The Niger Delta Of Nigeria: The Curse Of Oil

Abstract

Nigeria, thanks to its rich region of the Niger Delta, is currently the 13th largest oil producer in the world; it is the largest oil producer in Africa and the world's fourth largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Considering Nigeria's substantial resources, it should be Africa's crown jewel, but it is not. On the contrary, the country is experiencing conflicts, also called “oil conflicts”, between the different ethnic groups that inhabit the oil rich Niger Delta region and the government of Nigeria. The aim of this article is to understand the reasons for these conflicts that can be summarized as follows: the political legacy of the British colonizer, the government policy of allocation and control of resources, poverty and the lack of sustainable development in the region, unemployment and the lack of compensation for the damages caused by the oil industr