COMPLETE SCHOOL PROJECT TOPICS & MATERIALS :
CHAPTERS: Chapter 1-5
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Abstract
In mid-2015, the insurgency resurfaced and has become a major security concern to Nigerians, the federal government, regional shipping companies, and international oil interests. This Renewed attacks by new militant groups in Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta region since early this year have reduced Nigeria’s oil production to a 22-year low. This research examines President Muhammadu Buhari Administrative Management On The Niger Delta Crisis employing the conflict management theory as its theoretical framework. The study uses a qualitative method and relying on secondary sources, relevant data generated and analyzed using qualitative descriptive method. The study showed that the the resurgence of militancy in the region, has become major security concern and contends that if President Muhammadu Buhari sticks to his sledge hammer approach, the violence will escalate and the target and tactics of militants may change as well, with dire cascading economic and security consequences for the country. Arising from these therefore, it is our recommendation that the federal government should urgently and comprehensively non-violent approach to tackle the underlying economic and social problems of the Niger Delta region so as to prevent a relapse into crises.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to Study
Prior to the advent of commercial oil production in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria in 1958, the region was essentially a pristine environment which supported substantial subsistence resources for the mostly sedentary population. The region accounted for a large percentage of Nigeria’s commercial fisheries industry (Afinotan, 2009). For centuries therefore, the people of the Niger Delta were content to engage in farming, fishing and such other endeavours like pottery, mat-making and hunting, unaware that underneath their soil was one of nature’s most prized mineral resources.
Crude oil was discovered in the Niger Delta over fifty years ago, with the discovery of oil in Oloibiri in 1956 by Shell Petroleum Development Company (Aaron and George, 2010). Since, oil has become the main stay of the Nigerian Economy, contributing over 90 percent of foreign exchange earnings of the government, it is surprising that the trajectory of constitutional development, socio-economic development and class formation have been massively influenced and dictated by the politics of oil (Owugah, 1999). While the Nigerian State may see the availability of the crude resources as a ‘Blessing’ and a source of pre-eminence in the global market place, the communities where this crude resource is endowed with, see it as a ‘Curse’.
This is because the massive exploitation of crude oil creates serious developmental, social and environmental problems which the Nigerian state and the collaborative oil giants have neglected for a long time (Omotola, 2006). Lamenting about this state of affairs, Owugah (1999:106) observes that “The oil which brought so much wealth to the nation and those in power, brought much poverty, disease, death, loss of livelihood, to the people of the oil-bearing areas”.
With the emergence of a pan-Niger Delta militia group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) in 2006, the struggle for local control of Nigeria’s oil assumed a more violent dimension. Apart from MEND that appears to have clearly articulated grievances namely Environmental Insecurity and Socio-Economic Marginalization of the Niger Delta people, sundry groups emerged in the Niger Delta as well. Some of these groups, it would appear, were driven not by liberation ideology but crime and criminality. Independently the activities of these groups created a difficult security challenge in Nigeria’s oil belt (Aaron, 2010).
Oil installations were attacked and oil workers particularly expatriate staffs, at any rate, initially, were taken hostage for ransom. All these were happening, in spite of the heavy presence of the Joint Task Force (JTF), comprising of the Navy, Army and Air force, who were sometimes over ran by the superior fire power of the militants (Aaron, 2010). The implications of this parlous security were grave. Oil production figures plummeted to all time low, as many TNCs announced production shut-ins. Specifically, average production figure for 2009 was around 1.6million barrels per day(bpd), down from 2.7milllion bpd (NNPC,2009). The country lost an estimated $92 billion in oil export earnings to production shut-in and crude oil theft associated with the activities of militants (Davis, 2009). The cumulative effect of this was a drastic fall in the country’s oil exports. Consequently, public finance was subjected to one of the worst crises since independence.
In what appears an admission of the futility of violent response, late President Umaru Yar’Adua, on 25th June, 2009, announced an amnesty for militants who were willing to surrender their arms. The amnesty programme was in phases: Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) Aaron (2010). Disarmament of militants entailed the physical removal of the means of combat from ex belligerents (weapons, ammunition). Demobilization is the formal and controlled discharge of active combatants from armed groups, followed by processing of individual combatants in temporary centres with provision of support packages. Reintegration entails the process of reintegrating former combatants/militants into civil society ensuring against the possibility of a resurgence of armed conflict (Nwachukwu and Pepple, 2011).
With the defeat of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ) in the 2015 presidential election, there was a resurgence of militancy and outright sabotage of oil installations. This is so because the exit of President Goodluck Jonathan, a son of the soil from the Niger Delta, who religiously implemented the amnesty programme, created an atmosphere of uncertainty and possible distortion of the status quo. Indeed, the militants capitalised on the electoral defeat of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and the less than acceptable management of the Niger Delta issues by President Buhari as possible part explanation of the resurgence of insurgency in the region (Abati, 2016).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The Amnesty programme granted to the militants of Niger Delta has drawn the attention of writers. Omadjohwoefe (2011), Ibaba (2011), and Egwemi (2010) argued that, the amnesty initiative, though a unique approach, does not have what it takes to answer the Niger Delta question. Olatoke and Olokooba (2012) argued that the amnesty programme is yet to be passed into law and as such unconstitutional. Ibaba (2011) opined that managers of the Nigerian system should develop strategies to deal with the post amnesty challenges and that all stakeholders need to be involved in actualizing the implementation of the post amnesty programme. Aluede (2012) argued that the way the programme has been implemented to cost several billion naira to benefit a few people who have committed crimes against the state is wrong.
However in the post amnesty administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, the government attempted to violently suppress the legitimate demands of the people. It inadvertently created a militarized struggle that further undermined the authority of the state (Anichebe, 2013). Many of the unemployed youth population swiftly cashed in on the lucrative criminality that accompanied the militarized engagement with the Nigerian state. The already deficient security apparatus was unable to contain the excesses of the militant groups that subsequently sprawled across the Niger Delta. In acknowledging its incapacity to succeed militarily, the federal government eventually sought an alternative route to peace—the DDR. This brought about an exchange of a slice of the country’s oil wealth for peace between the government and militia leaders. Limiting the 2009 amnesty deal to providing financial incentives to ex-militants negatively impacted the disarmament phase, as non-fighters turned in arms in order to catch in on the deal. The core problem of this article is that the Niger Delta has returned to its chaotic past because, instead of pursuing a holistic peacebuilding program, the Nigerian government opted to buy peace.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The central objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of president Muhammadu Buhari administrative management on the Niger Delta Crises. However, the study is set to achieve the specific objectives:
- Assess the state of Niger Delta crisis in the post amnesty administration of president Muhammadu Buhari
- To determine conflict management strategies implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari in managing the Niger Delta Crisis.
- To ascertain whether the new wave of militancy was influenced by President Buhari’s reaction.
1.4 Research Question
The research question raised for this study are:
- What is the state of Niger Delta crisis in the post amnesty administration of president Muhammadu Buhari?
- What are the conflict management strategies implemented by President Muhammadu Buhari in managing the Niger Delta Crisis?
- Has President Buhari’s reaction influenced the new wave of militancy.
1.5 Significance of the Study
The outcome of this study will be instrumental to socio-economic and political development of the Niger Delta in particular and the Nigerian state in general, It will help the policy makers to reposition, complement or change the strategies and methods of intervention in the Niger Delta so as to achieve maximum results. If the study succeeds in clarifying issues and facilitating understanding, it will enrich the pool of literature on the Niger Delta to the benefit of researchers and students. Finally, the study will also contribute to existing literature on the management of Niger Delta Crisis.
1.6 Research Methodology
The method of data collection for this study is the qualitative method. According to McNabb (2005), qualitative method is a set of non-statistical inquiry techniques and processes used to gather data about social phenomena. Thus, qualitative data refers to some collection of words, symbols, pictures, or other non-numerical records, materials or artifacts that are collected by a researcher and is data that has relevance to the social group under study. The use of these data go beyond simple description of events and phenomena; rather they are used to creating understanding, for subjective interpretation and for critical analysis as well.
First, in qualitative research, cases can be selected purposefully, according to whether or not they typify certain characteristics or contextual locations. Second, the researcher’s role receives greater critical attention. This is because in qualitative research the possibility of the researcher taking a ‘neutral’ or transcendental position is seen as more problematic in practical and/or philosophical terms. Hence, qualitative research reflects on the role of the researcher in the research process and makes this clear in the analysis. Third, qualitative data analysis can take a wide variety of forms, and approaches analysis holistically and contextually, rather than being reductionist and isolationist. Nevertheless, systematic and transparent approaches to analysis are almost always rewarded as essential for rigour.
Burnham et al (2005) sees the qualitative method as very attractive in that it involves collecting information in depth but form a relatively small number of cases. He goes on to state that analytic induction is often used by qualitative researchers in their efforts to generalize about social behavior. Concepts are developed intuitively from the data, and are then defined, refined and their implications deduced from the data. Therefore, the study relied on institutional and official documents from organizations such as the PENGASSAN publication, NNPC quarterly reports and reports of Technical Committee on Niger Delta among others. The institutional and official document were complemented by other secondary data sources as textbooks, journals and magazines, articles and other written works bordering on the subject matter. Finally, this study extensively utilized materials sourced from the internet.
1.61 Method Of Data Analysis
In the study, we adopted the qualitative descriptive method in analyzing our data. Qualitative descriptive analysis according to Asika (2006) essentially has to do with summarizing the information generated in a research, so that appropriate analytical methods could be used to further discover relationship among the variables. The adoption of the foregoing analytical method is necessary because the study principally relied on secondary sources of data.