The Niger Delta conflict: the application of international law and the normative system of international organizations as a panacea to peace in the region.
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Date
2021
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Abstract
The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been under the spotlight for a long time over the issue
of agitation for equitable distribution of the oil resources for the improvement of the living
conditions of the people. Claims of exploitation, marginalization, and oppression by the
Nigerian government and the various multinational oil companies operating in the region have
been rife. This development has generated armed conflicts between militants and the Nigerian
security forces. The high-handedness of the government in response to the conflicts and the
activities of the oil companies have attracted the international community. Environmental
degradation, pollution, and the health hazards of continuous gas flaring have characterized the
activities of the oil companies in the region. Constant human rights violations in the region and
the violent reaction of the people have led to the militarization of the region. a situation that
the people are militarized by the Nigerian armed forces, especially when they call for redress
of their horrendous situations by ways of protest and demonstration. Using a mixed method to
research, this study interrogates the feasibility of the application of international laws and
norms for the resolution of the constant conflicts in the region occasioned by environmental
degradation. In the absence of the government commitment to ameliorating the plights of
citizens, this study proposes the intervention of the international system in the protection of the
fundamental rights and human dignity of citizens who have been victims of the consequences
of the hazards associated with oil exploration in the region. The participants of this study
ranged from academics, environmental rights activists, legal practitioners and the civil society.
The data generated were sorted and analysed using multiple correspondence analyses (MCA)
which was carried out following the study’s objectives and research questions. Considering the
imperativeness of the applications of international law and the normative system of
International Organizations as a panacea to the long-time conflict, the findings of this study
revealed that the Nigerian state and the multinational corporations have treated the region with
a high sense of injustice. This has brought about agitations for development, resource control,
environmental protection, and militancy in the region as a way of displaying the injustice meted
against them for the world to know. This study recommends that the government should
embark on a complete arms clean-up in the region and create an environment where the need
to keep weapons will no longer be necessary. The security of lives and properties should be the
government’s priority.
Description
Doctoral Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban.