Scholars have divergent views on the introduction and implementation of the amnesty program in the Niger Delta conflict. The need to achieve sustainable peace in the Niger Delta is central to any future socio-economic development.
INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY
BACKGROUND AND OUTLINE OF RESEARCH PROBLEM
13 Militants, in the context of the Niger Delta, are the armed groups in the region. What the amnesty program entails in the context of the Niger Delta conflict in Nigeria.
CHAPTER ONE
UNDERSTANDING CONFLICT AND ITS FORMS
The causes of such interactions, the methods used and their consequences can lead to conflict...in the sense of crisis, conflict evokes feelings of tension - fear and insecurity within the state. In other words, crises are states of events following a sustained level of conflict and violence.
CONFLICT TYPES AND VARIATION
Mass conflict according to Soremekun (2009) is a political movement with the aim of bringing about a rapid, complete and permanent change of the power structure. In the preceding section, I discussed the ways in which conflict is conceptualized, and the different types of conflict.
PERSPECTIVES ON CONFLICT THEORIES AND DRIVERS OF CONFLICT
19 There have been intense tensions and rivalries between different ethnic groups in the Niger Delta. For example, Ken Saro Wiwa's struggle for the fate of the Ogoni people20 in the Niger Delta falls into the current example.
COOPERATION AND COMPETITION AS DRIVERS OF CONFLICT
31 The General Assembly (GA) is the main deliberative, policy-making and representative body of the UN. From the point of view of the UN Secretary-General (1992), discussing the background of conflict in Africa, in most insurgencies in Africa, irregular militia groups and large numbers of soldiers (which include both children and women) are recruited.
It is from this perspective that amnesty is claimed to be a home-grown peace-building program in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The amnesty program as a peace-building effort was initiated by the Nigerian government as a home-grown peace-building mechanism.
STUDIES ON AMNESTY
In conflicts, amnesty has been used effectively to end hostility (Schabas, 2004) between the different parties involved in the conflict. In South Africa, for example, to qualify for amnesty, a person (i.e. the perpetrator of a crime) had to report to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.
AMNESTY IN A WIDER CONTEXT
It is only used when there is an international conflict between countries and an amnesty is given to allow the conflict to end. In all the debates, amnesty is still considered useful from the point of view of the international criminal justice system to prevent further chaos.
THE HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF AMNESTY
Again, the declaration was very important to instill confidence in the minds of Biafrans (Easterners) and pave the way for post-conflict nation-building by the government that includes rehabilitation, reconstruction and reintegration (RRR) of the warring community (see Osaghae 1998, Adejumobi 2005).,. Growing opposition to his regime grew, culminating in the outbreak of the Second Liberian Civil War.
STUDIES ON THE NIGER DELTA CONFLICT
I now proceed by examining the relevant literature on the perspectives of conflict in the Niger Delta as it bears on my study. It shows how the conflict in the region has progressed to the current stage, and the likely challenges that await the implementation of the amnesty program.
A HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THE CONFLICT
The proceeds from oil theft have, the author argues, helped maintain the level of violence in the region. According to her, the proceeds are used to purchase weapons and ammunition, and to further support the armed groups fighting against the federal government (Asuni 2009, p.2).
THE BLOOD OIL THESIS
64 Asuni (2009) has a special interest in analyzing the impact of blood oil45 in the Niger Delta. They are popular and exercise great influence within political institutions and in state affairs.
THE ENVIRONMENTAL DIMENSION OF THE CONFLICT
66 It is about who controls and owns it, who has rights over it, and how the wealth should be distributed and utilized. It is his view that all these must be taken into account to truly have a full understanding of what constitutes the complex oil politics in Nigeria, and which in turn is fueling the crisis in the Niger Delta region.
THE STRUCTURAL ORIGINS OF THE CONFLICT
A failure to assess the politics of oil and the conflict in the region from these different perspectives will only trivialize the conflict and the experiences of those in it. In summary, I have explored the conflict in the Niger Delta from the different viewpoints of scholars.
THE MILITARIZATION OF THE STRUGGLE
One important observation that can be made about the Ijo in general is that they are quite old in the Niger Delta. He claims that the eastern delta, rather than the central one, is actually the home of the Ijo.
PERSPECTIVES ON AMNESTY IN THE NIGER DELTA
He noted that such responsibility should ensure the needs of the people in the region. Additionally, I explore how these efforts affect the sustainability of the amnesty program in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK OF THE STUDY: CONFLICT TRANSFORMATION THEORY
What this means is that the involvement of the conflicting parties in the process of transforming conflict to achieve peace is very important. I have also argued that the greed/resource curse thesis does not fully explain the cause of the conflict in the Niger Delta region.
CHAPTER TWO
In the Niger Delta conflict, amnesty is used alongside disarmament, demobilization and reintegration to achieve post-conflict peace building in the Niger Delta region. It is for this reason that I believe that the conflict requires a transformational strategy to achieve lasting peace, stability and development in the region.
REFLECTION ON RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
THE NATURE OF THE RESEARCH PROJECT
The following product contains a detailed discussion of the reasons for the accepted cases and the process of their selection. The two countries are at the heart of the Niger Delta and are at the center of the crisis.
DATA COLLECTION
Furthermore, as the economic nerve of the country, the conflict in the Niger Delta began to affect the activities of the government, as the revenue required for the day-to-day management of the country was already under threat. As a result, examples are drawn from various parts of the world where amnesty has been used to promote peace under a transitional justice system.
DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS
This method constitutes an important aspect of the data collection procedure for the following reasons: First, the subject under investigation is sensitive and discrete in nature. Much of the content of news reports was further confirmed by interviewees (see section on interview process).
INTERVIEW METHOD
The researcher was also careful about the privacy of the respondents, especially the elite who cherish their private schedules. Despite tensions in the area at the time of the interviews, people were willing to talk to me and very open about the amnesty program in the region.
SELECTION OF RESPONDENTS
The researcher cross-examined responses with documents collected (conducted before and after the interviews) and in other interviews. The researcher continually added participants to the study until the incremental benefit for additional respondents diminished, or became repetitive.
DATA ANALYSIS
Below is the breakdown of the categories of respondents: ex-militants (10); the commission for the implementation of amnesty (6); environmental activists/human rights activists (10). On the Niger Delta conflict: trust and grievances in the Niger Delta conflict and the changing stages of conflict in the Niger Delta region.
ETHICAL ISSUES .1 DOCUMENTS
- INTERVIEWS
Third, the researcher sought permission from the librarians responsible for the archival material used. In the next chapter, I discuss the historical basis of the conflict and its changing dynamics.
THE NIGER DELTA: LAND AND PEOPLE
120 There are variations in the political organizational pattern among the population in the region. Moreover, it is argued that the discovery of oil and the appropriation of oil resources in the region support and similarly change the dynamics of the conflict in the region.
THE ERA OF COLONIAL INCURSION
Slave Coast” in West Africa, the Niger Delta region included some of the most densely populated parts of the African continent. In the next section, the chapter discusses the roots of the struggle for the Niger Delta and the longing of the region's inhabitants for autonomy over their local resources.
THE STRUGGLE FOR LOCAL AUTONOMY AND RESOURCE CONTROL
129 ethnic minorities, especially in the context of decades of marginalization and neglect of the Niger Delta by past governments66. 131 democratic regime to gain legitimacy on the basis of pursuing the grievances of the oil producing communities of the Niger Delta.
THE CHANGING PHASES OF THE NIGER DELTA CONFLICT .1 THE ERA OF TRUE AGITATION, 1966 TO 1990
- THE ERA OF CREED AND CLAMOUR FOR INCLUSION, 1990 TO 2000
- THE ERA OF MILITARISM AND GREED, 2000 TO 2009
Such positions were motivated by the apparent inability of peaceful protests to bring about change in the state oil alliance's attitude towards the Niger Delta. For example, in 1999, three Niger Delta state governors had managed to penetrate and sponsor part of the militia.
PUTTING THE CONFLICT IN PERSPECTIVE
The most important need at that time was the development of the region and the fair distribution of natural resources. In addition, corporate offenses by oil multinationals also affect the dynamics of conflict in the region.
CONCLUSION
The next chapter discusses some of the conflict resolution mechanisms adopted by the state in response to the Niger Delta conflict and why they failed. We now turn to state management of conflict from the time crude oil was first discovered in the region to the 1990s.
THE NIGERIAN STATE AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NIGER DELTA CONFLICT, 1958-1990
In the new arrangement, the Niger Delta had three (Mid-Western State, Rivers State, South Eastern State) of the twelve states established72. And also for the autonomy of the Niger Delta people to be realized under a united Nigeria (see Obi 2009, Idemudia 2009).
THE NIGERIAN STATE AND THE MANAGEMENT OF THE NIGER DELTA CONFLICT, 1990-1999
Despite this brutal repression, the agitation in the Niger Delta region continued unabated. Alluding to corruption in the agency, Frynas (2001) reported that OMPADEC's first two sole administrators, Albert K.
THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT AND MANAGEMENT OF NIGER DELTA CONFLICT DURING DEMOCRATIC ERA (1999 TILL DATE)
Those who criticize the Commission's activities are researchers and environmental activists whose interest is in the development of the region. This resulted in the release of AsariDokubo81, the leader of the Niger Delta Volunteers Force (NDVF), the “Governor General”.
THE MAKING OF AMNESTY IN NIGERIA
It also focuses on disarmament, demobilization, training and reintegration arising from the announcement of the amnesty programme. This will contribute to the advancement of a durable conflict resolution mechanism in the transformation of the Niger Delta conflict and the overall development of the region.
THE DECLARATION OF AMNESTY AND TRANSFORMATIONAL TRAINING FOR THE MILITANTS
86Henry Okah was the spokesman for the Movement for the Liberation of the Niger Delta. Kuku was the President's Special Adviser on the Niger Delta and Chairman of the Amnesty Implementation Committee.
