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

Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria
Chapter VIII:
The Niger Delta Crisis: Issues Challenges and
Prospects
By Dr. Afinotan L.A. and Dr. Victor Ojakorotu
Introduction
The area which is described as the Niger Delta region of Nigeria lies
between latitudes 4 0 and 6 0 north of the Equator and 4 0 and 8 0 east of
the Greenwich. It comprises the states of Akwa Ibom, Cross River,
Edo, Imo, Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta, Abia and Ondo, making it
coterminous with all of Nigeria’s oil producing states. Stretching over
20,000km 2 of swamp land in the litoral fringes of the country, it
embraces one of the world’s largest wetlands , over 60% of Africa’s
largest mangrove forests, and one of the world’s most extensive.
(Eyinla &Ukpo, 2006;114).
Comprising mainly of a distinct aquatic environment which embraces
marine, brackish and fresh water ecosystems, it encompasses the
most extensive fresh water swamp forest in West and Central Africa,
and manifests an intricate network of creeks, rivers, streams,
swamps, braided streams and Oxbow lakes, besides a stretch of flat
and fertile land mass.
In this picturesque basin lives a kaleidoscope of ethnic nationalities
which include among others, the Ijaw, Itsekiri, Urhobo, Ikwere,
Andoni Efik, Ibibio, Kalabari, Okrika, together with sections of the
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