Africana, 5, Especial, 2011

8/18/2019 Africana, 5, Especial, 2011

1/331

Vol. 5, No. 1 i

A F R I C A N A SPECIAL ISSUE: THE NIGER DELTA

Volume 5, No. 1

Editor-in-Chief A. Curtis Burton Managing Editor Christopher LaMonicaIT Consultant Mariko Hemmingsen

Board Members:

John Akokpari Masse NdiayeLere Amusan Stanley Naribo NgoaPriya Chacko J. Shola OmotolaMourtada Deme Karen SmithIbaba Samuel Ibaba Kathryn Sturman

Christopher LaMonica Françoise UgochukwuVictoria Mason Douglas Yates

A F R I C A N A

Boston UniversityAfrican Studies Center

232 Bay State Road

Boston, MA 02210U.S.A.

Print: ISSN 2155-7829On-line: ISSN 2155-7837

www.africanajournal.org

http://www.africanajournal.org/http://www.africanajournal.org/http://www.africanajournal.org/


2/331

Africana: The Niger Delta Special Issue 2011

Vol. 5, No. 1 ii

Africana is printed by Country Press, Inc., Middleboro, MA USA

www.countrypressinc.com

COVER PHOTO: © Paulhenk | Dreamstime.comBoy on a boat on the Niger river Photo taken on: November 17th, 2008

© Africana. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced

in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the articles contained in this publication

do not necessarily represent the views of anyone affiliated with Africana or of

anyone at the African Studies Center at Boston University.

http://www.countrypressinc.com/http://www.countrypressinc.com/


3/331

Vol. 5, No. 1 iii

CONTENTS

v To Our Readers and Supporters

vi From the Editors

1 Oil and Cultural Crisis: The Case of the Niger Delta,

Nigeria

S.O. Aghalino, PhD

22 Environmental Justice, Democracy and the Inevitability

of Cultural Change in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of the

Niger Delta Dilemma

Kelly Bryan Ovie Ejumudo, PhD

49 Small Arms and Light Weapons (SALW) Proliferation

and Instability in the Niger Delta: An Analysis of the

Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)Process

George I.J Obuoforibo, PhD

74 The Minorities and Resource Allocation in a Transitional

State. The Nigeria Experience 1960-1999

Ekanade Olumide, PhD

108 ‘Agony in the Garden’: Incongruity of Governance and

the Travails of Port Harcourt City, Niger Delta, Nigeria,

1912-2010

Akachi Odoemene, PhD


4/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 iv

140 The Nigerian Press, The Public Sphere And Sustainable

Development: Engaging the Post Amnesty Deal in the

Niger Delta

Uzoechi Nwagbara

164 Charting Pathways to Development in the Riverine Areas

of the Niger Delta Region

O.J. Offiong and Jude Cocodia

189 Armed Militancy in the Niger Delta: Quintessential Play-Off of Sub-Regional Economic Disparities

Franklins A. Sanubi, PhD

216 Amnesty Programme and the Niger Delta: Overview of

Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR)

Strategy for Sustainable Peace

Atare Otite, PhD and Nathaniel Umukoro

238 Amnesty and Peace-Building in the Niger Delta:

Addressing the Frustration-Aggression Trap

Ibaba Samuel Ibaba, PhD

272 External Challenges to Moving Toward Sustainability in

the Niger Delta Region: Why a Critical Assessment of the

Classical Epistemologies and Developmental

Assumptions of External Actors Matters

Christopher LaMonica, PhD


5/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 v

To Our Readers and Supporters

During the month of February 2011 the Editorial Board of Africana

was reconstituted. A number of former Board Members graciously

stepped-down to welcome a new group and, beyond the full list of

their names provided above, an overview of their professional

affiliations and research interests is now posted at

http://www.africanajournal.org , our new and improved web-page.

As part of this process, the former Editorial Coordinator, Yilma Tafere

Tasew, was formally replaced by A. Curtis Burton, who has a lifetimeof experience and interest in literature, writing and editing. Suffice it

to say here that the backgrounds, credentials and talents of our new

Editorial Board are impressive by any standard.

To all of those who supported Africana in the past, a sincere ‘thank

you,’ and to all of the new members of our team, a warm ‘welcome.’

With this Special Issue we inaugurate a new and exciting era for

Africana. We have the support of an incredibly talented group ofdedicated scholars, who are involved in the peer review process and

many other supportive roles that help to make an exciting journal like

this one possible. In addition, we are greatly aided by the capable

support of our IT Consultant, Mariko Hemmingsen. Together with A.

Curtis Burton and Françoise Ugochukwu, Ms. Hemmingsen has

developed a new web-page design (effective March 2011), which will

undoubtedly provide even greater appeal and exposure to all future

Africana publications. I am truly excited about the continued success

of the journal and very much look forward to working with all of you.

Christopher LaMonica

Managing Editor, Africana

Boston, MA U.S.A.

http://www.africanajournal.org/http://www.africanajournal.org/http://www.africanajournal.org/


6/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 vi

From the Editors

It is with great pleasure that we present to you this Special Issue of

Africana.

This compilation of scholarship on the Niger Delta Region (NDR) has

been over a year in the making; it is very unique and very special. For

starters, the contributors are almost exclusively from Nigeria and

from the Niger Delta region, specifically. These are not the words of

dispassionate scholars who work under a pretense of objectivity; eachone of the contributors writes about this subject because they care

deeply about the ongoing and seemingly endless plight of the NDR.

Tragically, far too many in African/Africana studies scholarship are

required to operate under a veil of objectivity, something that

continues to dominate all of mainstream approaches to the social

sciences. We fully understand and appreciate the push, some would

say ‚need,‛ for ‚scientific‛ approaches to the study of all social woes

and those very methodologies are employed here. All of thecontributors to this Special Issue have included careful consideration

of ideas and data from, for example, academia, governments, NGOs,

international organizations, and others. But there is no pretense of

having been offered a proverbial ‚hat‛ with random social science

questions scribbled on little pieces of paper from which each

contributor has chosen from. The very social science issues that all

social scientists research and write about, and become ‚experts‛ in ,

are due to quite random and personal life circumstances. Most often

we are touched by one or another aspect of human struggle – often

our own – and delve into all forms of study with an innate human

sense for what is right and what is wrong.

The Call for scientific rationality and methodologies will sometimes

downplay the aforementioned, somehow assuming and promoting


7/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 vii

the view that those human senses are inherently dangerous and

therefore should not be a part of social science inquiry. We firmly

believe that human sensitivity toward and empathy for our fellow

man is tragically undervalued in the social sciences. Following in the

logic of philosopher George Santayana, the late Edward Said, and

Canadian critic John Ralston Saul, we believe that the lessons of the

Enlightenment have been hijacked by a world of thinkers and

practitioners who are, in their pursuit of rational scientific inquiry,

neglecting that other important lesson of the Enlightenment:

reasonable-ness , i.e. that each of us by virtue of being human hasinalienable rights and, as such, must be included as a critical factor in

all discussions of policy. Modes of rational scientific inquiry, now and

in history, have all too often neglected that basic fact: each of us

matters.

It is perfectly understandable that many feel empowered by scientific

methods and productive outcomes – to include those of the oil

industries; indeed the entire world is being transformed as a result!But we cannot forget our common human-ness along the way; we

cannot set aside enormous populations on this Earth and simply write

them off as a cost of our rationalist scientific enterprise. Let us put

this even more bluntly: Hitler and Stalin were similarly ‚justified‛ in

their scientific pursuits of Nazism and Communism, respectively. We

all know – all of us – that ‚breaking a few eggs to make an omelet ,‛ as

Stalin infamously put it, is wrong. Yet this is fundamentally the

‚logic‛ of far too many who are now engaged in African affairs. Andso we remind our readers that that approach, so evident in a place like

the Niger Delta Region, is wrong, inappropriate, and in the words of

so many who inspired the Spirit of the Enlightenment: unreasonable.

The test of reasonable-ness makes us think of things that are often

listed as ‚costs‛ in an otherwise more practical or pragmatic mode:

human lives, the quality of life, the environment, arts, cultures,


8/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 viii

identities, aesthetics, purpose and meaning. These need not be mere

impediments to development, as they are so often portrayed; they

must be carefully considered, particularly by those who currently

hold the reins of power. Looking at tragedies in regions like the Niger

Delta some simply throw their hands in the air and conclude that

those industrial and governmental leaders, those policy-makers, will

have to some day ‚answer to a higher power‛ for what they have

done. To that we would add that there should always be a test of

‚reasonable-ness‛ on their minds and, if there continues to be

evidence to the contrary, an increasingly aware Nigerian andinternational public will endeavor to hold them accountable for their

wrongful actions.

With that objective in mind, we firmly believe that this Special Issue

could be one of the best sources currently available on the subject of

the Niger Delta. The submissions that were ultimately selected by

Africana’s Editorial Board address a range of timely themes related to

the dramatic pace of change and challenge within the NDR. The first,entitled ‚Oil and Cultural Crisis: The Case of the Niger Delta,‛ by

S.O. Aghalino , of the Department of History, University of Ilorin,

Ilorin, Nigeria, is a heart-wrenching discussion of the ongoing

challenges that the petro-business has wrought on the region’s

indigenous norms and cultures. Aghalino draws on the extant

literature and local news sources to describe the horrors that have

accompanied the oil industry’s impacts throughout the region:

displacement of people, a rise in crime and prostitution, a rise ofethnic conflicts, and the steady decline of local chief authority.

Understandably, Aghalino refers to this as a ‘cultural crisis’; all of it

needs to be documented and heard.

The next piece, entitled ‚Environmental Justice, Democracy and the

Inevitability of Cultural Change in Nigeria: A Critical Analysis of the


9/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 ix

Niger Delta Dilemma,‛ by Kelly Bryan Ovie Ejumudo of the

Department of Political Science, Delta State University, Abraka,

Nigeria, quickly demonstrates the range of thinking that takes place,

within Nigeria, over these very issues. Here the term ‘cultural

change’ is portrayed as inevitable but the author is similarly

concerned with how effectively those in power – within what she

terms ‘Nigeria’s pseudo democracy’ – will address the Niger Delta’s

many challenges. She applies general principles of democracy and

emerging concepts of ‘environmental justice’ to these problems and

provides an important snapshot of where the region is right now – what she terms: shallow democratic institutions, weak culture, and

environmental injustice.

We follow this with a reminder of the life-and-death challenge of

small and light arms proliferation in the region by George I.J.

Obuoforibo. His article is entitled ‚Small Arms and Light Weapons

(SALW) Proliferation and Instability in the Niger Delta: An Analysis

of the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR)Process.‛ Obuoforibo is an academic that specializes in International

Relations and Political and Administrative Studies in the Department

of Social Sciences at the University of Port Harcourt in Rivers State,

Nigeria. We are infinitely grateful to him for his contribution. As he

rightly points out, the problem has been recognized internationally.

Yet far too little has been done to address the problem: researchers

note!

This is followed by yet another aspect of the problem: the politics of

revenue sharing. Ekanade Olumide , of the Department of History

and International Relations at Redeemer’s University, Nigeria, has

submitted an article entitled ‚Minorities and Resource Allocation in a

Transitional State: The Nigeria Experience 1960-1999,‛ that highlights

the politics of fiscal federalism in Nigeria and how it has adversely


10/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 x

impacted the Niger Delta region. Providing key data on revenues

from an historical perspective, he argues that the politics of revenue

sharing has marginalized the interests of minorities in the region.

Akachi Odoemene’s piece, entitled ‚Agony in the Garden:

Incongruity of Governance and the Travails of Port Harcourt City,

Niger Delta, Nigeria, 1912-2010,‛ reminds us that Port Harcourt,

Nigeria’s Garden City, was a desirable home for all. In recent times,

he argues, ‚it has been transformed into a city with a rough and

tumble character.‛ He looks at the problem from an historian’sperspective, documents a range of comments made during the

aforementioned transition and concludes, as so many others have,

that oil is at the root of so many of the region’s problems. Readers

beware: like Aghalino’s piece, Odoemene’s discussion of social

violence and other problems in the region might well leave you, as it

did us, wringing your hands in frustration.

Uzoechi Nwagbara introduces yet another way of thinking of theregion and that is from the perspective of the effectiveness and/or

ineffectiveness of the Nigerian press. With the undoubted power of

today’s media, in Nigeria as elsewhere, Nwagbara’s message is an

important one: ‚In order to achieve peace and good governance in the

region, serious grassroots and national information dissemination so

as to guarantee objectivity and fairness in news reporting thereby

impacting on the regime’s governance is required.‛ In his discussion,

Nwagbara masterfully takes us to the ideas of Habermas on thecrucial importance of having a ‘rational-critical debate’ in the ‘public

sphere.’ Nwagbara’s ultimate concern and hope is for having

Nigeria’s media support peace in the wake of the Amnesty deal

brokered by President Yar’Adua.


11/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 xi

Still others, like O.J. Offiong (University of Benin, Benin City,

Nigeria) and Jude Cocodia (Niger Delta University, Wilberforce

Island, Bayelsa State, Nigeria), look to the problem of ‘development’

in their piece entitled, ‚Charting Pathways to Development in the

Riverine Areas of the Niger Delta Region.‛ They point to Ken Saro

Wiwa’s comments that suggest ‚the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria is a

paradox.‛ Indeed, the region has not fared well in terms of local

development, while the holders of power (they focus mostly on the oil

MNCs, whom they term as the ‚worse culprit of the quick money

syndrome‛) have assuredly benefited handsomely. Their point is toemphasize the importance of improving local human resource

development, something which has thus far eluded the leaders of oil

MNCs, the Ministry of the Niger Delta, and the Niger Delta

Development Commission. Our reading of this well-written piece

leaves us with the impression that oil MNCs could really do more to

make sure that, somehow, this is made to happen.

Franklins A. Sanubi , of the Department of Political Science, DeltaState University, Abraka, Nigeria, has submitted a piece entitled

‚Armed Militancy in the Niger Delta: Quintessential Play-Off of Sub-

Regional Economic Disparities.‛ In it he reiterates some of the

messages mentioned earlier in this issue: sub-national marginalization

of the region and the problem of growing economic disparities. But

Sanubi suggests that the problem of armed militancy should not be

over-simplified as being due to economic disparity alone; the problem

is much more complex and leaves many within the region feelingfundamentally marginalized. He reminds us of this simple fact:

‚Three dominant ethnic groups – the Hausa/Fulani, Yoruba and Ibo –

call the shots in Nigeria’s political determinism since independence

and none of the major ethnic groups in the Niger Delta fall into these

three.‛ Moreover, Sanubi carefully demonstrates that the federal

government continues to enjoy the lion’s share of oil revenues.


12/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 xii

Sanubi concludes that Abuja’s meaningful inclusion of heretofore

marginalized groups, and not cynical moves motivated by a

continuation of the same, is the path to peace.

Atare Otite and Nathaniel Umukoro , also of the Department of

Political Science at Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria, return to

the issue of Amnesty in a piece entitled ‚Amnesty Programme and

the Niger Delta: Overview of Disarmament, Demobilization, and

Reintegration (DDR) Strategy for Sustainable Peace.‛ In a careful

presentation of the DDR and secondary data, Otite and Umukorosuggest that ‚sustainable peace can only be ensured if the root causes

of violence in the Niger Delta are identified and ameliorated.‛ They

rightly remind us of the simple if tragic fact that the people of the

Niger Delta are deeply concerned about the problems of rising

poverty, unemployment, social strife, and environmental decay and

want to see these issues somehow, some way, improved. On this

same subject we have included a piece by Ibaba Samuel Ibaba , who

specializes in the Niger Delta conflict. Ibaba frames the issue in whathe terms the ‚frustration-aggression trap‛ and highlights the

challenges it poses to peace-building. Similar yet different, these two

papers provide important insights into local academic thinking on the

prospects for peace in the Niger Delta.

The last contribution, entitled ‚External Challenges to Moving

Toward Sustainability in the Niger Delta Region: Why a Critical

Assessment of the Classical Epistemologies and Developmental

Assumptions of External Actors Matters ,‛ comes to us from

Africana’s Managing Editor, Christopher LaMonica, of the

Department of Humanities, Government Section, United States Coast

Guard Academy. LaMonica argues that most external actors are

solely focused on changing the internal dynamics of Nigeria (e.g.


13/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 xiii

internal corruption, the dominance of particular ethnic groups) and

tend to ignore the broader, global picture. He argues that more

emphasis should be placed on the lack of international responsibility

for the current crisis in the NDR. External actors working for oil

companies, international ‚watchdogs‛ like the International Energy

Agency, and donor states, have only helped to create the crisis by

focusing solely on their own respective interests. LaMonica argues

that mutually beneficial results can be achieved if a longer-term and

ultimately more sustainable perspective is employed. Achieving that

aim will require a critical assessment, by all, of the ‚classic‛assumptions that external actors make about commerce and

development. In other words, the developmental problems of the

NDR are largely rooted in the ‚waste land‛ assumptions that many

external actors make when engaging stakeholders in an oil-rich state

like Nigeria.

As outside observers we are certain of one thing: the world needs to

know more about the plight of the people of the Niger Delta.Hopefully this Special Issue will help to make that happen.

As always, we thank you for your continued interest in Africana.

A. Curtis Burton

Editor-in-Chief, Africana

Washington, D.C. U.SA


14/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 xiv


15/331

Oil and Cultural Crisis: The Case of the Niger Delta

Dr. S.O. Aghalino1

Key Terms: Nigeria, Niger Delta, oil industry, migration, petroleum,

prostitution, spillage.

Introduction

The Niger Delta is one of the ten most important wetland and

coastal marine ecosystems in the world. It is home to some 31 millionpeople. (Report of the Niger Delta Technical Committee, November

2008:102). The Niger Delta is also the location of massive oil and gas

deposits, which have been exploited since 1956. Oil has generated an

estimated $600 billion since the commercial exploitation of oil in

Nigeria. Despite this, the majority of the people in the oil bearing

enclave of the Niger Delta are conspicuously poor. The United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) describes the region as

‘suffering from administrative neglect, crumbling social

infrastructure, and services, high unemployment, social deprivation,

abject poverty, filth and squalor and endemic conflict’ (UNDP , 2006).

What the UNDP failed to add is that the region is also embroiled in

cultural crisis engendered by the activities of the oil majors.

The Niger Delta remains one of the critical fault lines of Nigerian

politics. Not only is it the region that holds Nigeria’s predominantlyoil reserves and therefore, the national wealth, it has assumed a new

geopolitical importance in the context of global oil politics. Like many

oil producing countries, the region has not been spared the agony of

recurring violent conflicts associated with the management of oil

resources (Oyefusi, 2007).

1 S.O. Aghalino, PhD , is with the Department of History, University of Ilorin,Ilorin, Nigeria. His e-mail is [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


16/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 2

Since the mid 1990s, there has been on-going violence and uprising in

the Niger Delta region with a renewed call for self-determination and

/or local control of oil resources. These conflicts, often attended by

kidnapping of foreign oil workers for ransom, vandalization and

sometimes blow-up of oil installations, have taken on a frightening

dimension over the years. According to a report by Hamilton and

others (2004), violence in the Niger Delta alone is estimated to have

killed about 1000 persons a year between 1999 and 2004. This chapter

focuses on one dimension of the crisis in the Niger Delta: the cultural

crisis. Attempt is made to dissect and explicate the nature of thecultural crisis in the region. Conventional analysis of the crisis in the

ND seems to down play the ancillary impact of the oil industry with a

focus on the flora and the fauna. This, as it were must have blurred

the intricacy of the issues in contention. Thus, a holistic assessment of

the crisis must also take cognizance of the culture of the people that is

constantly violated and has subsequently engendered a strange sub-

culture detrimental to every life in the region. Our analysis charts the

common ground of oil induced behavioral modification that seems to be impairing a hitherto tranquil and harmonious society. In this light,

a concise discourse of the oil industry in the region is undertaken to

lay a background to the cultural crisis in the area. This is done against

the backdrop of an analysis of the precise causes of the social

disequilibrium and the resultant break down of culture in the region.

Petro-Business in the Niger Delta

The Niger Delta region has been defined in terms of geology,geography and ethnography (Onokerhoraye, 2000). There is hardly

any controversy over the geological, geographical and ethnographical

description of the Niger Delta Region (NDR). With the ascendancy of

crude oil, the NDR is synonymous, in the perception of many

Nigerians, with oil provinces of the delta. The NDDC Act, 2000, and

the OMPADEC Act of 1992 would seem to have accentuated this


17/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 3

perception (Ekuerhare, 2006). The Niger Delta region has a population

of 27 million, covering an area of 70,000 square kilometers, with 5,000

communities, 50 ethnic groups and 250 dialects. The region is not only

rich in oil and gas but in other natural resources like timber and wild

life. The significant feature of the Niger Delta is the general state of

underdevelopment, not only by world standard but also in relation to

many parts of the country. Currently, Nigeria is the eighth largest oil-

exporting country in the world with oil revenue accounting for about

80 % of total government revenue, 95 % of foreign exchange earnings,

40% contribution to GDP and about 4 % of employment. Nigeria is thelargest oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, with about 32 per cent and

34.2 per cent of Africa’s oil and gas reserves respectively, the fifth

largest exporting country in the OPEC and the fifth largest oil

exporting country to the US (eia.doe.gov). Nigeria’s proven reserve

are estimated to be 36 billion barrels while the country’s natural gas

reserves are even bigger, estimated at well over 100 trillion cubic feet

(Tell, February 18, 2008:33 ).What to note is that the Niger Delta

region of Nigeria is the goose that lays the golden egg as oilexploitation is concentrated in the region.

So much wealth is derived from the bowel of the region yet, the

scourge of poverty in the region is grim with people lacking basic

human needs and the environment willfully and constantly degraded

by oil companies (Dafinone David, 2008).When the World Bank

carried a comprehensive study of the region in 1995, it arrived at the

following conclusions: The Niger Delta is the least developed area ofNigeria. Per capital income was less than $280 per annum, with a

high-rising population. Indices of development such as education,

health, sanitation, job creation, water and other physical

infrastructures, were far below acceptable standards. Environmental

resources were gradually being degraded, and there was an extremely

poor human capacity and basic skills. In the same vein the 2006 Niger


18/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 4

Delta Human Development Report by the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP, 2006) arrived at the same bleak

conclusion. This contrasts sharply with Qatar, a country of one million

people, has the highest per capital income in the world, put at $80,000.

(Tell, July 14, 2008:30). By the 1990s, these long years of neglect and

deprivation, as well as failures of addressing the development

challenges prevalent in the region, had created a volatile atmosphere

where youths disrupted oil production activities at will and

communities frequently engaged, with little provocation, in

destructive inter and intra- community strife (Aghalino, 2010). Intandem with this social disequilibrium is a concomitant cultural crisis

in the region which has denuded the societal umbilical cord and has

also engendered a ‘cash-and carry’ subculture.

Oil and Cultural Crisis in the Niger Delta

Section 1 of the Cultural Policy for Nigeria (1998) defines

culture as the totality of the technical products, philosophers’ worldview, institutions and creative/artistic practices which a people

fashion to cope with the challenges of living in their environment. It

is these elements which distinguish one people from another (Darah,

1995). According to Taylor (1871), culture taken in its widest

ethnographic sense, is that complex whole which included

knowledge, art, morals, laws, customs, and any other capabilities and

habits acquired by man as a member of society (Fayeye, 2009).

UNESCO, 2002) presents culture as distinctive spiritual, material,intellectual and emotional features of society or social group, and that

it encompasses, in addition to art and literature, lifestyles, ways of

living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs. Indeed, culture

refers to a configuration of learned and shared patterns of behavior

and of understanding concerning the meaning and value of things,

ideas, emotions and actions. As noted by Darah (1995), the technical


19/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 5

dimension of culture comprises the instruments and tools designed

and produced to enable a people exploit the resources of their

environment to satisfy their basic needs.

There is a considerable corpus of literature on culture of the Niger

Delta (Darah, 1995; Azaiki, 2003). It is to be noted that colonial rule

and later Christianity had put tremendous pressure on all layers of

society, leading to diminution of cultural identity and self esteem.

Cash crop agriculture and the capitalist economy had introduced a

modicum of social organization and behavior that relatively alteredthe traditional indigenous system. Yet it must be noted that at this

stage, industrialization was low so rural solidarity, moral purity and

social values were still intact. Before the incursion of the oil industry,

there was relative stability in the demography and social relations of

the communities. Most people had access to the basic things of life

because oil-induced inflation had not set in. Communities in the

region organized communal festivals whose program featured

religious ceremonies, purification rites, the launch of new dance steps,masquerades and other artistic activities. These artistic institutions, as

observed by Darah, helped to mobilize energy to reinforce social

solidarity and to identify, train and promote talents in song

composition, performance, and organization of events and the hosting

of visitors. The idyllic society where culture moderated daily activities

was to be completely shaken and devastated by the incursion of the

oil industry.

The link between unsustainable petroleum exploitation in the Niger

Delta and the destruction of the indigenous homeland and culture of

the people is undeniable. Traditional lands have been sacrificed on the

altar of irresponsible oil policies. The point of interest is that the

environmental degradation occasioned by oil pollution and gas

flaring is instrumental to the cultural crisis in the region. It would


20/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 6

appear a concise discussion of the cultural crisis in the Niger Delta

cannot be adequately tackled without perfunctory references to land

issues. Oil industry activities are largely predicated on their unrestrained

access to land because they derive their oil from the earth crust. The

oil-bearing enclave on the other hand, depends on land to grow their

food, fish and hunt. Land is central to the social system of the people of

the Niger Delta as well as other parts of Nigeria. In this respect, clashes

between the people and oil firms are inevitable.

The acquisition of land by the oil firms for pipelines rights of ways,flow lines, flow stations and gas flaring sites normally engender

acrimony between oil firms and host communities. Shell, for example,

has over 6,200 kilometers network of pipelines and flow stations spread

over more than 31,000 square kilometers of the Niger Delta (Shell,

1995). One major feature of land in the Niger Delta is the

predominance of pipelines that transverses footpaths, farmland and

community ponds. These networks of pipelines disrupt foot

communications and farming. They have also altered the pristine landtenure system of the people. Farmers could no longer engage in bush

burning because of the presence of oil and gas pipelines, which are

highly inflammable. From the face value, it would appear that "land

take" by the oil firms is insignificant. Shell for example claims that it uses

about 400 square kilometer of land, which is about 0.6 per cent of the

entire land of the Niger Delta. Most of the land acquired by Shell is for

long term use, such as well sites, offices, but some for the short term

only, such as seismic lines. As at the end of 1998, there was a total of1,513 well sites within the company's operations out of which a total of

906 contained producing wells (Shell, 1998). While the total land-take

may appear small in general terms, the effect of the land acquired can

be serious on individual land holding as well as the community in

general depriving them means of subsistence. A tacit manifestation of the

seriousness of the impact of land -take on the people of the Niger Delta is


21/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 7

seen in the incessant land disputes and the consequent litigation

between individuals, groups, communities and the oil firms. In

most cases, these disputes are fuelled by the quantum of

compensation paid to land owners as well as payments of

compensations to the wrong families (Fekumo, 1990; Frynas, 1998;

Aghalino, 2005).

Arguably, land disputes may occur due to ethnic conflict, but in some

areas, oil firms aggravate existing land disputes because of their

ignorance of existing feuds. Closely related with the above, is thewanton degradation of the environment of the region and its

attendant social and cultural impact. For the people of the Niger

Delta, environmental quality and sustainability are fundamental to

their well being and development. According to the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP), more than 60 per cent of the

people in the region depend on the natural environment for their

livelihood. According to a study carried out by a team of Nigerian

and international environmental experts in 2006, the Niger Delta is‘one of the most world’s most severely petroleum –impacted

ecosystems’. It is reported that the damage from oil operations is

chronic and cumulative, and has acted synergistically with other

sources of environmental stress to result in severely impaired

ecosystem and impoverished the livelihood and health of the

regions impoverished residents (Amnesty International, 2009:14).

As noted by Amnesty International, the people living in the Niger

Delta have to drink, cook with, and wash in polluted water; they eatfish contaminated with oil and other toxins. The health of the

environment and the lives of the people are intertwined with the

health of the water system. The food, water and cultural identity of

many local people are closely related to the delta ecosystem. More

importantly perhaps is the fact that tens of thousands of families in

the Niger Delta rely on fishing on inland rivers as well as offshore


22/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 8

for both income and food. The activities of the oil companies have

engendered land hunger and subsequently distorted the cultural

practices of the people that are tied to their land.

In the traditional Niger Delta setting, such as the Ogoni area, when

a woman gets married, her husband is required to give her a piece

of land to farm. The woman is expected to feed her family and

grow for food for sale in order to buy other staples from the parcel

of land. This tradition allowed the woman to enjoy a measure of

economic independence. However, the constant land-take for oilactivities, and the resultant pollution from the industry, has left

women in the region with little or no means to feed or support

their families in this otherwise symbiotic arrangement. Women

have to go further away from home to find unpolluted land and

water for their domestic chores (Diana).

As is the case in most Nigerian communities, women play

prominent role in the management of health of the household because as agents of fertility, they have specific knowledge of local

medicines. Their knowledge of herbs, tree barks and other local

cures were acquired during their ‘fattening’ room period. This

starts after the birth of the first child and lasts for one year. During

this period, she is not allowed out of the family compound.

Besides being a time to rest, it is also a time of informal schooling

when she learns how to look after her child and home. She is

attended to by women from her family and older women in thecommunity. As pressure grows on young women, forced to deal

with shrinking agricultural resources, very little time is left for

them to acquire the specialized health knowledge traditionally

gained through a fattening room period. For those who still

practice this tradition, it rarely exceeds two months after which

they must return to farming (Diana).


23/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 9

Lergborsi (2007) has shown that there is destruction and possible

extinction of medicinal plants and herbs that are rooted in

traditional medicine and spirituality of the people as a result of the

incursion of the oil industry. The extinction is brought about by the

fact that most of these herbs and plants are found in sacred groves,

shrines and forests, which have fallen under direct destruction in

the course of oil exploitation and the toxicity of oil pollution.

Seismic workers, in the process of cutting lines, trees, shrines and

groves are tampered with these pharmaceutical herbs. As the case

may be, even ancestral ponds are desecrated while detonatingexplosives for seismic data acquisition. This is done with outright

impunity as the people are hardly paid farm- gate compensation.

As it were, under Nigerian Petroleum Law, juju shrines, sacred

bushes and other venerated objects are classified under ‘Fructus

Naturale’. Special permission is sought from the state authority

before such objects could be destroyed (Etikerentse, 1985;

Atsegbua, Akpotaire and Dimowo, 2003).

Aside from the land question, there is also a moral issue in the

analysis of the oil-induced cultural crisis in the Niger Delta. There

is alarming evidence of a drop in morality in the region, which

hitherto used various taboos to check social misbehaviour. It

would appear there is a scandalous and promiscuous social

concubineage between oil company workers and girls in the host

communities. The influx of comparatively rich and almost "alien"

workers from the affluent oil industry has escalated prostitutionin previously "isolated" and stable communities. Others (Tell

February 23, 1998, Anikpo, 1996; Aghalino, 2009; Ekine (1999) have

confirmed that ‘prostitution is on the increase and that in the Niger

Delta, many towns and villages have seen influx of male workers

from other parts of Nigeria as well as a large expatriate community,

and notes that the situation, together with poverty, illiteracy and


24/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 10

lack of any alternatives has led many young girls into prostitution

and are made to engage in bestiality by some expatriates

(Adalikwu, 2007:164; Semenitari, 1998; Brisibi, 2001). More

importantly perhaps is the fact that because men have migrated

away in search of greener pastures, their wives become susceptible

to the seduction of the oil men. When eventually they return to

hear gory tales of the escapade of their wives, the men in return

disown their wives and consequently swell the already large pool

of ‘free women’ willing to engage in commercial sex. In fact, break

down of marriages is a serious aspect of the cultural crisis in theNiger Delta. There is also an emerging army of ‘fatherless children

‘in the region. This is not unconnected with the high wave of

prostitution enunciated above. As the young and impressionistic

girls fall victims to the itinerant oil workers, they are made to bear

the burden of caring for the children who unfortunately are rejected

by the oil men. Indeed, it may not be out of place to stress that the

children today are the arrow heads of the militants in the region.

The argument may be made that the young girls are equally guilty

since it takes two to tangle. But when one discovers the level of

social awareness in the region, one would easily exonerate them.

These are materially impoverished folks living far away from urban

communities and hence ignorant of more dignifying means of

livelihood after their farmland had been degraded by oil

multinationals (Aghalino 1999). The teenage girls are attracted to

the steady flow of cash from their transient lovers andsubsequently ignore going to school as it is seen as time wasting. It

is therefore explicable why the young girls are highly susceptible to

the ‘oil men’ who can lure them with little sums of money but

which unfortunately appear enormous in the eyes of the girls

(Teilanye, 1997:25).


25/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 11

A follow up to the wave of prostitution in the region is the

prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the Niger Delta is among the

highest in the country, higher than the average for Nigeria. The

Niger Delta has an average prevalence rate of 5.3 per cent,

compared to the national average of 5 per cent. The impact of

HIV/AIDS has been particularly harsh in the region. It is well

known that the disease wreaks greater havoc where there is

poverty, social inequality and general political marginalization. The

weakening of livelihood and the social fabric in areas prone to oil

exploitation creates additional problems in terms of care andsupport (UNDP, 2006:316). Before the incursion of the oil industry,

purity amongst women was highly revered and social miscreants

were lampooned. But the break down of culture in the region has

facilitated the wave of prostitution in the region.

The oil industry in the Niger Delta has also engendered cultural

conflict in another way. Migration into and out of the Niger Delta

during the pre-colonial and colonial period were dictated by theneed to farm, fish and trade (Otite, 1979; Aghalino 1996). The oil palm

belt as it were, attracted people from the densely populated and

agricultural land-lacking area of the core-east. The emergence of

petroleum as a major resource in the region introduced a new

dimension to earlier forms of migrations. Oil industry induced

migrations involve young men and girls in search of greener pasture

in the major urban areas of the Niger Delta (Legborsi, 2007: 11).

Perhaps, it may be stressed that an urban-rural divide was alreadyshowing in the region by the time oil became a dominant feature of the

Nigerian economy. The oil boom years sharpened it with a

consequent decline in rural population. Migration out of the oil-

bearing enclave in the Niger Delta seem to be the major radical

adaptable mechanism put in place by the people whose source of

livelihood is threatened by oil spills and gas flaring. In point of fact,


26/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 12

migrations in the Niger Delta are also informed by the wish to move

elsewhere because of unbearable pollution of water ways and land

as well as the inflationary trend institute by oil field workers.

Others are searching for opportunities to re-establish trading

activities as a result of the lost of their farmland to oil pollution. It

seems that Nigeria's oil boom has turned the "Petroleum producing

areas to centrifugal centers of oil doom where people leave rather

than live in". (Adeniyi, et al.1983). It is easily conjectured that the

rapid migratory wave to cities and oil enclave had denuded the

population of the Niger Delta, dislocated the active stratum of societyand had consequently disoriented social networks that previously

sustained a virile cultural life style in the region (Darah, 1995).

Decline in artistic and socio-cultural and religious performances

illustrate the above development. Hitherto, the vibrancy in artistic life

was a prominent feature of the Niger social outlook. An urban-rural

was already showing in the Niger Delta by the time oil became a

dominant feature of the economy. The oil boom years sharpened it.Rural-urban migrations intensified with a consequent decline in rural

population. The sharp decrease in rural population caused a decline in

the number and frequency of annual or seasonal performances and

observance of important cultural ceremonies, especially festivals. The

cultural space lost to traditional festivals is now filled largely by

elaborate obituary ceremonies. In point of fact, burials of the aged

were always elaborate in the region as the forum was used to reenact

culture and tradition. What is new is the conduct of funeral in form ofcarnivals even for young people. This has engendered cultural crisis as

these burials entails extravagant spending, especially the ‘spraying’ of

currency notes on the children of the deceased.

An adjunct to the above is that a majority of households in the region

is now headed by women as a result of the migration of their


27/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 13

husbands out of their villages. This is a clear distortion of the culture

of the people which ensured that the man was the head of the home.

The result is that the jobs of caring for the family now rest on the

women (Okoko, 1998). The cultural crisis caused by this development

can only be imagined when women now have to preside over family

issues. The influx of ‘stranger’ elements from other parts of the

country and abroad has further diluted local cultures and safeguards.

As for the environment and natural resources, this means that

traditional arrangements for resource use and management have

virtually broken down. Clan rulers, villagers elders and family headscan no longer be relied upon to enforce traditional practices, which

have negative consequences for the environment(UNDP 2006:306).

One characteristic of the migrants is that most of them are out in

search of paid employment. This trend has engendered a subtle

proletarianization of the labour force in the region. Proletarianization

in this context is applied to mean a shift away from self-employment

mainly in agriculture to wage labour. It also suggests that smallholders are being pushed out of agriculture into wage labour; rather

than being pulled by new employment opportunities (Jayaraman

and Lanjonw, 1999). This new but flourishing trend in the region is

probably a function of gross poverty in spite of the vast oil wealth in

the region. Moffat and Linden (1995) have shown that the Gross

National Product (GNP) per capita in the region is below the national

average of US$280. They assert that the high salary paid to oil workers

cannot mitigate the stark poverty in this region, it can onlyexacerbate it . Poverty in this region goes beyond the physical. It is also

psychological as there is a total erosion of dignity and self-respect

(Duning, 1990).

The displacement of people and villages when oil spillages occur is

another major cultural crisis occasioned by the oil industry. The


28/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 14

point to note is that the link between unsustainable petroleum

exploitation in the Niger Delta and the destruction of the

indigenous homeland and culture is undeniable. Traditional land

has been sacrificed at the altar of irresponsible oil practices. The

displacement of Igolu village in Isokoland which result from the

massive spillages in 1973 at Shell's location 13 and 18 had untold

physical and psychological impact on the people. In the same vein, the

September 1999 oil spillage disaster at Ekakpamre also in Delta state

impacted negatively on the people. The spill not only destroyed rivers,

wide expanse of agricultural land but also rendered the peoplehomeless. In addition, the spill created a new surge of displaced person

as well as environmental migrants. This surge was intensified with

the Jesse fire disaster, which claimed almost a thousand lives (Oil

Times, June 2001; The Punch, December 7, 1998).The displacement of

people had its attendant problem of removing people from their land as

the people’s ways of life are tied to their land (Aghalino,2010).

One other dimension to the cultural crisis in the region is youth unrestand the emergence of militant groups. These groups are increasingly

challenging community leaders, who in the past were unquestionably

followed. This has led to a loss of societal values and the loss of

traditional structures of authority. In earlier times, youth were

typically at the bottom of the hierarchy. Today however, traditional

rulers and elders in the various communities have lost control over

youths. They have worked out their own largely unsustainable ways

of reaching and dealing with the oil companies, government at everylevels, and national and international organizations (UNDP,

2006:306). Before the oil armada, the social value of labour and hard

work was celebrated. People with unquestionable wealth were

subjects of ribald songs and infamy. Today, the incursion of the oil

industry has totally distorted the culture of hard work and quick


29/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 15

wealth is the in-thing. The quest for quick money must be

instrumental in the high wave of crime in the region.

The cultural crisis in the Niger Delta is also found in the form of a

resurgence of violent conflicts in the region. The region has witnessed

a rash of violence within the past two decades. Between 1990 and 2004

alone, over 1000 cases of violent crises were reported resulting in

more than 300,000 deaths. In the 2002 World Bank governance

rankings, only 19 countries out of a total 179 ranked below Nigeria in

terms of political stability and the absence of violence (AAPW,2006:7). In an environment of insecurity, agitation, mistrust and even

wealth distribution, criminal elements have become strong in the

Niger Delta. These are armed, well organized and protected by

powerful patrons. They steal sections of oil pipelines, well heads and

vehicles, engage in illegal oil bunkering, attack small crafts on the

rivers, intimidate communities and companies to extort money and

protect their network (AAPW, 2006:22).

The point to note is that the spread of Western ideals of capitalism,

the quest for money, and immediate gratification has overshadowed

the respect for traditional authority. Consequently, in view of the

impact of oil exploration activities, the deep sense of community,

morality, social cohesion and solidarity hitherto enjoyed by the people

is being eroded, making it easy for families and communities that

have co-existed peacefully before the commencement of oil business

to come into conflict with each other over oil royalty and ownershipof land. Internal divisions within communities also seem to have

increased. These divisions are instigated by greed, a by–product of

social disintegration. The observable internal divisions are most

frequently between the youths and chiefs, between youths and the

communities’ urban and local elites, between youths and professional

claims agents and the community, as well as, between different youth


30/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 16

groups. Interestingly, the youths play crucial role in the formation of

factions. Thus, in most cases, the conflict is directed against the chiefs

who are seen as the focal point of authority and patronage.

Age grades were important institutions which helped to mobilize

community energy and reinforce solidarity. The age grade also

performed economic functions in the form of clearing bush paths as

well as bailing of ponds. But with the advent of the oil industry, the

pre-colonial and colonial functions of the age grades changed. Age

grades are now used as forum for resisting the atrociousenvironmental regime of the oil firms. They galvanize themselves in

presenting common front in the struggle for compensation from the

oil firms .They organize and stage protests. In the extreme, they

barricade flow stations, subtlety engage in the sabotage of oil

installations and engage in outright kidnapping in order to obtain

ransom. Discipline which was a hallmark of age grades when it was

culturally regulated has now fizzled out. The result is frequent

disruption to peaceful community life and disruption of oilindustry activities. Before the advent of the oil industry, youths

unquestionably followed the dictates of the elders (Aghalino, 1999).

But with the realization of the wealth that could be from oil industry,

traditional chiefs threw caution to the wind and began to assume the

final point of authority and patronage by the oil industry. With time

the youths discovered that they were colluding with contractors to

falsely certify jobs completion in order to share a percentage of the

contract sum to the detriment of their communities. The youth are becoming so vocal. The result is a complex and dynamic

fragmentation of communities characterized by frequent power shifts.

This makes it difficult to build relationship as well as negotiate

compensations for land acquisition, damages and spills.


31/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 17

Conclusion

This paper has attempted to examine the cultural crisis

induced by oil exploration and production in the Niger Delta. The

point was adumbrated that it is conventional for scholars to view the

crises in the Niger Delta from the binoculars of environmental

deterioration occasioned by oil pollution and gas flaring without

taking cognizance of the cultural crisis as these are intertwined. The

environment of the people of the region cannot be divorced from their

every activity which is embedded in their culture.

Thus, the cultural crisis in the region is explicated by the break down

of pristine ways of doing things and this is reflected in the violation of

land rights, degradation of cultural artifacts such as shrine, groves

and even burial sites. The cultural crisis in the region is acute as it

affects women and their access to land, water and pharmaceutical

product derived from land. More importantly perhaps is the wave of

migration, resurgence of crime as attested to by youth militancy and

disdain for constituted authority. There is structural and socialdislocation of society as epitomized by high wave of prostitution,

acceptance of spirit of rugged individualism and strained inter-group

relations. Our point of departure is that although the federal

government is making concerted effort to tame the Niger Delta crisis,

this must be done from a holistic perspective by taking into

consideration the cultural dimension of the crisis. This, in fact, entails

social re-engineering and cultural re-orientation to integrate the

people back to their society.


32/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 18

References

Academic Associates Peace Work , (2006). Oil Prospecting and Communal

Crisis. Case Studies of Private Corporations’ Activities in the Niger

Delta, Nigeria

Adalikwu, J. 2007.Globalisation and the Uneven Application of International

Regulatory Standard: the Case of Oil Exploration in Nigeria. PhD

Thesis, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon.

Adeniyi E. O. et al (1983) Environmental and Socio-economic Impacts of oil

Spillage in the Petroleum Producing areas of Nigeria in proceedings

of the 1983 international Seminar on the Petroleum Industry andthe Nigerian Environment (Lagos: NNPC).

Aghalino S. O. (1994) Isoko Under Colonial Rule 1896-1949 M.A. Thesis

University of llorin.

Aghalino, S.O. and B.M. Eyinla, 2009. ‘Oil Exploitation and Marine Pollution:

Evidence for the Niger Delta, Nigeria’, Journal of Human Ecology ,

Vol. 28, No. 3, pp.177-182.

Aghalino, S.O. (2000) British Colonial Politics and the Oil Palm Industry

in the Niger Delta Region, 1900-1960, African Study Monographs

2 1 ( 1 ) .Aghalino, S.O. (2005). ‘Issues and Trend in the Payment of Compensation in

the Oil Industry in Nigeria, 1969-1997’, Ibom Journal of History and

International Studies, Vol., 12, No. 1, pp186-208

Aghalino , S.O. 2009. Oil Exploitation and the Accentuation of Intergroup

Relations in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. Journal of Human Ecology.

Vol.28, No.3, pp.153-159.

Aghalino, S.O. 2009. The Olusegun Obasanjo Administration and the Niger

Delta 1999-2007. Studies of Tribes and Tribals Vol. 7, Number 1,

pp.57-60.

Aghalino, S.O. 2010.Resource Control and the Problem of the Niger Delta

Region of Nigeria. In Adam Karap Chekpkwony & Peter M.J. Hess

(ed.) Human Views on God. Variety Not Monotony. Essays in

Honour of Ade P. Dopamu, Kenya: Moi University Press, Eldovet

pp.263-271.


33/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 19

Amnesty International, 2009. Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in the

Niger Delta. London: Amnesty International

Amnesty International, Nigeria: Petroleum, Pollution and Poverty in theNiger Delta. London: Amnesty International, 2009.

Anikpo, M. (1996) Dynamics of Socio-Cultural exchange in Nigeria's Oil

Producing Communities. The case of Izombe: In P.U. Onyige (Ed).

Energy and Social Development in Nigeria. Lagos, Longman.

Ashton; J.N. (1998) "The ERA Handbook of the Niger Delta. Benin City:

Longman and ERA.

Atsegbua, L., Akpotaire, V and Dimowo, F., (2003). Environmental Law in

Nigeria: Theory and Practice. Lagos: Ababa Press.Atsegbua, L. , V. Akpotaire and Dimowo, F. 2003. Environmental Law in

Nigeria: Theory and Practice. Lagos: Ababa Press Ltd

Azaiki, S. 2003. Inequities in Nigerian Politics. Yenagoa: Treasure Books

Bourguignon, F. (1999) Crime. Violence and Inequitable Developments,

Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics

Washington D.C.

Brisibi, A.A. 2001. ‘African Tradition: The Identity of a People with special

focus on globaliastion and its impact in the Niger Delta’. Paper

written for Niger Delta Women for Justice and presented at theC.O.O.L Conference in Boston, USA, March

Dafinone, D., ‘Supreme Court verdict on Resource Control: The Political

Implication in http://www.ngrguardiannews.com

Diana, W. The Role of Women in the Struggle for Environmental Justice in

Ogoni. Delta News.

Durning A.B (1990) "Ending Poverty" in Linda Starke (ed.), State of the

World 1990: World Watch Institute Report on progress towards a

Sustainable Society, London: N.N. Norton and Co.

Ekine, S. 2000. Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the

Niger Delta. London: Centre for Democracy and Development

Ekuerhare, B.U. ‘The Niger Delta Environment and its Implications for

Development Policy Options in Nigeria’ In: Akpojotor, A.S. et.al

(ed.,) Sustainable Environmental Peace and Security in the Niger

Delta. Abraka: Delta State University.

Etikerentse, G.E. 1985. Nigerian Petroleum Law. London: Macmillan

http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/


34/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 20

Fayeye, J.O. 2009. The Place of Culture in Plural Societies; In Lasisi, R.O. and

Fayeye, J.O. (ed.,) Leading Issues in General Studies. Ilorin: General

Studies DivisionFayeye, J.O. 2009. ‘The Place of Culture in Plural Societies’, In: Lasisi, R.O.

and J.O. Fayeye, (eds.) Leading Issues in General Studies. Ilorin:

General Studies Division

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2000) Report of the special Committee on the

Review of the Petroleum Supply and Distribution.

Federal Republic of Nigeria (2008). Report of the Technical Committee on the

Niger Delta. Volume 1.

Federal Republic of Nigeria, Cultural Policy. Available at

http://www.wwcd.org/policy/clink/nigerai.html

Fekumo, J.A (1990) Civil Liability for Damages Caused by Oil Pollution in

Omotola, J.A. (ed.) Lagos: University of Lagos Press

Fregene, P.A.A. 1997. Oil Exploration and Production Activities: The Socio-

economic and Environmental Problems in Warri Division-Itsekiri

Homeland’. Paper presented at the seminar on oil and environment

organized by Fredrich Ebert Foundation at Port Harcourt, 14 and 15

March.

Frynas, J.G (1998). ‘Political instability and Business: Focus on Shell inNigeria’, Third World Quarterly, Vol.19, No. 3, pp457 -478

Hamilton, J., Stockman, L. Brown, M., Marshall, G., Muttit, G. and Rau, N.

2004. ‚The case for an Oil-free Future‛, www.nonewoil.org

Jayaraman, R. and Lanjouw, P. (1999) The Evolution of Poverty and

Inequality in Indian Villages, The World Bank Research Observer Vol.

14(1).

Legborsi, S.P. 2007.The Adverse Impacts of Oil Pollution on the Environment

and Wellbeing of a Local Indigenous Community: The Experience of

the Ogoni people of Nigeria. Available at

http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.

doc.Accessed 29/6/10.

Moffat, D and Linden, O. (1995) Perception and Really: Assessing Priorities

for sustainable Development in the Niger River. Delta , Ambio Vol. 24

(7-8).

Oil Times , June 2001

http://www.wwcd.org/policy/clink/nigerai.htmlhttp://www.wwcd.org/policy/clink/nigerai.htmlhttp://www.nonewoil.org/http://www.nonewoil.org/http://www.nonewoil.org/http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.doc.Accessed%2029/6/10http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.doc.Accessed%2029/6/10http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.doc.Accessed%2029/6/10http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.doc.Accessed%2029/6/10http://www.un.org/esg/socdev/unpfil/.../workshop_IPPE_Pyagbara.doc.Accessed%2029/6/10http://www.nonewoil.org/http://www.wwcd.org/policy/clink/nigerai.html


35/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 21

Okoko, E. C. (1098) "Migration Gender and Resources: a Study of Ibeno

Community in South Eastern Nigeria, African Journal 01 Social and

Policy Studies , Volume I No. I.Onokerhoraye, A.G. (2000). The Political Economy of the Niger Delta Region:

A look at the future from the past and present’. Paper presented at

the Seminar on Niger Delta and Nigerian Federalism Organised by

Tos and Associates in Collaboration with the Office of the Governor

of Delta State, on Thursday, 2-3 November, 2000, PTI, Effurun.

Otite, O (1979) "Rural Migration as catalysts in Rural Development, the

Urhobo in Ondo State, Africa, Vol. 49, No.3.

Otite, O (1979) "Rural Migration as catalysts in Rural Development, the

Urhobo in Ondo State, Africa, Vol. 49, No.3.

Oyefusi , Aderoju , (and Oil-Dependence and Oil Conflict in Nigeria. Mimeo

Shell (1995) People and the Environment: Annual Report Lagos: SPDC.

Shell (1998) "People and the Environment: Annual Report Lagos: SPDC.

Taylor, E.B. (1871). Cited in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culture

Teilanye, D. 1997. ‘Bayelsan Notes on Oil Pains’, The Guardian, Thursday,

February 20.

Tell, Lagos February 23, 1998.

Tell, July 14, 2008The Punch , December 7, 1998.

UNDP, 2006. Niger Delta Human Development Report

UNESCO (2007). UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity.

Available at

http://www.unesco.org/educational/imld2002universaldecla.shtm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culturehttp://www.unesco.org/educational/imld2002universaldecla.shtmhttp://www.unesco.org/educational/imld2002universaldecla.shtmhttp://www.unesco.org/educational/imld2002universaldecla.shtmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/culture


36/331

Environmental Justice, Democracy and the

Inevitability of Cultural Change in Nigeria: A

Critical Analysis of the Niger Delta DilemmaDr. Kelly Bryan Ovie Ejumudo2

Key Terms: Nigeria, Niger Delta, oil, environmental justice,

democracy, land use.

Abstract

Globally, environmental justice principles are in tandem with

democratic ideals and practices. This is because environmental justice

seeks to analyze and overcome the power structures that have the

potency of thwarting and militating against the principles of fairness

and equity which democracy both represents and enforces. In the

Third World, poor and shallow democratic institutions and culturehave engendered environmental injustice typified by imbalance

between access to environmental costs (pollution, unemployment,

social and economic dislocation and crime) and environmental

benefits (food security, clean air and water, health care, educational

opportunity, transportation facilities and gainful employment). In the

Nigeria’s Niger Delta region, environmental injustice that has almost

assumed a crisis dimension is a product and a manifestation of the

unsettled democracy and the stunted and stifled democraticinstitutions, especially as environmental policy decisions are a

reflection of the political process. This paper therefore examines how

Nigeria’s pseudo democracy has both occasioned and reinforced the

prolonged and protracted environmental injustice that is yet plaguing

the Niger Delta. The paper that relied on relevant secondary sources

2 Kelly Bryan Ovie Ejumudo, Ph.D. is with the Department of PoliticalScience, Delta State University, Abraka, Nigeria. E-Mail:[email protected].

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


37/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 23

of data concluded with useful recommendations including the

creation and entrenchment of ideal democratic institutions and values

with cultural change as an imperative.

Introduction

Environmental justice is an increasingly important element of

policy making and it is fundamentally about equity and fairness

toward the disadvantaged individuals, groups, communities,

societies, institutions, regions and nations. Environmental justiceoffers the opportunity for merging two difficult agenda at both the

national and international levels, by seeking to resolve the conflict

between environmental and social goals and focusing on tackling

environmental problems as part of the social exclusion agenda. There

has been considerable progress on integrating the economic and social

goals with far-reaching programme on social exclusion and

neighborhood renewal, but there has been much less on integrating

the environmental with the social; this is where environmental justicefocus is both desirable and inevitable. Environmental justice

principles and practices, therefore, require a focus on the needs of

future generations, for environmental justice will not be pragmatic if

this were achieved at the expense of people in future generations. This

is essentially as a result of the fact that social and economic concerns

and goals that fail to recognize and accommodate the critical

environmental element and consideration will reduce the ability of the

environment to provide non-substitutable resources and services(labeled critical natural capital by environmental economists).

In the face of the recognized and acceptable efficacy of environmental

justice principles and practices across communities, societies and

nations, particularly in the third world, there is still massive

environmental degradation such that the rural, urban and generally


38/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 24

neglected areas have experienced large scale erosion and water-

quality deterioration, deforestation, declining soil productivity and

socio-economic dislocation. Worse still, majority of the people

especially the youths have little or no access to the benefits derivable

from production activities that should expectedly mitigate the

negative effects and costs of the environmental degradation to which

they have been perpetually subjected. As a consequence, they cannot

lead a life that they value and cherish and their potentials are hardly

actualizable and realizable. In the Niger Delta region of Nigeria, the

costs of environmental pollution and degradation that is borne by themarginalized, oppressed and pauperized people as well as the

benefits that should flow to them in the form of employment, skill

acquisition programmes, educational scholarship schemes, provision

of basic social amenities and other pro-poor life-enhancing

programmes are heavily disproportional so much so, that the

principles of fairness and equity that underlie or underpin

environmental justice are impaired with one likely hazardous

consequence, environmental crisis.

Critical to the environmental injustice problem in the Niger Delta is

the shallow, flawed, failed and pseudo democracy that is in practice in

Nigeria. The justification for the above position is that true,

consolidated and functional democracy presupposes an institutional

and governance climate that encourages and upholds fundamental

human rights, guarantees equity and fairness and promotes

responsible, accountable and representative governance that are theheart of environmental justice. The creation and entrenchment of ideal

democratic institutions and values, the expediency of environmental

justice and the true recognition, acceptance and practicability of

cultural re-orientation are therefore a desideratum.


39/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 25

Environmental Justice: A Conceptual Understanding

There is a growing evidence of the links between

environmental problems and social injustices; environmental justice is

the idea that brings them together. The term ‚environmental justice’’

otherwise called ‚environmental equity‛ has featured prominently in

the environmental debate for over three decades, but it only surfaced

in the legal parlance in the 1990’s ( Lazarus 2000:17). It focuses on the

disproportionate sharing of environmental benefits and burdens

between different states, institutions, organizations, groups and

individuals. It is based upon the recognition that environmental costsand benefits are not in a fair and equitable manner and that

traditional environmentalism has not been sufficiently concerned with

very divergent local situations and the plight of minorities (Bullard

2000:45). The term is concerned mainly with the side effects of

industrial activity, such as the citing of waste disposal facilities, the

proximity of industrial pollution and workplace exposure to

industrial toxins and in-house lead exposure, in particular for children

(McDermott 2004:62) . Environmental justice seeks to redefine thetraditional environmental movement by incorporating the concerns of

minorities within environmental policy making thereby engendering

environmental equality or equity (Torres 2000: 31). The main thrust of

environmental justice is a shift in focus from the environment to the

people, for it underscores the need for environmental protection not

to be planned within a vacuum and for environmental goals to take

into account social, political and economic realities.

In a broad sense, environmental justice is about positive

discrimination because it seeks to achieve a redistribution of the costs

of environmental justice so as to lower the disproportionately high

burden borne by some segments of society. In effect, it is shifting the

focus of environmental protection towards taking into account the

needs of the poorer sections of society that have suffered the


40/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 26

environmental consequences of industrialization more than others

(Gadgil and Guha 2004: 53) . It also addresses the extent of linkages

between environmental and social injustice and asks whether it is

practicable to tackle both social exclusion and environmental

problems through integrated policies and development. It therefore

follows that by looking at social justice issues through an

environmental lens and simultaneously by analyzing environmental

issues more clearly in terms of social justice, new and more effective

ways of dealing with each can be developed.

Environmental justice is equally the confluence of social and

environmental concerns that deals with the inequitable environmental

burden born by groups such as racial minorities, women and youths.

It is a holistic effort to analyze and overcome the power structures

that thwarts and militates against the principles of fairness and equity.

This phenomenon views the environment as encapsulating where we

live, work and play and seeks to redress the imbalances in the

distribution of environmental benefits and costs. By implication,environmental justice seeks to achieve an accommodation or balance

between access to environmental costs or burdens (pollution,

unemployment, social and economic dislocation and crime) and

environmental benefits (nutrients food, clean air, and water, health

care, education, transportation and safe jobs). Environmental justice,

which is not a panacea to all social problems, especially as

environmental and social goals can be in conflict, has two

fundamentally basic premises; first, that everyone should have theright and be able to live in a healthy environment, with access to

enough environmental resources for a healthy life and second, that it

is predominantly the poorest and least powerful people who are

missing these conditions. These two premises connotes environmental

rights and responsibilities that focus on the inevitability of ensuring

that a healthy environment exists for both the present and future


41/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 27

generations and that countries, organizations, institutions and

individuals do not create environmental problems or distribute

environmental resources in ways that damage other people’s health.

Environmental justice is therefore a core element of and, as a

consequence, it is critical to achieving social justice goals, particularly

as it is concerned with ensuring the environment part of the social

justice goal. The underlying causes of environmental injustices

include institutionalized racism, the commodification of land, water,

energy and air, unresponsive, unaccountable and repressive

government policies and regulation and lack of or inadequateresources in communities or regions like the Niger Delta. Thus,

environmental justice prevails when the environmental risks, costs

and hazards or investments and benefits are equally distributed. It

does not question the current path of development and its associated

environmental foes, but seeks solutions in order to mitigate the

problems caused by the current development process. Environmental

justice principles are thus expected to serve as a guide for organizing,

networking and relating to governmental and non-governmentalorganizations' demands. This implies that environmental policy

decisions are a product of the political process (Field and Field

2006:18).

Environmental justice affirms the sacredness of the earth, ecological

unity and the interdependence of all species and the right of people to

be free from ecological destructions and demands that public policy

be based on mutual respect and justice for all peoples free from anyform of discrimination or bias. It also emphasize the right to ethical,

balanced and responsible uses of land and renewable resources in the

interest of a sustainable planet for humans and other living things and

calls for universal protection from nuclear testing, extraction,

production and disposal of toxic/hazardous wastes and poisons and

nuclear testing that threaten the fundamental right to clean air, land,


42/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 28

water and food. Environmental also seeks to promote the

fundamental right of all people to political, economic, cultural and

environmental self-determination and to participate as equal partners

at every level of decision-making, including needs assessment,

planning, implementation, enforcement and evaluation. It equally

protects the right of victims of environmental injustice to receive full

compensation and reparations for damage as well as quality health

care and affirms the need for urban and rural environmental policies

aimed at cleaning up and rebuilding cities and provide fair access for

all to the full range of resources. Environmental justice similarly callsfor the strict enforcement of principals of informed consent, opposes

the destructive operations of transnational corporations and requires

individuals to make personal and consumer choices to consume as

little of the earth’s resources and to produce as little waste as possible

and to make conscious decisions that will ensure the health of the

natural world.

The essence of environmental justice is the capacity of the earth tosatisfy the intra and inter generational needs of society.

Environmental justice is recognition that access to clean and healthy

environment is a fundamental right of all human beings

(Cunningham et al 2007:587). A long history of international law even

argues that we all have an inalienable right to sustainable

environment. The 1982 World Charter for nature, for example, asserts

that man’s needs can be met only by ensuring the proper functioning

of natural systems and it is an essential human right to redress itwhen the human environment has suffered damage or degradation.

(Cunningham 2007:541). The 1987 World Commission on

environment and development went further in stating that all human

beings have the fundamental right to an environment adequate for

their health and well-being. In fact, of all the nations of the world, 109

now have constitutional provisions for protections of the environment


43/331


Vol. 5, No. 1 29

and natural resources and 100 of them specifically recognize the right

to a clean and healthy environment and the state’s obligation to

prevent environmental harm (Cunningham et al 2007:542).

Paying attention to environmental justice makes sense for two

reasons: ethical and pragmatic. The ethical dimension concerns

whether distribution of risks, benefits and costs is in accordance with

the norms of social justice. The desire for just policies is therefore a

conventional complement to the desire for efficient policies. The

pragmatic dimension, on the other hand, emphasizes the relationship between the distributional burdens. Policies and programmes that are

perceived as unfair will therefore stand little prospect of passage even

if they enhance the prospects for efficiency and sustainability

(Tietenberg 2005:501). The political conflicts in which many natural

resource issues get embroiled are, as a consequence, often related to

the fact that the groups who enjoy the benefits are not the same as

those who bear the costs (Field 2005:145). These are matters of equity

or fairness which is why they can become so controversial. Anotherimportant aspect of distributional fairness in resource programmes is

how they impact people with different income levels. This is a major

issue in the environmental justice.

Democracy: A Conceptual Discourse

According to George Orwell (cited in Mahajan 2008: 793),

democracy does not have an agreed definition and the attempt toprovide one is resisted from all sides. Democracy could be defined as

a high-flown name for something that does not exist. In a similar vein,

Lucas (1976:29) opined that democracy is a noun but should be an

adjective. It therefore implies that democracy is nothing but different

doctrines in different people’s minds or perhaps the most

promiscuous word in the world of public affairs and it could be


44/331


Africana, 5, Especial, 2011

Documents

Transcript of Africana, 5, Especial, 2011