Democracy under Fire in the Niger Delta

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Democracy under Fire in the Niger Delta

• Anyakwee Nsirimovu
• Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow
• National Endowment for Democracy
• June 8, 2009
• The views expressed in this presentation
  represent the analysis and opinions of the
  speaker and do not necessarily reflect those of
  the National Endowment for Democracy or its
  staff.

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Introductory Remarks
Year after year, we were clenched in tyrannical
chains and led through a dark alley of perpetual
political and social deprivation. Strangers in
our own country! Inevitably, therefore, the day
would come for us to fight for our long-denied
right to self-determination. Isaac Adaka
Boro, The Twelve-Day Revolution
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Map of Nigeria
Map of the Nigeria Delta Region
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Introductory Remarks (contd)

• Competitive authoritarianism, rather than
  quality democracy, has compounded social
  instability, enabled bad governance, permitted
  the primitive accumulation of wealth.
• Decades of neglect and frustrated expectations
  have resulted in unprecedented levels of
  violence, especially amongst the youth who feel
  that they have been condemned to a life without
  hope.
• Conflict and a call to arms is seen as a
  strategy to escape deprivation.

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Introductory Remarks (contd)

• The Niger Delta region is central to the
  survival of Nigeria. It is emblematic of all
  that is wrong, yet remains indicative of the
  hopes for a better country.
• If we get the Niger Delta right, we get Nigeria
  right.

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People of the Niger Delta

• Traditionally fishermen and farmers, the
  inhabitants of the Niger Delta are not a
  homogenous entity, but share common interests
  and problems.

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People of the Niger Delta
Source National Population Census, 2006
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People of the Niger Delta (continued)

• Various peoples were organized into distinct
  city-states at least four centuries before
  colonization
• Five major ethno-linguistic groups Ijaoid,
  Yaroboid, Edoid, Iboid, Delta Cross
• Some of these groups extend beyond the Niger
  Delta

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People of the Niger Delta (cont'd)
Source ERML Field Survey, 2005
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People of the Niger Delta (cont'd)
Source National Bureau of Statistics, 2005
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People of the Niger Delta (cont'd)
Source Federal Ministry of Health, National HIV
and
Source Federal Ministry of Health, National
HIV/AIDS Sentinel Survey, 2003 Federal Ministry
of Water Resources Survey, 2006.
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People of the Niger Delta (cont'd)
Source Socio-economic Survey on Nigeria, 2006
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Nigeria A Brief History

• 1914 Nigeria is created by Britain
• 1946 Constitution establishes regional
  legislatures
• 1954 Federal Constitution introducedNigeria is
  split into 3 regions and those in Niger Delta
  become minorities in both Eastern and Western
  regions
• 1957 London Conference
• September 1957 Willink Commission
• 1958 Recommendations of the Commission for Niger
  Delta
• 1960 Nigeria is granted independence, ushering
  in an era of internal colonialism
• 1966 Military coup topples government

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The Place of Oil

• The policy of squeezing maximum production from
  the Niger Delta is a deliberate policy carried
  out by a harsh and repressive regime (Sagay
  2001 25).
• Provisions that both enable and ensure this
  status quo
• Revenue Sharing Formula (1960)
• The Pipelines Act (1965)
• The Petroleum Decree (1969)
• Decree No. 9 (1971)
• The Land Use Act (1978)
• The Associated Gas Re-Injection Decree (1985)
• Successive amended constitutions, in particular,
  section 44(3) of 1999 Constitution

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The Place of Oil
Nigerias OPEC Quota (19992007) millions of
barrels/day
OPEC Annual Statistical Bulletin, 2007
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The Place of Oil (continued)
fsdfds
Total Oil Export Revenue in Billion US Dollars
(19992007)
Crude Oil Production in Millions of Barrels per
Day (19972007)
Source OPEC Annual Stat. Survey, 2007
Source OPEC Annual Stat. Survey, 2007
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The Impact of Oil

• Sustainable development mandates a holistic
  approach to development sensitive to the needs
  of human beings and the environment.
  Puvimanainghe (2000 36)
• The human dimension of development is the only
  dimension of intrinsic worth. Jolly and
  Stewart (1986 3536)

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The Impact of Oil (cont'd)

• Findings of Human Rights Watch Report (1999)
• The evidence . . . suggests that companies
  benefit from non- enforcement of laws regulating
  the oil industry, in ways directly prejudicial
  to the resident population.
• Oil companies benefit from federal laws that
  deprive local communities of rights in relation
  to the land they treat as theirs.
• Grievances . . . center on the appropriation
  or unremunerated use of community or family
  resources, health problems or damage to fishing,
  hunting or cultivation attributed to oil spills
  or gas flares, and other operations leading to a
  loss of livelihood as well as oil company
  failure to employ sufficient local people . . .
  or to generate benefits for local communities
  from the profits that they make.

Source Human Rights Watch, The Price of Oil, 1999
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Protests and Demands

• If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
  Those who profess to favor freedom and yet
  depreciate agitation are men who want crops
  without plowing up the ground they want rain
  without thunder and lightning. They want the
  ocean without the awful roar of its many
  waters... Power concedes nothing without a
  demand. It never did and it never will.
  Frederick Douglass

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Protests and Demands Movement for the Survival
of Ogoni People

• 1990 Ken Saro-Wiwa founds Movement
• Ogoni Bill of Rights
• demands political autonomy within the Nigerian
  Federation
• observes that the ruthless policies of successive
  Nigerian governments pushed the Ogoni to near
  extinction
• decries the forced disappearance of local
  languages, unacceptable environmental
  degradation, and lack of education, health
  services, and other social facilities
• notes that in over 30 years of oil mining,
  Ogoniland provided the Nigerian government with
  revenues of 30 billion. In return, the Ogoni
  people have received nothing. . .

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Protests and Demands The Kaiama Declaration

• 1998 The Kaiama Declaration
• presents the universally accepted position of the
  Ijaw people
• recognizes the negative role of British
  colonialism (the Ijaw nation was unjustly
  aggregated as part of the Nigerian state)
• outlines in detail how the quality of life has
  deteriorated as a result of official neglect,
  suppression, and marginalization
• exposes the link between oil companies and the
  Nigerian governmenta union that causes untold
  destruction
• underlines the root causes of the now
  ecologically devastated Ijawland and observes
  that those in government, and civilian
  collaborators, continue to amass untold amounts
  of wealth at the expense of local communities . .
  .

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Protests and DemandsThe Ikwerre Rescue Charter
(1998)
Cognizant of the fact that our right to
self-determination, resource ownership and
control cannot be actualized without the
abolition of all anti-people laws and policies,
we demand the immediate abolition of the
following laws The Land Use Act of 1978, The
Petroleum Act of 1969 . . . These objectionable
laws are repressive and cannot guarantee our
survival if they continue to exist...they deny us
the use of our God-given resources . . .
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Failed Development Frameworks

• 19601966 Niger Delta Development Board
• 19721994 Niger Delta River Basin Authority
• 19821991 The so-called 1.5Commission
• 19921999 Oil and Minerals Producing Area
  Development Commission (OMPADEC)
• 1998 Petro Trust Fund, Popoola Committee
  Review
• 2000 Niger Delta Development Commission
• 2008 Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs

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Governance Federal, State, Local

• 1999 Transition Election
• 2003 National Election
• 2007 National Election
• Political violence
• Proliferation of arms
• Recruitment of thugs
• Oil bunkering as compensation
• Impunity
• Primitive Accumulation/Money laundering
• Extreme poverty in the midst of abundance

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Multinational Oil Companies

• Shell, Chevron, Exxon-Mobil, Agip, Totalfina
• Local inhabitants no stake in oil companies
• Lack of corporate social responsibility
• Voluntary principles
• Environmental degradation
• Massive corruption
• Militarization and arms proliferation
• Lack of employment opportunities for local
  communities

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Consequences

• Armed groups have increasingly mobilized
  against oil companies, declaring an absolute
  oil war.

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Consequences (cont'd)

• Mass protests, blockades, destruction of
  pipelines, and kidnapping of oil workers are
  common occurrences.
• The region has become a breeding ground for arms
  trafficking, weapons proliferation, and criminal
  activitythis is especially so among youth.

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Sources of Small Arms

• West Africa 810 million
• Nigeria 23 million
• Economic Community of West African States
  (ECOWAS)
• Europe
• Ex-combatants and deserters
• Poorly paid Peacekeeping troops
• Police station raids
• The situation is exacerbated by porous borders,
  lax export controls, state complicity, and
• weak state institutions

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Consequences (cont'd)
Source NNPC Annual Statistical Bulletin, 2007
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Consequences (cont'd)
Source NNPC Annual Statistical Bulletin, 2007
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Recommendations Government

• Cessation of hostilities in Niger Delta
• Immediate implementation of the Niger Delta
  Technical Committee Report and the Electoral
  Reform Report
• Commitment to quality democracy and good
  governance
• Effective funding for Niger Delta Ministry and
  the Niger Delta Development Commission
• Independence of anti-corruption agency Economic
  and Financial Crimes Commission
• Prosecution of former corrupt Niger Delta
  governors

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Recommendations Government (continued)

• Compliance of multinational oil companies
• Rule of law and judicial integrity
• Commitment to ECOWAS Mechanism on Small Arms
• Investigation of allegations of complicity in
  oil bunkering by high-ranking politicians and
  the military
• Prosecution of human rights violations by the
  military
• Reform and reorientation of the Nigerian police

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RecommendationsMultinational Oil Companies

• Shun corruption
• Respect human rights
• Establish links with local communities
• Enforce corporate social responsibility
• Adhere to Memorandum of Understanding
• Implement Voluntary Principles
• Respect the rule of law

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Recommendations Civil Society

• Eternal vigilance
• Peace-building
• Oversight and early warning
• Capacity-building
• Information sharing and advocacy
• Coalition-building and networking

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RecommendationsInternational Community

• Commitment to people-centered democracy
• Condition all foreign aid on quality of
  democracy
• Diplomatic pressure for dialogue
• Increase support for bottom-up
  democracy-building
• Re-think AFRICOM and military-training practices
  for oppressive governments
• Encourage oil companies to observe minimum
  standards of civilization
• Discourage corruption and money laundering

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Concluding Remarks

• People first, oil second