OSINFO - Open Sources Information

By Angela Kariuki (1)

Nigeria - a member of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and the world's 8th largest oil producer - has enough high-quality crude in the ground to pump more than 3 million barrels per day. It is now producing only four-fifths that amount, as virtually all of the oil is located in or around the Niger Delta, a densely populated, marshy region along Nigeria's southern coastline. For several years, this area has been plagued by militant groups demanding that locals receive a larger share of oil revenue, as well as criminal organisations that steal oil directly from local pipelines. 

This province accounts for most of Nigeria’s estimated daily oil production of over 2.46 million barrels, most of which goes to the United States and other Western oil-importing countries. However, the oil-rich Niger Delta is also paradoxically one of the least developed and conflict-ridden areas of Nigeria and hardly a day goes by without reports in the media on the growing insurgency by armed militias in the province. 

The roots of the Niger Delta conflict lie in the history of the struggles for self‐determination, local autonomy and democracy of the ethnic minorities in the region, which goes as far back as the second decade of the 20th century. By the 1970’s the Niger Delta had become the main source of oil, the new fiscal basis of the Nigerian State (replacing agriculture), accounting for over 80% of national revenues and 90% of export earnings.

Resource Conflict

The discourse of the causes of conflict in post‐Cold War Africa has been characterised by various perspectives. Of note is what may be described as a “rational choice” or “war economies” school of thought based on an econometric intervention to the ‘greed versus grievance’ debate over the causes of war.

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