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

Chapter II: The Niger Delta Crisis: The Political Economy of Fossil Fuels in
Nigeria
through Ken Saro Wiwa at the international level brought about the
inflicting of capital punishment on the 9-Ogonis, Saro Wiwa inclusive.
When the youths in the Niger Delta realised the economic and
political ambition of their elite, they resulted into self help, though,
with little resources and appropriate connection to air their views at
the international environment. Extreme poverty and politics of
exclusion of these youth coupled with the international economic
relations, which is not in favour of the TWS made them to take law
into their own hands since the government is no more trusted in
guaranteeing human security. "Of all the strategies deployed by the
youths to hold Shell (and other oil companies and their OSCs) to
ransom...the halting of new explorations was the most effective way to
save the land from further pollution" Omoweh, 1996: 43).
Employment of some of the youths, who are also members of the
militant group, unknowingly, serves as field wprkers in the area as
intelligence for the unemployed ones, who usually strike without
being caught by the armed forces, police, army and navy, deployed by
the federal government to protect the installations of the oil
companies. For likely solution to this problem, government should
endeavour to resist the 1957 Willink’s Commission recommendations
on the rights of the minorities in Nigeria.
This paper is divided into 7 sections. Section 1 introduces the whole
problem while section 2 examines Nigeria’s political economy of oil.
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