Examining the Legality of the Niger Delta Amnesty Programme
“AN OILY AFFAIR”
EXAMINING THE LEGALITY OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY PROGRAMME
By
Christopher O. Ogundare (ESQ)(
[pic]
The Niger Delta Region showing Ondo, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States and and contiguous South Eastern Region (Owerri, Aba, Umuahia, and Onitsha)
INTRODUCTION
The Niger Delta crisis traces its origins to the perceived injustices which its propagators felt was meted out on the Niger Delta region, born out of the discovery of oil in Oloibiri (now in Bayelsa State) by Shell Petroleum Limited in 1958. The History of such a discovery will not be the focus of this paper as it is already well dealt with in several books. Suffice it to say however, that the discovery of oil has been a mixed blessing to Nigeria, as it has allowed for a valuable source of Foreign Exchange (over 90% of foreign exchange earnings) but has been a feedstock for the monumental corruption and inequality in the allocation of resources, which has swept the nation since 1960, especially in the oil producing areas which on the one hand suffer the most pollution yet have seen the most underinvestment in their geographical areas[1].
This perceived injustice formed the inevitable backdrop to the various Niger Delta crises, which began in some senses with Isaac Adaka Boro’s agitation of 1966 for the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic. It began maturity in the mid to late 1990s with request for justice and the end of marginalization of the area by the Nigerian government with Ken Saro Wiwa as the leading figure for this phase of the struggle. The indigents of the Delta clamoured for development of the area. They also complained about environmental pollution and destruction of their land, rivers, and other sources of livelihood by oil companies, a protest which culminated in the agony of the Ogoni eight, who, along with and led by the writer Ken Saro Wiwa, were brutally executed by the Federal Military Government.
EXAMINING THE LEGALITY OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY PROGRAMME
By
Christopher O. Ogundare (ESQ)(
[pic]
The Niger Delta Region showing Ondo, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom States and and contiguous South Eastern Region (Owerri, Aba, Umuahia, and Onitsha)
INTRODUCTION
The Niger Delta crisis traces its origins to the perceived injustices which its propagators felt was meted out on the Niger Delta region, born out of the discovery of oil in Oloibiri (now in Bayelsa State) by Shell Petroleum Limited in 1958. The History of such a discovery will not be the focus of this paper as it is already well dealt with in several books. Suffice it to say however, that the discovery of oil has been a mixed blessing to Nigeria, as it has allowed for a valuable source of Foreign Exchange (over 90% of foreign exchange earnings) but has been a feedstock for the monumental corruption and inequality in the allocation of resources, which has swept the nation since 1960, especially in the oil producing areas which on the one hand suffer the most pollution yet have seen the most underinvestment in their geographical areas[1].
This perceived injustice formed the inevitable backdrop to the various Niger Delta crises, which began in some senses with Isaac Adaka Boro’s agitation of 1966 for the declaration of an Independent Niger Delta Republic. It began maturity in the mid to late 1990s with request for justice and the end of marginalization of the area by the Nigerian government with Ken Saro Wiwa as the leading figure for this phase of the struggle. The indigents of the Delta clamoured for development of the area. They also complained about environmental pollution and destruction of their land, rivers, and other sources of livelihood by oil companies, a protest which culminated in the agony of the Ogoni eight, who, along with and led by the writer Ken Saro Wiwa, were brutally executed by the Federal Military Government.