The Politics of Resource Control in Nigeria : Example of Niger Delta Region , 1990s - 2010

Abstract

This paper explores the nature of resource allocation in Nigeria with specific emphasis on the responses of Niger Delta Region to the politics of resource control as it affects oil fields in their territories. It investigates the factors responsible for persistent agitation for resource control by the local people, particularly the oil producing states, as well as the contradictions of resource control and the non oil-producing states in Nigeria. While the study notes that the region has enjoyed 50 percent allocation of revenue based on derivation, it also discovers that the military regime cancelled this which was adopted by successive government in Nigeria. The very important issue this paper addresses is why the abrogation of resource control took place in the first instance? The environmental despoliation of the region by the oil operators with little allocation that trickle down to the oil-producing area informed the massive protests and intense struggle for oil-resource control especially in the period 1990s and 2010. This paper further point out the fact that though the Niger Delta people's struggle was mainly environmental, in a wider perspective, it is political because of long neglect from economic benefits that come from oil production. The authors argues that the Delta wanted adequate electricity, good roads, pipeborne water, employment, good and functional health care centres, and access to quality education. It concludes that though the structure of the nation's political economy would never permit the federal government to relinquish or share the control of oil resources with the oilproducing states and communities, its failing promises to appropriate the revenue accrued from the region toward a sustainable development explain the basis for persistent demand and endless crisis in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Dynamics of the politico‐administrative conflicts of resource control in Nigeria: Exploring the oil politics of who gets what, when, and how

“…The Public Record Office (PRO, 554/2109) has evidence collected by British Petroleum (BP), attesting that the Niger Delta people's right to control their natural resources were further weakened by the Federal Government under its 1971 Decree No. 9, which nationalized mineral resources and vested the power to control oil found on the continental shelf in itself (Raji et al, 2013).…”

“…The Public Record Office (PRO, 554/2109) has evidence collected by British Petroleum (BP), attesting that the Niger Delta people's right to control their natural resources were further weakened by the Federal Government under its 1971 Decree No. 9, which nationalized mineral resources and vested the power to control oil found on the continental shelf in itself (Raji et al, 2013). Alafuro (2010) argued that the intervention of the military forces in Nigerian politics in 1966 had implications for the entire Niger Delta region, particularly the Ijaw oil-producing communities.…”

Resource Control and Secessionist Movements in Nigeria: Implications for National Unity and Development

“…The structural defects in the Nigerian federal system have been attributed to long years of military rule which was dominated by the majority ethnic group particularly the north, which used its position to advance the interest of the group and denied the rest of the federation especially the region that produced the golden eggs the fruit of its labor in terms of resources for its development [36]. Interestingly, several studies [37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47] have pointed to the defective federal system and absence of equity in the disbursement of revenue among the federating units as the cause of agitation for resource control in the Niger Delta. The people of the Niger Delta are dissatisfied with how rents accrue from oil proceeds are distributed among the component units of the federation.…”