DOCTORAL
THESIS PROPOSAL
FACULTY OF
LAW
DEPARTMENT OF JURISPRUDENCE
& INTERNATIONAL LAW
DEGREE IN VIEW: DOCTOR
OF PHILOSOPHY (Ph.D) IN LAW
PROPOSED
TITLE OF THESIS
RE-APPRAISING
THE RIGHTS OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO SELF-DETERMINATION AND THE QUESTION OF
TERRORISM IN THE OIL RICH NIGER-DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA
1.1 Background of the Study
The name ‘Nigeria’ is
derived from the river Niger in which the Niger Delta region of the country
forms a significant part of, and empties the river into the Atlantic ocean. The
Niger Delta region[1]
has been a flash point in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous nation, with an
estimated population of well over 140 million people[2]
and the world’s largest collection of people of the black race.[3]
The country has over 250 dialectical ethnic groups, speaking nearly 400
languages.[4]
There are also three major tribes in Nigeria: the Hausa-Fulanis in the
North, Yorubas in the West and the Ibos in the East. The Niger-Delta comprises
the coastal low lands and water-marshland, creeks, tributaries and lagoons of
the southernmost ends of Nigeria that drain the Niger river into Atlantic at
the Bight of Biafra.[5]
At its core are the
littoral states of Bayelsa, Rivers, Delta, Edo, Akwa Ibom and Cross River
states of the South-South geo-political zone of the country, and the riverine
parts of Ondo state, which are home to over forty minority ethnic groups,
including the Ijaw, Urhobo, Itshekiri, Efik, Ibibio, Ogoni, Ilage, Kalabari,
Isoko and Ndokwa[6]
amongst other smaller minority groups. The Niger Delta is the largest wetland
in Africa, it is rich in both renewable and non-renewable natural resources
such as crude oil, gas, bitumen, non timber forest products and timber forest
product and wildlife. Ninety-Five per cent of the total revenue for the Nigeria
government is generated from oil and gas exploration,[7]
which implies that the region is of critical geo-strategic importance in the
global energy equation and for national economic survival.
However, the Niger-Delta
is not known for its rich bio-diversity as much as it is known for its large
reservoir of crude oil and gas deposits, and its capacity to quench the global
hunger for oil. Little is said or known about the deleterious effect which the
crude business of crude oil has caused to the beautiful environment and
bio-diversity of the regions.[8]
Presently, the region of the Niger Delta is best known as the region that
sustains much oil exploration and exploitation by the agent of Western economic
powers. It is considered the mainstay of the Nigerian economy for its
significantly high level of oil reserves.[9]
By this, Nigeria is considered Africa’s largest oil producer and world’s sixth
most important exporter of crude oil with the bulk of its exports going to the
United States.[10]
The indigenous people of the region receive little economic benefits from the
extraction of the natural resources beneath their land. This is mainly due to
the long neglect of the people’s welfare by the federal government of Nigeria[11]
and the nonchalant attitude of the oil multinationals. Development strategies
focused at increasing foreign investment to boast exports in the oil industry
have not resulted in overall development, instead the revenue gained has helped
to benefit mainly foreign nations and Nigeria government elites more than
native population.[12]
Pollution, degradation
of the environment, destruction and waste of the natural resources, derogation
of the values and culture of the indigenous people as well as poverty have
become the order of the day in the region. The people of the Niger Delta
believe they have no substantial benefit to show for their sacrifices, despite
being the “goose that laid the golden egg” – the economic success that
underpins the unity of the Nigerian State.[13] They also believe they are now at the stage
in history when they must actualize their own wise saying that “anyone who
takes what belongs to a child and raises his/her hand up, when he gets tired,
must bring down his hand and the child will take back what belongs to him”.[14]
As
a federal government agency, the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC)
quite rightly observed that the developmental challenges of the region are:-
“Widespread poverty, severe dearth of infrastructure and amenities in the rural
areas, being the world’s third largest wetland with fragile ecosystems, high
unemployment, rural-urban migration, urban decay and environmental degradation
and pollution”.[15]
The Federal Government of Nigeria and multinational Oil companies that operate
in the region seem to act in concert with the aim of silencing the views of the
people and denying their social conditions and state of under-development. As a
result of the harmful activities of the oil companies in the region and the growing
frustration of the indigenous peoples in the region to hold the Nigeria state
and oil companies accountable for sustainable development in the region,
including their inability to reasonably participate in the oil extractive
industry on their hand, the Niger Delta crisis assumed horrendous dimensions in
the early 1990s with the emergence of social movements and militant Youth
groups that began to challenge not only the Nigerian state but also the
policies, attitudes, and activities of multinational oil companies in the
region.[16]
These agitations grew in
strength, outlook and purpose over the last decade, and later took the face of
a more formidable militant guerrilla force.[17]
Within this milieu (of the struggle), the crisis in the region became not just
a domestic affair but an issue on the front burner of international
environmental discourse and advocacy.[18]
The violent agitations claimed thousands of lives, displaced thousands more and
led to the inestimable destruction of properties. In economic term, millions of
dollars have been lost to youth restiveness, disruption of production, pipeline
vandalization, hostage taking, assault and bombing of oil installations to
mention a few.[19]
Subsequent Nigerian
governments did little to alleviate the mounting agitations, rather, military
incursions were used at every opportunity to bring down any uprising in a
brutal manner. For instance, villages such as Ummuechem, Odi and Odioma were at
different times practically razed down and people ranging from the high hundreds
to the low thousands were killed and maimed by Nigerian military forces.[20]
Also in March 2003, militants in the Western Niger Delta engaged in a fierce
gun battle with government security forces, which saw several village
communities[21]
such as Okerenkoko, Ogbogbene, Berukrukru, Inikorogha, Oburu, Kunukunama,
Opuedebudo, Oporaza, Kokodiaghene and Tebujor invaded by the military and then
destroyed.
This brutal suppression
of the uprising and violence agitation in the Niger Delta, which had assumed a
vicious face, has lead the crisis to assume international dimensions, partly
due to the systematic publicity of activists, and the struggle of the respected
environmentalist, (the late Ken Saro Wiwa) who drew the attention of the
international community to the plight of the Niger Delta.[22]
This internationalization of the crisis has paved the way for the involvement
of a ‘contingent’ of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and International
Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs) in different aspects of the ‘environmental
politics’ in the region.[23]
What is interesting
however, is that the demand of the resistant forces and the various
ethno-national groups in the Niger Delta fall short of absolute secession from
Nigeria. These groups claim to invoke their right of self-determination as
indigenous people[24]
under international human rights regime for special protection of these
category of people, to demand among other things, political and economic
autonomy, convention of an autonomous sovereign national conference to
re-negotiate the terms of national co-existence and unity, re-organization of
the polity, resource control, repeal of obnoxious laws, development of minority
ethnic languages and culture and preservation of the region’s ecology and
environment.[25]
In December 1998 for instance, Ijaw Youths converged on Kaiama (an Ijaw town)
where they made a landmark declaration, now known as the Kaiama Declaration. In
the document, they requested for more local control of oil revenue and better
environmental policies. The forcefulness of Ijaw demands resonate in the Kaiama
Declaration as follows:
All land and natural
resources (including mineral resources) within the Ijaw territory belong to
Ijaw communities and are the basis of our survival. We cease to recognize all
undemocratic decrees that rob our peoples/ communities of the right to
ownership and control of our lives and resources, which were enacted without
our participation and consent. These include the land use decree and the
petroleum decree etc…We demand the immediate withdrawal from Ijaw land of all
military forces of occupation and repression by the Nigerian state. Any oil
Company that employs the service of the armed forces of the Nigerian state to
‘protect’ its operations will be viewed as an enemy of the Ijaw people. Family
members of military personnel stationed in Ijaw land should appeal to their
people to leave the Ijaw area alone.[26]
The declaration gave a
December 30, 1998 ultimatum to both the government and the oil companies to
respond positively to their demand. It added that if the deadline was not met,
all MNOCs operating in Ijaw lands and territorial waters and indeed in the
large Niger Delta should leave. Ijaw youths followed up on these demand with a
protest march to government house in Yenagoa, the main purpose of which was to
convey their grievances through the then state governor, Lt. Colonel Paul Obi
to the Federal Government. However, security operatives opened fire on the
protesters leaving some dead and many others injured in the pandemonium that
followed. This marked the beginning of hostilities between Ijaw youths and the
security force.[27]
Following this incident, the Egbesu Boys regrouped, apparently in preparation
for war, having been in possession of sophisticated weapons. They engaged both
the navy and army in fire battles with heavy casualties on both sides. In some
cases, the rampaging youths ransacked military formation, terrorized fleeing
soldiers and policemen and became warlord in strategic locations. The towns of
Kaiama, Odi, Ekeki and others became battlefields in heavy crossfire. Apart
from this, the militant youths were able to close down oil installations in the
Niger Delta thereby disrupting oil production.[28]
Quite
apart from the Ijaw Youth Council, several other militant groups sprang up,
increasingly on an ethnic basis, to resist the activities of the federal
government in the Niger-Delta, and especially oil exploration by the MNOCs. One
such prominent group is the MOSOP (Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni
People); eventually, these groups coalesce into the bigger and more embracing
MEND (Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger-Delta).[29]
In addition to the violence and other different forms of illegality which these
groups variously indulged,[30]
they had a network of collaboration with both domestic and international
organisations who were sympathetic to the core issues of their agitation, which
they exploited for the purpose of propaganda.[31]
These groups at various
times, had attempted to present their case/claims as indigenous people to the
government of Nigeria and the different organs of the United Nations in order
to rake up international sympathy and support for their cause, but successive
Nigerian and other foreign government have continued to label and treat the
Niger Delta Militants as terrorist.[32]
Despite this contemptuous labeling, the militants consider themselves as
liberation and resistant forces fighting for their right of self-determination
as indigenous peoples against the twin evil of eco-terrorism[33]and
ecological war[34]
perpetrated by the Nigerian government and multinational oil companies against
the Niger Delta region and its indigenous inhabitants.
Until recently, the
government of the federal republic of Nigeria insisted that the activities of
militants in the Niger-Delta constitute terrorism and that the militant groups
are terrorist organization who must be treated like any other common criminal.
It must be noted however that the recent amnesty
introduced by the government excludes all those who would lay down their
weapons and collaborate with the government to address the numerous problems of
the region. Despite this development, there is yet to be complete cessation of
violence and hostilities between all the militant groups in the region and the
Federal Government of Nigeria.[35]
This situation, thus, possess
some prospect in exploring numerous international law questions, such as the
relationship between the right of self-determination of people claiming that
right as indigenous people in a post-colonial federal state (like Nigeria) and
the concept of terrorism in international criminal law and how this interface
with some aspects of international humanitarian law. This research thesis will
therefore attempt to examine the concepts of self-determination and its
interjacent with terrorism as an aspect of international humanitarian law, and
how these concepts may interface with the issues raised in the Niger-Delta
conflict.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Nigeria’s Niger Delta
region is not only home to the greater part of Africa’s largest mangrove
forest, but also the source of Nigeria’s oil wealth. Since Nigeria is an oil-dependent
nation, accounting for over 80% of national revenues and 95% of foreign
exchange earnings, any disruption of oil production is perceived as a threat to
the survival and well-being of the country.[36]
As a result, the oil
rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been embroiled in crisis between
government forces and some militant elements that are aggrieved over certain
fundamental issues affecting the region. Over the past few years, militants
have fought with government forces, sabotaged oil installations, taken foreign
oil workers hostage and carried out lethal car bombings. At the root of their
grievances is a crisis of underdevelopment, pollution, and livelihood. This
crisis has been exacerbated by emergent issues of a gross distortion of the Nigerian
federalism in respect to resource control, citizenship rights and environmental
degradation. The crisis also portends a very grave danger for the Niger Delta region
in particular and the Nigerian state in general. In truth after all, the
militants do not only confront the Nigerian state, they challenge the very
heart of global capitalism represented in the region by the multinational oil
companies.[37]
This situation may
deteriorate into an open and prolonged war between the armed militants of the
Niger Delta and the Federal Government of Nigeria, which would affect other
constituent element of the polity, the West African sub-region and international
peace and security as a whole. This possibility was acknowledged by the former
President Shehu Shagari, thus: “the biggest problem Nigeria faces today, in my
humble opinion, is the problem with the
militants in the Niger Delta area”.[38]
The militants have continued
to claim to act in their collective interest to enforce their right of
self-determination as indigenous people, while the government of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria on the other hand insists that the activities of militants
constitute terrorism and that the militant groups are terrorist organizations
who must be treated like any other common criminal. There seems to be no
respite in the Niger-Delta militants/Federal Government crisis, even after the
Federal government amnesty programme in 2010, there is yet to be an enduring cease-fire
in the region notwithstanding several national and international efforts to
achieve one.[39]
The perennial issue raised by the Niger-Delta crisis is how to categorize the
injurious activities of groups who claim to be fighting for their right of
self-determination in international law, albeit as indigenous people.
1.3 Research Questions
Based on the observation
of the problem which the researcher has identified above, two major research
questions could be formulated as the fulcrum of this research, while several
subsidiary questions can be derived from the two major ones for resolution in
this thesis
Major
Research Questions
a). Can the struggle of the Niger-Delta people
be understood within the context of internal colonialism and therefore a
struggle for de-colonization within the purview of international convention?
b). Can a people fighting for their right of internal
self-determination be labeled terrorists by the group who deny them that right?
Subsidiary Research Question
a). Do the people of the Niger-Delta
constitute ‘people’ who are entitled to the right of self-determination within
the framework of the concept of indigenous people?
b). Do the people of the Niger-Delta satisfy
the criteria for being considered as indigenous people?
c). Are the people of the Niger-Delta entitled
to use violence or armed forces in the exercise of their right to self-
determination?
d). Can the militants in the Niger-Delta be
labeled terrorists in view of their motivations? If so, do their activities
amount to domestic and international terrorism?
e). Are there any impediments militating
against the right of the Niger-Delta people to self-determination in the
Nigerian corporate policy?
f). Is the government of Nigeria the continuation
of the colonial master evoking colonial policies and creating colonial
experiences in the Niger Delta?
g). Are the people of the Niger Delta justified
in their demands against the Federal Government of Nigeria for claims of rights
of indigenous peoples?
h). Does the activities and actions of the
Federal Government of Nigeria in the Niger-Delta region constitute state
terrorism?
i). Does the activities of the Nigerian
Government and multinational oil companies in the Niger-Delta constitute eco-terrorism?
j). Do the multinational oil companies
operating in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria fulfill their social
responsibility and obligation to the people of the region?
k). What are the best ways of tackling the
Niger-Delta crisis? Should they involve international, regional and domestic
efforts?
1.4 Objectives of the Research
The
objectives of this thesis are intrinsically derived from the totality of the
questions posed in this research. Thus, the objectives of the study are quite
few. Based on the research questions already raised, the following objectives
are formulated for the research:-
a). To assess the claims and activities of the
people of the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria and those of the government of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria in the light of the interjacent between
international human rights law (right of indigenous peoples to self
determination) and international criminal law on terrorism as well as
humanitarian law (status of the militants).
b). To find out whether the assertion of the
right of self-determination by aggrieved indigenous peoples would preclude the
crime of terrorism under customary and contemporary treaty international law.
c). To recommend ways of tackling the
Niger-Delta crisis through international, regional and domestic efforts.
1.5 Research Methodology
The
research methodology in this study involves principally doctrinal and
theoretical analysis. Thus, most of the information required to succeed in this
thesis will be obtained from primary and secondary sources of information, with
few obtained from tertiary sources. Therefore, the following sources are
relevant: Textbooks; Handsards; Official policy documents of states and
international organizations; Resolutions, declarations and conventions
deposited with international organizations; Published articles in periodicals; Conference
presentation (Published and unpublished); News data by international
multimedia/News networks (e.g. CNN, BBC, Fox News, Sky News etc); Unpublished
Degree Dissertations; News data, by international print media (i.e. Newspapers
and magazines); Internet sources (i.e. articles and postings); Print reference
sources (i.e. Dictionaries, Encyclopedia etc) and Other electronic sources
(i.e. Microsoft Encarta, encyclopedias).
1.6 Significance of the Research
The significance of any
prospective research lies primarily in exploiting the shortcomings in the
entire research so far conducted within the area of interest and then looking
at the key concept from a perspective which has not been already adequately and
fully explored by scholars and researchers. Thus, the following may be
considered as the significance and relevance of this proposed research thesis:
a) The research will revisit and re-appraise
the theoretical connection and relationship between the concepts of terrorism
and the international human rights of indigenous people which is rarely
explored and highlighted in relevant literature. It is recalled here that a lot
of research conducted on the concept of terrorism always boarders on meaning,
types, actors, motives, methods and legal regime for prevention and enforcement
of the crime of terrorism. The closest literature so far known to this
researcher in exploring the relationship between terrorism and the right of
self-determination is generally in the investigation of the status and
activities of National Liberation Movement.
Since little is known
about the struggles of indigenous peoples, the researcher therefore intends to
take advantage of this lacuna and explore this virgin field of research with a
view of advancing new theories, thereby helping to develop the subject area
within the context of the Niger-Delta crisis in Nigeria.
b) The researcher will reopen debates on
critical aspects of studies that converge between issues in international
criminal law, international human rights law and humanitarian law – a
connection which seems to be largely forgotten or ignored by scholars.
c) The study will investigate the
significant difference between the claims of peoples or nations in other parts
of the world to wit, New Zealand, Australia and Americans vis-Ã -vis the claims
of nations in Africa, especially in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria to the
status of indigenous people.
It has been observed
that the colonial experience and subsequent contemporary experiences of the natives
in these different regions is not the same. For instance, in New Zealand,
Australia and Americans, there was settler colonialism while same cannot be
said of most parts of Africa, especially Nigeria where independence was
attained and sovereignty/governance returned to the natives who are ably
represented in national politics of these countries. By exploring this research
area, the researcher will therefore contribute significantly to the study of
indigenous peoples in Africa.
d) Lastly, by determining and seeking to
understand the Niger-Delta conflict broadly within the context of international
human rights regimes for the protection of the right of indigenous peoples,
international humanitarian law and international criminal law, the researcher
intends to proffer enduring solutions to the conflict facing the region, so as
to create a congenial environment for oil exploration activities with its
attendant benefit to both the Federal Government of Nigeria and the people of
the Niger Delta region.
1.7 Scope of the Study
This in the main, dwells
principally on the three areas of international law; namely, international
human rights law, international criminal law as well as international
humanitarian law. The work will also examine some domestic laws of countries as
it relates to the concept of indigenous people and self-determination. It is
important to point out here that the scope of this research does not cover
every aspect of the subject areas mentioned; rather an interjacent of the three
related subject areas is required. The research will also test the hypothesis
that the assertion of the right of self-determination by aggrieved indigenous
people would prelude the crime of terrorism under customary and contemporary
treaty international law.
1.8 Limitation of the Study
The researcher is limited by funds, space and time in accomplishing the
tasks proposed in this thesis. Thus, the limited availability of these
parameters will certainly affect the eventually quality of the thesis, though
not too significant as to invalidate the credibility of the work.
TABLE OF
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
ONE
GENERAL
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
of the Study
1.2 Statement
of the Problem
1.3 Research
Question
1.4 Objectives
of the Research
1.5 Research
Methodology
1.6 Significance
of the Research
1.7 Scope
of Study
1.8 Limitation
of the Study
CHAPTER
TWO
LITERATURE
REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Meaning
of ‘Peoples’
2.3 Nature
and meaning of ‘indigenous peoples’
2.4 Link
between Niger Delta people and indigenous peoples
2.5 Relationship between indigenous peoples,
internal colonialism and decolonization
2.6 Linkage
between indigenous peoples and right of self-determination
2.7 Affiliation
between indigenous peoples and the extractive industry
2.8 Relationship
between indigenous peoples and terrorism
2.9 Nature, Origins and Dimensions of the Niger
Delta crisis, militancy and terrorism
2.10 Link between the
Niger Delta crisis, Liberation Struggle, terrorism and Criminality
2.11 Nexus
between Niger delta crisis and armed conflict
2.12 Relationship between the Nigerian federalism,
devolution and the expression of the right of self-determination of the Niger
delta people
2.13 Nexus
between the Niger Delta crisis, resource control and federalism
CHAPTER THREE
NATURE AND
EXTENT OF INDIGENOUS SOVEREIGNITY AND LEGAL FRAMEWORK IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
3.1 Introduction
3.2 Indigenous
Recognition in International Law
3.3 Indigenous
people and the UN Human Rights System
3.4 Analysis
of International Law and Institutions on Indigenous Peoples
3.4.1 UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples
3.4.2 UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples
3.4.3 ILO Conventions 107 and 169
3.4.4 Draft American Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples
3.4.5 Inter-State Treaties with Special Provisions
Addressing Indigenous peoples
3.4.6 Operational Policies of International and
Private Institutions Relating to
Indigenous Peoples
3.4.7 Treaties and Agreements to which indigenous
peoples are Parties
3.5 Analysis
of Legal Frames for Claims by Indigenous Peoples
3.5.1 Distinctive Claims of Indigenous Peoples
3.5.1A Right
to Lands and territories
3.5.1B Right
to Participation
3.5.1C Rights
Relating to Development
3.5.1D Right
Relating to Culture
3.5.2 Historic Sovereignty Claims
3.5.3 Self-Determination Claims
3.5.4 Minority Claims
3.5.5 Human Rights and Non-Discrimination
CHAPTER FOUR
SELF-DETERMINATION,
TERRORISM AND THE INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW OF ARMMED CONFLICT
4.1 Introduction
4.2 The Evolution of the Right to
self-determination in the 20th Century
4.2.1 Self-determination before the Second World War
4.2.2 The UN and Notion of Self-Determination
4.2.3 Economic Self-Determination
4.3 Self-Determination and the Notion of
Statehood in the 21st Century
4.4 Self-Determination, Wars of National
Liberation and Classification of Armed Conflicts
4.5 Classification and status of armed
struggles or wars of self-Determination in Domestic and International Law: Criminals,
Terrorists, Freedom Fighters or Revolutionaries?
4.6 Strategies behind terror-violence, and the Political
Consequences of the potential applicability of International Humanitarian Law
to Liberation Struggles
CHAPTER FIVE
THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS, TERRORISM
AND THE APPLICATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Origin
of the Niger Delta Agitation and Struggle for Resource Control
5.3 Understanding the Niger Delta Struggle in
the Light of Human Rights as Indigenous Peoples
5.4 The Niger Delta Agitation as Struggle for
Self-Determination as Indigenous Peoples: Extent and Content
5.5 Means
and Tactics of the Niger Delta Conflict and the Question of Terrorism
5.6 Scope and Extent of the Niger Delta
Conflict and the Applicability of International Humanitarian Law Norms
5.7 The Niger Delta Conflict, Terrorism and the
Amnesties Programme of the Federal Republic of Nigeria
5.8 The
Niger Delta Conflict and Anti-terrorism Legislations in Nigeria
CHAPTER
SIX
CONCLUSION
6.1 Observations
6.2 Recommendations
6.3 Conclusion
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[1] The
Niger Delta has a peculiar terrain which tends to make development difficult.
For instance, it is one of the largest wetlands in the world. It covers an area
of 70,000 square kilometers and is noted for its sandy coastal ridge barriers, brackish
or saline mangroves, fresh water, permanent and seasonal swamp forests as well
as low land rain forest. The coastal line is buffeted throughout the year by
the tides of Atlantic Ocean while the mainland is subjected to regimes of flood
by the various rivers particularly river Niger. See NDDC (2001), NDDC profile
Port Harcourt.
[2] Figure
was released by the National population Commission as the result of 2006
National Census in the Country. See, NPC release 2006 population Figures,
Nigerian Village Square, (on-line material) available at http://www.Nigeriavillagesquare.com/index.php?Option=com_content_and_view=article&id=4708
(last visited 22/11/2011). The breakdown of the figure shows that the North
West has a population of 35,786, 944, the north Central – 20, 266, 257, North
East – 18971, 965, South West 27,581,992, South East – 16,381,729 and South South
– 21,014, 655. See Chidi Anyaeche, the 2006 Nigeria census figures (on-line
material) available at htt://nigeriaworld.com/articles/2007/jan12.html (last
visited 22/11/2011)
[3]
See, Akpobibibo Onduku, ‘The Lingering Crisis in the Niger Delta’, Field work
Report, Interdisciplinary Journal of
Peace, Conflict & Development, June 2003 pp. 2-3 available at http://www.peacestudiesjournal.org.uk/dl/oilconflictPDF
[4] See,
ibid, p.2
[5]
Ibeanu, “Oiling the Friction: Environmental Conflict Management in Nigeria”,
Environmental Change and Security Project Report, 2000
[6]
See Eghosa Osaghae, Augustine Ikelegbe and Steven Olchonmina, “Youth Militias,
Self Determination and Resource Control Struggles in the Niger-Delta Region of
Nigeria”, August, 2007, p.6.
[7] Brisibe
A. A, “African Tradition, the Identity of a People: With Special Focus on
Globalization and its Impact in the Niger Delta”, C. O.O. L. Conference, Boston, USA, March 18, 2011, p. 1
[8] Nrummo
Bassey, “Oil Watching in South America L. A Pollution Tour of Venezuela,
Caracas, Peru and Ecuador”, Environmental Rights Action, Nigeria, 1997
[9] It
is estimated that crude oil exports today make up 98% of Nigeria’s annual
exports, over 80% of government’s annual revenue and 70% of budgetary expenditure see Akpobibibo Onduku, Op. cit note 3, p. 3. kaniye S. A. Ebeku
traced the role of crude oil in Nigeria economic from the 1970’s and found that
federal government’s revenue from oil
rose from 17% in 1971 to 71% in 1973 and to 86% in 1975, and the pattern has
remained the same since then, hence in 1990 oil revenue accounted for 90% of
foreign exchange receipts and in 2000, 83.5% of the total gross revenue. See
Kaniye Ebeka, “Oil and the Niger-Delta People: The Injustice of the Land Use
Act”, Journal of Energy, Petroleum and
Mineral Law and Policy, University of Dundee, 2000.
[10] See,
Akpobibibo Onduku, Op. cit, note 3,
p. 3.
[11] The
peculiarities attracted the attention of even the colonial masters.
Consequently, Her Majesty’s government set up Sir Henry Willink’s commission to
recommend the best strategies for the development of the region which has been
most difficult terrain in the country. When the commission turned in its report
in 1958, it specially recommended that the Niger Delta region deserved special
developmental attention and should, therefore, be made a special area to be
developed directly by the Federal government. It is pertinent to state that
this was before crude oil became the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. Based on
the report, the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB) was established in 1960 to
cater for the unique developmental needs of the area. The NDDB was best
moribund before the outbreak of the civil war seven years later. For more see
NDDC (2001) NDDC profile, Port Harcourt.
[12]
See “Nigeria Petroleum Pollution in Ogoni Region”, TED Case Studies, No. 149,
(unpublished work) para 2, available at http://www1.american.edu/TED/OGONI.HTM.Para
2
[13] Akpobibibo
Onduku, Op. cit, note 3, p. 4
[14] Blessing
A. Nwoka, “The Politics of Self-Determination and Identity of the Minorities of
the Niger Delta”, in G. O. M. Tasie (ed.) The
Niger: The Past, Present and the Way Forward, Abstracts of papers at the
conference on the Niger Delta, Port Harcourt, 6-9 December, 2000.
[15] Niger
Delta Development Commission (NDDC) 2006, ‘Niger Regional Development Master
Plan’, popular version, NDDC, Port Harcourt.
[16] This
actions can be attribute to frustration (on the part of the people of the
region) arising from both state and oil companies negligence and destruction of
the Niger Delta ecology, which is the basic structure that supports life in the
region, as elsewhere. It may be said that the struggle by the people of the
region have been predicated on certain fundamental issues, namely; their
exclusion or marginalization in terms of access to resource sharing (known in
Nigerian parlance as resource control); environmental degradation, and
egregious human rights violations.
[17] See,
The International Crisis Group, “The Swamps of Insurgency: Nigeria’s Niger-Delta
Unrest”, Africa Report, No. 115-3, August 2006, p.1.
[18] See
Alternative: Turkish Journal of International Relations vol. 7 No. 1 Spring
2008, p. 93.
[19] The
use of terror strategies by the agitated groups to end the real and perceived
injustice has attracted global attentions and a rethink on resource
distribution policies of the Federal Government. However, the persistence of
the problem suggests the failure of such policies. See, Ilutoye Sarafa Ogundiya,
‘Domestic Terrorism and Security Threats in the Niger delta Region of Nigeria’,
p. 31.
[20] See,
Swamps of Insurgency, Op. cit,, pp
6-7, The Price of Oil, Op cit note 4
(Chap viii); “The Ogoni Crisis: A Case Study of Military Repression in
South-Eastern Nigeria, July 2005; Amnesty International, ‘Ten years on: Injustice and violence Haunt the Oil Delta,
November, 2005.
[21] This
was revealed in a press release of the Federated Niger Delta Ijaw Communities
(FNDIC); missing Raffle syndrome” 20/04/2003.
[22] See
Victor Ojakorotu, The Internationalization of Oil Violence in the Niger Delta
of Nigeria, Turkish journal of International Relations vol. 7. No. 1 Spring,
2008 p. 103.
[23] These
organizations include Amnesty International, the Green Peace movement, the
un-represented nations and peoples organization (UNPO), the Rainforest Action
Group, the United Nations and common wealth
[24] All
the major ethnic groups in the Niger Delta lay claim to nationhood as
indigenous people who are entitle to self-determination. They support their
claim with their history of pre-colonial independence and autonomy and the
various treaties concluded by their Chiefs with the colonial masters,
signifying partnership. See generally on-line information available at www.waado.org
[25] See
demands of the various ethno-nationalities in the Niger-Delta to the Nigerian
state represented in various documents, i.e. ‘The Ogoni Bill of Rights (1999)
and “The Communiqué of the First Urhobo Economic Summit (1998), available at www.waado.org
[26] The
Guardian Newspaper, December 30, 1998
[27] Victor
Ojakorotu, The Internationalization of Oil Violence in the Niger Delta of
Nigeria, Turkish Journal of International
Relations vol. 7. No. 1 Spring, 2008, p. 102.
[28] See
Ibid p. 102
[29]
See, The International Crisis Group, “The Swamps of Insurgency: Nigeria’s
Niger-Delta Unrest”, Africa Report, No. 115-3, August 2006, p.1. initially
there were smaller ethno-nationalist resistant movements like the Ken Saro
Wiwa’s Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), the Ijaw Youth Council and the Federated Niger-Delta
Izon Communities Movement (FNDIC), however larger forces comprising the entire
Niger-Delta ethnic groups have begun to spring up, like the Alhaji Dokubo
Asari’s Niger-Delta People’s Volunteer Force and the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger-Delta (MEND). See Patterson Ogon, “ Land and Forest
Resources Use in the Niger-Delta: Issues in Regulation and Sustainable
Management”, available at http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/GreenGovernance/papers/Ogon2006.pdf,
p.1 – 2
[30]
Various unlawful and punishable activities were attributed to the operations of
the insurgency groups in the Niger Delta, such as, kidnapping, extortion,
hostage taking, murder, maiming, armed robbery, bombing e.t.c.
[31] Obi,
C. I The Changing Forms of Identity Politics in Nigeria under Economic
Adjustment: The Case of the Oil Minorities Movement of the Niger Delta, Nordiska Research Report No. 119.
Uppsals, 2009.
[32] See.
The Kaiama Declaration, Op. cit, note
22 (Ijaw youth denounced the notion that they are terrorists). See also The
Guardian Newspaper, Tuesday, October 25, 2007, vol. 25 No. 10, 567. p 96
available at www.ngrguadiannews.com
[33] See
Patterson Ogon, “ Land and Forest Resources Use in the Niger-Delta: Issues in
Regulation and Sustainable Management”, available at http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/GreenGovernance/papers/Ogon2006.pdf,
p. 1
[34] See
Full text of the last statement of Ken Saro wiwa after his conviction, recorded
in TED case studies, Op. cit, note 4.
[35] See,
“Rebel Group warns of Renewed Attacks on “oil war”, France 24, International
News (on-line material) available at
http:/www.france24.com/en/category/tags-auteurs/news-wires
[36] Cyril
I. Obi, ‘Nigeria’s Niger Delta, Understanding the complex Drivers of conflict’,
p. 4.
[37] Hassan
Tai Ejibun, Nigeria’s Niger Delta Crisis: Root Causes of Peacelessness, JCSS issue 07/07 p. 3.
[38] Shehu
Shagari (former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria), BBC News,
Wednesday 30 May, 2007.
[39] See
Ibid, 33