NATURAL RESOURCES, POLITICAL “INJUSTICE” AND THE QUEST FOR RESOURCES CONTROL IN NIGERIA'S NIGER DELTA, 1956-2022

Abstract

The discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956 plagued the Niger Delta region with a lot of socioeconomic problems.The operations of the Multinational Companies left the region so dissolute and polluted that the political economy of the region became gruesomely affected throughgas flaring and oil explorations, leaving the aborigines helpless and backward. With several unsuccessful measures employed to get government to look into their plights, the people cited marginalization, discrimination, unemployment, poverty and structural defects of the Nigerian federalism as the bane for militancy and militarization of the area. However, instead of dialogue, the government of Federal Republic of Niger chosetoengage the militants in several military confrontationsto the extent that the crisis became exacerbated, thus, resulting to the quest for resource control, kidnappingof oil workers and vandalizing the oil pipelines in the region. The study aims to investigate how the discovery and exploration of oil in the region have resulted topolitical “injustice” suffered by the people and why the Nigerian government has not really addressed the problems of the people? Data for this study were collected from secondary sources and the method of analysis is content analysis. The findings show that Federal Government of Nigeria has made frenetic efforts to engage the people and palate their sufferings through the establishment of Niger Delta Development Commission and other developmental projects but these efforts are frustrated by corruption and leadership crises among the people and communities in Niger Delta. Thus the paper concludes that the region has not been totally neglected