Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Dr. Esekumemu V. Clark
The Ijaws are a separate and distinct nationality inhabiting the
coastal region, mainly in the Niger Delta, including Akwa-Ibom, Edo
and Ondo states.
There is a belief that Ijaws were the first
inhabitants of the territory of the present Nigeria. They are the fourth
largest ethnic group in Nigeria.
Their traditional occupation is
fishing.
Meanwhile, the economic situation since the 1980s and the
deliberate policies of the past Nigerian governments in neglecting
development and the environment in the Niger Delta, despite the
goose that lays the golden eggs, which feeds and powers the country’s
economy, flows beneath the surface mainly in that area. It has been
argued that for more than three decades there was no concrete
strategy mapped out by the central government regarding the creation
of jobs and the reduction of social exclusion in the Niger Delta, where
there is ample evidence of a large impoverishment among the local
communities as a consequence of the oil exploration and exploitation.
The area is polluted. For example, the livelihood of the Ijaw
local communities had been gravely affected because of the oil
exploration and exploitation which had and still is polluting waters,
fish, wildlife, and creating barren land as well as gas flaring causing a
health hazard in the area. True, fishing and farming, the main
occupations of the local communities are no longer economically
viable and sustaining as a consequence of mass oil exploitation.
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