Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta Managing the Complex Politics of Petroviolence

The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns. This book analyzes the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency. Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

Dr. Cyril Obi is a Senior Researcher, and Leader of the research cluster on conflict, displacement and transformation at the Nordic Africa Institute, Uppsala, Sweden. Siri Camilla Aas Rustad is a PhD Candidate at the Centre for the Study of Civil War at the International Peace Research Institute in Oslo (PRIO), Denmark.

Introduction: Petro-violence in the Niger Delta: The Complex Politics of an Insurgency - Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad * The Nigerian State and the Niger Delta Crisis - Ukiwo Ukoha * The Struggle for Resource Control and Violence in the Niger Delta - Rhuks Ako * The Niger Delta Crisis and the Question of Access to Justice - Engobo Emeseh * Women's Protests in the Niger Delta Region - Oluwatoyin Oluwaniyi * “Mend Me” the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta and the empowerment of violence - Morten Boås * Popular and Criminal Violence as instruments of struggle in the Niger Delta Region - Augustine Ikelegbe * Swamped with Weapons: The Proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons in the Niger Delta - Nils Duquet * Changing the Paradigm of Pacification: Oil and Militarization in Nigeria's Niger Delta - Charles Ukeje * The Ijaw National Congress and Conflict Resolution in the Niger Delta - Ibaba Samuel Ibaba * Nigeria's Oil Diplomacy and the Management of the Niger Delta Crisis - Kayode Soremekun * Corporate Social Responsibility and the Niger Delta Conflict: Issues and Prospects - Uwafiokun Idemudia * Labelling Oil, Contesting Governance: LegalOil.com, the GMoU and Profiteering in the Niger Delta - Anna Zalik * Capacity and Governance Deficits in the Response to the Niger Delta Crisis - Babatunde Ahonsi * Amnesty and Peace: Is the window of opportunity closing for the Niger Delta? - Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad