Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: Managing the Complex Politics of Petro-violence

by Cyril Obi (Editor), Siri Aas Rustad (Editor)

The recent escalation in the violent conflict in the Niger Delta has brought the region to the forefront of international energy and security concerns.

This book analyses the causes, dynamics and politics underpinning oil-related violence in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. It focuses on the drivers of the conflict, as well as the ways the crises spawned by the political economy of oil and contradictions within Nigeria's ethnic politics have contributed to the morphing of initially poorly coordinated, largely non-violent protests into a pan-Delta insurgency.

Approaching the issue from a number of perspectives, the book offers the most up-to-date and comprehensive analysis available of the varied dimensions of the conflict. Combining empirically-based and analytic chapters, it attempts to explain the causes of the escalation in violence, the various actors, levels and dynamics involved, and the policy challenges faced with regard to conflict management/resolution and the options for peace. It also examines the role of oil as a commodity of global strategic significance, addressing the relationship between oil, energy security and development in the Niger Delta.

Genres: Africa, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2011

Reviews

[Abe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kind of interesting I know very little about the background context and added it to the list having written a paper about the Kiobel Shell case for a class a long time ago. It would have helped especially since this is anthological but I still learned some about MEND and the surrounding politics of oil and violence in the Niger Delta. Definitely reads like an NGO trade publication, a lot of stuff about stakeholders and community development and so on but it is what it is.

[skid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book outlining the crises in the Niger Delta and ways forward.