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

abandon their traditional occupations and
move to other pursuits, usually in the cities,
which swells the ranks of the urban poor
and informal sector operators.
In many cases, compensation for land
rarely reaches all those affected because
of the ‘benefit captor’ syndrome. Benefit
captors are those who purportedly
represent and receive compensation and
other resources on behalf of the
communities, who then rarely receive or
enjoy the benefits. At best, a small
percentage of the communities may derive
some benefit. The benefit captor syndrome
is partly responsible for the youth revolt
against traditional authority in the region.
Deforestation and Forest Resource
Depletion
Traditionally, local people have depended
heavily on the non-timber resources of the
forests to make a living. They extract a wide
variety of forest products for domestic use
and for sale in traditional markets. These
include fuel wood, fibres, leaves, dyes, fruits
and nuts, medicinal plants, barks and roots,
spices, palm wine, snails, wild game, etc.
The much-reduced forest cover has
increased pressure on the remaining forests,
which are now suffering from overuse that
is further exacerbated by high demand
from the expanding towns and cities. It has
been well established that wealthier people
in urban areas utilize far more forest
resource derivatives than the poor who
directly depend on them.
People at the grass-roots unfortunately are
not benefiting from the increased
exploitation of non-timber forest resources.
Middlemen package most of the harvest
for urban markets, where they make huge
gains. Very little returns to the rural
economy; in general, there is a net transfer
of resources from the rural to the urban
areas.
Occupational Disorientation
One of the greatest challenges to human
development in the Niger Delta region is
how to win people back to the traditional
livelihoods that sustained them in the past.
As in other parts of the country, younger
people have left the rural areas. Fishing and
agriculture have suffered so much from
NIGER DELTA HUMAN DEVELOPMENT REPORT
environmental problems and social
challenges, and from the neglect of
successive governments, that it is very
difficult to motivate young people to take
an interest in these livelihoods. Many
youths, even those still residing in rural
areas, are more interested in rent-seeking
from oil operations in the form of standby
money or oil bunkering, hostage-taking and
sabotage of oil pipelines.
Boxes 3.4 and 3.5 describe an all too
familiar incident in the running battle
between the oil companies and the
aggrieved local people. The fundamental
issue is how traditional occupational
pursuits can exist with oil production
activities in an atmosphere of mutual
suspicion and recrimination. Interest in
traditional economic pursuits such as
agriculture and fishing cannot be promoted
as long as easy money flows from the oil
companies, albeit on an unsustainable basis.
Another concern is the increase in the
number of sex workers and indulgence in
casual sex by both men and women. The
repercussions are discussed in the following
chapters on HIV&AIDS and livelihoods.
The Influx of People into the Niger Delta
The Niger Delta region, understandably, has
attracted a great number of migrants from
other parts of the country. They come
seeking opportunities from oil production.
Although many migrants end up in the
cities, a large proportion also goes into the
rural areas. Some fill the gaps left by the
movement of local people into the cities.
They become farmers, fishers, hunters,
harvesters of fuel wood and other nontimber
forest products, quarry operators
and artisans in other trades. These rural
migrants increase the pressure on land and
rural resources, however. They are not
interested in issues of resource
conservation and environmental
protection, since their main motive is to
maximize profit. Some migrants become
middlemen who collect products for
transportation to the urban markets. They
pressure local producers to meet their
demand for goods.
Traditional economic
pursuits will suffer as
long as easy money flows
from the oil companies.
Migrants have worsened
congestion, and the sense
of personal responsibility
towards communities
has disappeared.
Many youths, even those
still residing in rural
areas, are mainly
interested in rent-seeking
from oil operations in
the form of standby
money or oil bunkering,
hostage-taking and
sabotage of oil pipelines.
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