Niger Delta Human Development Report - UNDP Nigeria - United ...

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The frequent conflicts and the associated occupation by military and police, coupled with the preponderance of weapons, provoke a sense of insecurity in the region and even the whole country. A major consequence of the serious threats to life and property has been the emergence of ethnic militia in the region and even across Nigeria. These groups take the law into their own hands, practicing a kind of jungle justice. Youths who could be productively engaged have become agents of a thriving crisis generation, prevention and recovery ‘industry’, which allows them to live on ‘standby’ money rather than earning a legitimate income. Even the military, sent to quell crises like the one in Odi community, sometimes becomes an agent of human degradation. One aspect of human degradation that cut across the focus group discussions is rape. They expressed that the massive rape of young women in Odi by the soldiers sent to ensure peace in the community was a devastating example. Two years later, the community is now filled with fatherless babies. On top of being a serious assault on human dignity, the incident may have spread HIV. THE BENEFICIARIES The Niger Delta conflicts have greatly benefited some people. To start, the underground economy of oil and gas that has flourished on the back of the instability has become hugely profitable. Human Rights Watch (2003) describes the bunkering or illegal theft of oil as “effectively Nigeria’s most private business.” According to the 2002 report of a Special Security Committee on Oil Producing Areas set up by the government, this leakage in oil revenues enriches militant youths and their sponsors, and cartels made up of powerful politicians, retired and serving military officers, and community business men. These groups depend on lawlessness to thrive and have a stake in keeping conflict running all the time. Even law enforcement agents sent to check illegal bunkering become tempted by the huge profits to be made from conniving with bunkerers. A House of NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT Representatives’ probe in November 2004 uncovered the illegal release by naval officers of the MT African Pride, a ship that had been caught bunkering and towed to a naval base. There were attempts to cover up the crime with forged release documents, showing that the network of actors reaches high levels. The detention of foreign ships and nationals indicates the international character of this shady business. Breaking networks of powerful crooks with huge arsenals of deadly weapons, often superior to those wielded by security agencies, calls for very strong government determination. State and local governments in the Niger Delta region have benefited from conflict, even if indirectly. Until 2001, the agitation for resource control was largely fought by militant youths, civil society organizations, ethnic groups and community-based originations. Elected governors and prominent politicians kept a safe distance because of uncertainty over the security implications of involvement. In 2001, however, most governors discovered it made political sense to lead the agitation in order to prevent the opposition from capitalizing on it, as well as to potentially secure more revenue from the derivation funds. The agreement at the National Political Reform Conference to raise the derivation percentage to 17 per cent to pacify and avert the escalation of conflict became an example of the latter. EXTRA BURDENS: WOMEN AND YOUTH The chaotic and desperate situation in the Niger Delta condemns youth to a future without hope. No young person with healthy aspirations can fail to appreciate that his life chances depend upon more massive investments in social and economic infrastructure, and the more responsible harnessing of the natural endowments of the environment. For their part, women bear the greater brunt of poverty in the region. They receive the short end on all fronts, whether in terms of jobs, water, health facilities, schools or environmental resources. For both women and youth, deprivation has driven them into deep involvement in the Niger Delta conflicts. 125
The youth crisis began with the Twelve Day Revolution led by Isaac Boro. On 23 February 1966, a group of young Ijaw men declared the Ijaw territory of the Niger Delta ‘The Niger Delta People’s Republic’. Their aim was to liberate the region and obtain access to the benefits from its petroleum resources. The group blew up pipelines, particularly those linking Oloibiri and Ughelli to Port Harcourt. Within 12 days, Boro and his associates were arrested, tried and sentenced to death, but subsequently pardoned. There was no widespread youth crisis in the region until the 1990s, when the Ogoni and others revolted. Several localized conflicts flared, however, characterized Box 5.5: The Bayelsa Governor’s Viewpoint on the Youth Crisis mainly by protests against oil companies. The most noteworthy was in the Umuechem community in Rivers State. In December 1990, youths demonstrated against Shell to express their displeasure over the environmental impact of oil exploitation and the lack of development in the area. The police, invited by Shell, quelled the demonstration. After a police officer was reported missing, and youths were suspected of killing him during the demonstration, the police sent a punitive mission to the community. There was extensive loss of lives and property. In 1990, the educated elite formed the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni More than any other area in Nigeria, the Niger Delta, where oil and gas exploration companies operate, has engaged the attention of those interested in Nigeria and its survival. In recent times, conference after conference, report after report and commission after commission, have attempted to tender solutions to what has been described as the Niger Delta crises. Yet the social conflicts are not abating. The principal actors in these conflicts have been the youths, leading to what has now come to be known as youth restiveness. Strictly speaking, I have no problems with the phenomenon of youth restiveness. Given the prevailing socioeconomic condition in the Niger Delta, the youths have no choice but to be restive. The only problem is that sometimes, they have overstepped their bounds and adopted methods which have led to violence and lawlessness. Otherwise, their goals have been noble, geared as they are toward protecting their future from complete ruin. Source: A lecture delivered by Governor D.P.C. Alamieyeseigha on 7 April 2005 at the Lagos Country Club. Box 5.6: Women’s Protest in Warri against the Shell Petroleum Development Company In August, a large group of women barricaded the gate of SPDC’s office in Warri. Unlike other similar demonstrations in the area, it did not concern requests for employment or community development projects. Instead, it was rooted in a contractual dispute. SPDC employs drivers through logistics contractors, who supply vehicles and drivers to transport staff on company business. There was a contractual dispute between the drivers and their employers—and the drivers decided to blockade the SPDC gates to press for a resolution. Subsequently, staff at the gates noticed that the drivers had mobilized a large group of women to participate in and support their demonstration. The police were called as the demonstrators were refusing to allow passage through the gates. The crowd was subsequently dispersed, but accounts vary as to the manner in which this was done. A number of the women present at the demonstration claimed that the police used excessive force and local newspapers reported that one woman had been shot and 15 other women were missing. Alerted by these articles, a 20-women delegation from the National Council of Women’s Societies decided to visit Warri to establish the truth of what took place. They found no evidence to support the story about women being shot or missing. However, they did find that ten women had minor bruises and cuts. Eight women were treated at the SPDC clinic in Warri following the demonstration. All had minor injuries and none required hospitalization. Four of the women treated said that they had been beaten. In only one case was there any indication that this might have been so, but the medical evidence was by no means conclusive. Source: Shell Petroleum Development Company Annual Report 2002. 126 NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
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SUMMARY NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPME
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Foreword Over the past four decades
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Acknowledgements The Niger Delta Hu
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OMPADEC Oil Mineral Producing Areas
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§ The HP1-1 for the Niger Delta Re
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Background Overview The Niger Delta
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ut also presents a challenge to int
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2 should be resolved. An oil trust
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5 6 Social cohesiveness could also
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CHAPTER ONE Introduction AMAZING PA
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aggregate, to how its peoples are f
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that allows tourism to thrive and s
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any mineral extracted in that regio
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put up similar resistance, but this
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and HIV&AIDS. The information sourc
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Box 1.7: Climate The Niger Delta ha
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94 per cent of these have populatio
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expectancy index of 0.78 for Saudi
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to pockets of the region, in the ab
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Housing pattern in a typical Niger
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Revamping the rural economy by opti
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NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
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CHAPTER TWO The Human Development S
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in terms of this access, the level
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the full burden of environmental de
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effective machinery to hold elected
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NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPOR
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whether the overall level of povert
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available data suggest that females
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HIV&AIDS in chapter four, so it wil
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Gas Flare at Umuchem Table 2.8: Com
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The HDI for the Niger Delta Region
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Table 2.10: Trends in Human Develop
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GDP index of 0.570. Chart 2.4 provi
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gender equity improves human develo
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development in the Niger Delta regi
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HDI, particularly in Bayelsa and Ri
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Map 2.6: Map of the Niger Delta Reg
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Table 2.14: Disparities in the HPI-
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Saharan Africa, the Niger Republic,
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Map 2.12: Map of the Niger Delta Re
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CHAPTER THREE Environmental and Soc
Page 86 and 87: of human life and economic activiti
Page 88 and 89: Chart 3.1: Quantities and Causes of
Page 90 and 91: Agency's (1991) environmental stand
Page 92 and 93: others. These changes have in turn
Page 94 and 95: B. Income-producing trees Avocado B
Page 96 and 97: abandon their traditional occupatio
Page 98 and 99: Box 3.6: Resolving the Niger Delta
Page 100 and 101: There is very little or no treatmen
Page 102 and 103: The flooding problem of the Niger D
Page 104 and 105: CHAPTER FOUR HIV&AIDS A CHALLENGE T
Page 106 and 107: five per cent. Nearly half the delt
Page 108 and 109: Map 4.2: HIV Prevalence Rates Among
Page 110 and 111: Chart 4.6: HIV Prevalence Trends in
Page 112 and 113: Orubuloye et al. 1992; Oyeneye et a
Page 114 and 115: the associated risks of HIV infecti
Page 116 and 117: stems from biological, social, cult
Page 118 and 119: Chart 4.10: State Responses to HIV/
Page 120 and 121: One particular point of outreach in
Page 122 and 123: CHAPTER FIVE Conflict and Conflict
Page 124 and 125: The most common and vicious forms o
Page 126 and 127: took control of Nembe and banished
Page 128 and 129: One of the shools destroyed during
Page 130 and 131: Box 5.3: Ogoni Bill of Rights, 1990
Page 132 and 133: groups have produced charters, decl
Page 134 and 135: understanding with host communities
Page 138 and 139: People. It presented its Ogoni Bill
Page 140 and 141: CHAPTER SIX Sustainable Livelihoods
Page 142 and 143: Table 6.1: Unemployment and Underem
Page 144 and 145: activity. Professionalizing the qua
Page 146 and 147: participants, is hard and tedious a
Page 148 and 149: Box 6.3: Environmental Degradation
Page 150 and 151: een largely limited to urban or per
Page 152 and 153: Table 6.5: Selected Community Devel
Page 154 and 155: drawing other industries to their l
Page 156 and 157: appropriate investment promotion me
Page 158 and 159: CHAPTER SEVEN A Human Development A
Page 160 and 161: Table 7.1: People’s Vision of the
Page 162 and 163: cushions the state’s economy agai
Page 164 and 165: purposes, and the property rights o
Page 166 and 167: tertiary schools, and for different
Page 168 and 169: identification of the potentials fo
Page 170 and 171: Box 7.3: In Mexico, New Forms of Tr
Page 172 and 173: • There should be support for mor
Page 174 and 175: In both Rivers and Delta states, mo
Page 176 and 177: Niger Delta Youths Metal fabricator
Page 178 and 179: 4 PROMOTING SOCIAL INCLUSION The ag
Page 180 and 181: air caused by gas flares, the degra
Page 182 and 183: 6 • appropriate and timely compen
Page 184 and 185: uild institutions for sustainable h
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• Act as pressure groups in restr
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Chapter One References African Netw
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Effluent on Some Biota of the Lower
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Agents of Environmental Regeneratio
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Sexual Networking: Identifying Part
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APPENDIX ONE Appendices Table A1.1:
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Table A1.4: Type of Housing Constru
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Yakurr 0.442 0.372 0.399 0.404 23.2
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Mbo 0.408 0.295 0.258 0.320 24.075
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Orlu 0.567 0.349 0.320 0.412 25.527
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Obudu 19.35 25.50 22.00 22.57 Odukp
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Ondo West 34.00 22.50 32.50 30.49 O
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Oshimili North 7.50 16.00 19.40 15.
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Ogu/Bolo 11.80 23.50 28.23 23.13 Ok
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Ose 0.466 0.556 0.234 0.419 Owo 0.5
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Owerri Municipal 0.506 0.658 0.249
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Akure North 0.000 0.924 0.067 0.330
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Ngor/Okpala 0.000 0.927 0.062 0.330
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47) L. Adele Jinadu Centre for Adva
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Technical Note TECHNICAL NOTE ON HU
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1.4 Interpolation for Missing Data
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• A long and healthy life, as mea
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