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

Dr. Esekumemu V. Clark
Declaration notes, such decrees “which were enacted without our
participation and consent” could be interpreted as a violation of our
basic human rights and existence by the Nigerian authorities.
Consequently, the Nigerian state need for hard currency will be least
interested in subjecting itself to such rigorous approval from the local
communities over the various decrees which were enacted to underpin
and facilitate oil and gas exploration and exploitation at the detriment
of the local communities.
One can argue that had the local
communities been consulted before such enactments they would have
definitely opposed the government, because their lives, land and
resources, among others, were systmatically being destroyed by the
ongoing rate of oil exploration and production activities in the Niger
Delta.
Indeed, the Kaiama Declaration places greater emphasis on the
principle of peaceful coexistence among the different ethnic
nationalities with respect to the most recent intra-inter ethnic and
religious clashes in Nigeria. It explicitly and implicitly posits that
“Ijaw youths and peoples will promote the principle of peaceful
coexistence between all Ijaw communities and with our immediate
neighbours, despite the provocative and divisive actions of the
Nigerian state, transnational oil companies and their contractors”.
More importantly, the promotion of the notion of peaceful coexistence
between the Ijaw nation and its neighbours is a very encouraging step
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