes nor heard all the nasty things Obasanjo and his agents have said and still saying about us. Your cause on our behalf is just and you have the wholehearted support of the vast majority of your compatriots. I also call upon you not to release the hostages until Nigeria blinks.

And when it comes time for their release, you must demand a written and signed guarantee for your safety and immunity from later prosecution. Any such document must be signed by Aremu himself and not the Inspector-General of the country's corrupt police force nor any other functionary in the administration. The only people you should allow to intercede in any discussions are representatives of the governments of all the multinational oil corporations in the delta.

Please do not deal nor listen to any government functionaries both national or local and whether such people are "Highnesses," self-styled "Opinion leaders," "credible citizens," Ijaws or not because they could turn out to be traitors. Lest I forget, you must also reject any notion to get the matter settled in Nigeria. You must insist on a neutral country as is the norm in most such cases. I must in the same token advise that no more photos of the hostages should be released. The one released, so far, is in order in so much as it served as a statement that they are alive and enjoying hospitality and all the goodies our environment. Otherwise, any other photos like the one released could be a strategic mistake in terms of location.

You must pay special attention to the Briton because he is doubly guilty. As for the Honduran, he is from a poor and exploited country like ours so you might consider him for early release.

Again, the Ijawnation thank you very much for your sacrifice on our behalf. You have our full support and that of God, the inspiring spirits of our great ancestors some of whom fought British economic exploitation in earlier times, and our powerful deities.

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Cause of “Youth Restiveness”

I will not bother you with some of the reasons that have been proffered by many learned

men and what you can easily see in the news such as the fact that the central government

had failed in its function of providing the basic necessities of life; and that the operations

of the oil companies on the Niger Delta communities have manifested in wanton

exploitation, economic deprivation, underdevelopment, environmental devastation,

marginalisation, injustice, inequity, impoverishment, unemployment, loss of livelihood

and extra-judicial killings.

I will also not bother you with the fact that oil activities have created ethnic tension in the

Niger Delta, eroded traditional institutions and moral values, violated the culture and

customs of the people, introduced arms proliferation, caused community power tussles,

caused inter- and intra-communal conflicts, caused the collapse of local economies,

increased the level of illiteracy despite all the scholarships, show-cased poor living and

working conditions despite all the community development programmes, deskilled the

labour force of the people, and increased criminality and lawlessness in the communities.

Visit Nembe, Odioma, Joinkrama, Gbarantoru, Ikebiri, Okigbene, Olugbobiri, Okoroba,

Okerenkoko, Egbema, Ojobo, Peretoru, Bomadi, Kula, Umuechem, Erema, Gioko,

Botem Tai, Bodo, Iyak, Ataba, Omelema, Bonny, Buguma, Okrika, Ibeno, QIT, Eket,

Oron, Iyede, Igbide, Olomoro, Ughelli, Effurun, amongst many others and see living

evidence.

But I want to inform that a major cause of the “Youth Restiveness” in the Niger Delta is

the failure of dialogue and its use as an instrument of deceit. That there are historical

records of the people of the Niger Delta, mostly by the chiefs and elders, attempting to

dialogue with the “Powers-that-be” in Nigeria, but the results of such dialogue have not

yielded good fruits. And that the youths have come on stage because the “powers-that-

be” have failed to listen to their respected chiefs and elders. In order to clarify this point,

I shall illustrate with one of the ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta where most of the

recent events have occurred – The Ijaws. I want to show the penchant for dialogue and its

failure first with government and then with the oil companies.10

Niger Delta and military solution

In response to the upsurge of ferment in the Niger Delta region, and the grave danger it poses to the nation’s oil-dominated economy, the Federal Government seems to have opted for full military action. In preparation for a full military operation, surveillance efforts are said to have commenced, while two warships, NNS Nwamba and NNS Obula, as well as naval platforms 217 and 219, are reported to have been deployed in the coastal areas of Bayelsa and Delta states. Scared by the increased presence of the military, ordinary residents are fleeing the riverine communities.

But the militants, who claim to have embarked on armed struggle to liberate the region from the claws of an insensitive and unjust Nigerian State, remain undaunted and undeterred. Only on Tuesday, armed youths engaged security operatives in a gun duel for several hours at the premises of Agip Oil Company in Port Harcourt, killing nine people, including seven policemen. Before the attack on Agip, about 14 people had been killed when a new militant group, which calls itself Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), raided the Shell’s Benisede flow station, burnt down some staff quarters, and destroyed oil facilities.

The skirmishes in the creeks reverberated across the globe when MEND militias, on January 11, kidnapped four expatriate workers of Tidex Drilling Limited, a corporate contractor to Shell. In panic, oil companies are winding down operations and withdrawing their staff. The spate of violence is estimated to have reduced the nation’s oil supply capacity of 2.5 million bpd by 10 per cent, feeding a sudden jump in the global price of crude to $69 per barrel. The militants say their “aim is to totally destroy the capacity of the Nigerian government to export oil.” So far, the armed youths seem to have put a sharp knife on the nation’s economic jugular, by gradually crippling the access to oil.

But despite the immediate threat which the resurgence of violence poses to the economy, it is doubtful that the use of force will permanently quell the uprising. Top military chiefs leading operations in the region have openly reiterated the futility of using force to resolve the conflict. Military action can never get to the roots of the crisis which are deep down in the flawed fiscal structure of the nation’s unjust federalism. Here is a region that has consistently supplied more than 70 per cent of the nation’s revenue, and 90 per cent of foreign exchange earnings, but has never tasted political power at the centre. In plundering the oil wealth, the nation has been largely insensitive to the development needs of the region. There is high incidence of poverty and unemployment because farmlands and fishing ponds have been destroyed by pollution. The exploitation of oil in the region has, therefore, fostered a fertile environment for anger and frustration.

The Delta people had expected the return of democracy in 1999 to turn the tide in their favour. Though some palliative measures like the creation of the Niger Delta Development Commission, have been taken by this administration, such measures have barely scratched the problem. The hope that this administration would use the National Political Reform Conference to review the meagre 13 per cent derivation also failed. The 17 per cent derivation recommended by the NPRC has been ignored by the National

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Assembly in its 101 amendments to the Constitution. Anger is therefore boiling over because it has become obvious that this administration is only interested in retaining a revenue formula that is patently unfair to the Delta region.

The peaceful option is for the Federal Government to initiate a dialogue by reaching out to the militant youths through credible leaders of the region. The Obasanjo government must shift ground by immediately offering the 17 per cent derivation recommended by the NPRC. To enjoy international goodwill, Niger Delta youths, on their part, should release all hostages in their custody and prepare themselves for dialogue with the Federal Government.

In addition, the international community should prevail on the oil companies to practise

in the same way they approach community development, community relations,

environmental protection, and human rights in their home countries in the Niger Delta.

More than ever before, government should sit down with the accredited and creditable

representatives of the Niger Delta peoples. I mean proper dialogue and not the type of

monologue that took place in Abuja in April 2006. Dialogue should be followed with

action on decisions reached as opposed to the past where decisions reached at dialogues

were ignored or half-heartedly implemented. Implementation of the above coupled with

the present approaches of conferencing will contribute to curbing “Youth Restiveness” in

the Niger Delta. As people of the Niger Delta, we shall continue to pursue dialogue and

negotiation despite all the negative signals until we get to wall.

In concluding, I must not hesitate to advise the government of Nigeria and its leadership

to listen to the words of one time president of America, John Kennedy that “where

dialogue and negotiation fails, violence becomes inevitable.” A word is enough for the

wise: don’t push the people of the Niger Delta to the wall.

THE PROBLEMThe incidence of social identity and resource control agitations by various ethnicgroupswithin the Niger Delta region in the last four decades, have posed seriouschallenges to the ideals of sustainable development and good governance in the area.This was further highlighted by Eteng that:Oil bearing Niger Delta communities have basically remained grossly socioeconomicallydependent and underdeveloped persistently disempowered, socioeconomicallymarginalized and psychologically alienated (1998:1).3As such, the people engaged in both inter and intra communal conflicts aspredicted by an undercurrent of massive exploitation of natural resources,marginalization and underdevelopment in the area. It was as a result of this thatOdugbemi (2001) observes that the rise of ethnic-nationalism has led to the explosivesocial identity and resource control agitations in the Niger Delta region. This has

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destroyed a sense of nationalism and patriotism in Nigeria. Consequently, more socialidentities emerged as infra-state movements such as the Movement for theEmancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Movement for the Survival of theOgoni people (MOSOP). They assert their authority over the people, aggressivelycampaign for the dismemberment of Nigeria and propose the creation of states basedon ethnicity.However, the situation in the Niger Delta is better explained by Ololajulo whopoints out (2006:3) that resource control has become a permanent feature of theinstability in the region leading to hostilities and affecting the economic well-being ofthe people.Thus, these tensions between social identity and resource control agitations are theissues this study examines as the possible root of the conflicts and subsequentunderdevelopment that have become part of the defining characteristics of the life ofthe communities in the Niger Delta region.However, Imoagene (1975:52) had argued that a way out seems to lie in a radicaltransformation of the occupational structure and productive patterns of the ruralsector. It is therefore obvious that conflicts emerged and were sustained as aninstrument for negotiation between the people and the government. Ideologically, thepeople seem to have turned to ethnic patriotism rather than national patriotism bycalling for self determination.Nonetheless, why have ethnic interests overridden national interests or wittinglyundermined national patriotism?According to Ikporukpo (1998: 15-17), the causes of the Ogoni-Andoni and theOkrika-Ogoni inter-communal conflicts are all related to the role played by resourcecontrol agitations on ethnic identities from colonial times to oil exploitation activitiesin the area. Ikporukpo asserts that:The policies and programmes of government and oil companies address mainly theconflict between petroleum exploitation and livelihood, the collapse of rural –urbanleakages and the land disputes/ communities crisis (1998: 48).Unfortunately, the problems are identity and resource control agitations. Thesetwo problems have severally resulted into inter and intra communal conflicts in thearea. It has also led to the establishment of some governmental agencies such as theNiger Delta Development Board (NDDB, 1961), the Niger Delta River BasinDevelopment Authority (NDBDA, 1976), the Oil Mineral Producing AreasDevelopment Commission (OMPADEC), the Niger Delta Development Commission(NDDC, 2000), and the Niger Delta Ministry in 2009, to provide succour and developthe communities in the area. Another question is why is the area still prone to conflictdespite the creation of the aforementioned agencies?4Tamuno (1999), Obi (1999), and Chukwuezi (1999) argue that conflicts, socialidentity and resource control agitations in the Niger Delta have posed seriouschallenges to development in the area in the last two decades. For Tamuno (1999)development policies in the Niger-Delta have succeeded in turning back the hand ofthe ‘justice and Equity clock’. He explained further that:Its continuance with or without modifications will be enough to fertilize the seeds ofwild oats sown by previous policy-makers and high executives for the whirlwind whichfuture generations may be expected to harvest abundantly in the luckless communities ofthe Niger-Delta (1999:39).This argument is a vital point that calls for scholarly examination of conflicts inthe Niger Delta. Specifically, answers to the following questions need to be soughtfor: what are the root causes of conflicts in the area? To what extent is the issue ofidentity and resource control agitations responsible for the conflicts? Are there anyrelationship between the conflicts and development in the area? And to what extent

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have the movements sustained the conflicts?

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