Instability in the Niger Delta

Investors nervous from instability in the Middle East and the Niger Delta have prompted six consecutive record closing days for crude oil. The recent price hike has culminated in crude oil trading at $117 and related cost increases in transportation and food. The main contributors to jilted consumer confidence were a pirate attack on a Japanese oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden and the sabotage of a Shell owned pipeline in southern Nigeria, both unrelated.

The Niger Delta as seen from Space. It is the single largest source of CO2 emissions on the planet.The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), the primary militant group in southern Nigeria, claimed responsibility for an attack on a Royal Dutch Shell pipeline on 18 April 2008. The group has also stated that more violence is to be expected. According to Shell, the pipeline was breached by explosives, which initiated a leak of some crude into the surrounding environment. The line has since been isolated for repairs and output has been reduced out of necessity.

Over the last two years, MEND has focused its bombing campaign on foreign-owned pipelines and related petroleum infrastructure. This is in line with the groups stated goal of combating the exploitation of the indigenous people and the pollution of the local environment by foreign multinational corporations. Unfortunately, these attacks, and the attacks of other militant organizations operating in the region, have cut Nigeria’s crude oil production by one quarter and have helped push oil prices higher on the global market.

According to the militants, they are fighting to force the Nigerian government to devote more oil revenue to the Niger Delta, which has remained impoverished in spite of decades of oil production. The group has also demanded the release of Henry Okah who was arrested in Angola last year and is currently on trial for treason and various terrorism-related charges. As noble as their goals may seem, their resistance is closely linked to crime and both inextricably lead to disrupting the lives of innocents living in the Niger Delta. The militants routinely steal crude for resale on the black market and are not above simple bank robbery. The group often hires its fighters from local criminal gangs and tribal warrior cults according to John Robb, author and security expert.

Aside from the instability caused in the region by groups such as MEND, the dramatic price increases have very real, detrimental effects on the lives of millions of impoverished people living throughout the African Continent. Since the middle of last year, global food prices have risen by more than 40 percent. In part, this meteoric rise in prices may be attributed to a similar rise in oil prices. The UN has recently expressed concern that they will need a budget increase if they are going to meet their aid goals for the rest of 2008. Not only do the high food prices directly raise the cost of humanitarian aid in Africa but also amplify logistic difficulties by increasing the number of families who cannot afford to provide for themselves.

Though the region produces billions in profits for the country, much of the Niger Delta remains impoverished.
There can be no doubt that circumstances in the Niger Delta need to change. Though the militants arguably cause more harm than good, they benefit from the approval of most of the impoverished people living the region. Human rights abuses abound on both sides of the conflict between the militant groups and the federal government. Successful MEND attacks usually lead to severe crackdowns by federal troops that serve to infuriate the local populace and further undermine the stability of the Delta.

True stability and prosperity is only possible in the Niger Delta through some level of democratic reform which is, unfortunately, a hit or miss proposition in Africa. Having only re-achieved workable democracy in 1999, it would be unfair to assume that there is no possibility of change in the young Federal Republic of Nigeria. With the largest population in Africa and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, the government is going to have more and more interest in seeing the end of hostilities in the Niger Delta. As the nation tries to tackle government corruption and crony capitalism the people of the Delta can hope for some attempt to improve the conditions they are currently plagued with. It would be far too costly and ultimately untenable should the government choose to do otherwise.