Economy of the Niger delta, militancy and class struggle

Abstract

This paper examined the economy of the Niger Delta, militancy, and class struggle. Taking a cue from the Marxian theory, the relationship between the avowed agitating stance of the people of the Niger Delta and the perceived economic sabotage by the ruling class that militate against regional development was examined. Sitting on the Gulf of Guinea is the sprawling coastline of the Niger Delta region, spanning 70,000 km2 and gulping a total of 7.5% of Nigeria's land mass. Lodged within its terrain is a huge deposit of natural resources. Containing over 20 billion barrels of oil reserves and a staggering worth of over 3 trillion cubic meters of gas deposits, the Niger Delta region contributes about 95% of its reserves to Nigeria's foreign exchange index. Yet, the Region is disparaged and lacking in development. This has forged a cohesive bond between the growing rate of militancy and insecurity in the terrain, prompting a continuous struggle for regional control and discontinued resource racketeering. Utilizing secondary data and content analysis as a method of data collection and analysis as well as Frustration and Aggression theory, the paper observed that the 13% derivation fund allocated to the oil-producing states has not bridged the overwhelming gap between the impoverished region and the resources exploited from the terrain,. The paper recommends amongst others that The Government should review policies that are not in tandem with the dynamics of the region and set up structures that will provide the required economic dividends due to the region.