Date: 19 April, 2010 (Mon.) 13:30～15:00
Venue:Meeting Room, Inamori Foundation Memorial Hall, Kyoto University
Speaker: Shuhei Shimada (Professor, ASAFAS)
Title: Regional conflict and environmental problem: What is happening at oil producing area in Nigeria
Commentators:
1. Sato Shiro（G-COE Researcher, CSEAS）
2. Toru Sagawa (JSPS Researcher)
【Abstract】
Lots of studies showed that regional conflict on the Niger Delta had entered into new phase since Mid-1990. Ibaba (2009) says that Mid-1990 to 2009 is characterized as the period when people started to respond against the state and the oil MNCs by civil mobilization and militant action. In this period, violent action has become prevalent and more severe.
Many literatures have discussed on the cause of outbreaks of violent conflict in the area. Some explanations were given as fundamental reasons, such as; longstanding neglect by the Federal Government in economic development, marginalization in national politics, and unfulfilled compensation by the government and MNCs for the destruction of environment.
As for the upsurge of heavy armed violence since 1990s, the influence of global and semi-continental change in politics and economy has been examined; the impact of democratization and market liberalization; the influence of ceased fire in West African countries, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Cote d’Ivoire. The impact of social change in local level is also pointed out; the destruction of the social structure which permitted ramified militia groups commit more criminal activity.
Transition from oppressive military government to civilian government on 29 May, 1999 marked epoch in Nigerian politics. However it seems to be the turning point alike when regional conflict had turned to be more severe. People’s frustration on the Derivation Principle has rather increased in spite of improvement the allocation rate from 3% to 13% in 2000. And oil-related litigation asking for compensation for environmental destruction has increased.
In this lecture, I would like to illuminate the complicated background of regional conflict on the Niger Delta where more than 30 million people live mainly on agriculture, fishery and trading, and the MNCs produce oil at the same time which is the mainstay of Nigerian economy.
Conflicts in local society represent a serious threat to an area’s basis of livelihood. In this workshop, Prof. Shuhei Shimada discussed the Niger Delta of Nigeria, where conflicts have taken place over oil development by the state and multinational companies, and gave an analysis from a broad perspective of the different factors behind the conflicts.
The first factor is the history of inter-ethnic relations. While it is true that conflicts in the Niger Delta, an oil-producing area, have intensified since the 1990s, as seen by the frequent occurrence of mass movements and violent actions, Prof. Shimada sees the historical development of inter-ethnic relations in that country as one cause of the conflicts. The inhabitants of that region, who in the period before Independence, “while being a minority, ruled over the large ethnic groups by contributing to the slave trade,” after Independence, as the regimes and trade structure underwent transformation, changed in position to “a political-economic minority, even while living in the Niger Delta, which as an oil-exporting region became the main pillar of state finances.” This past experience of oppositional inter-ethnic relations intertwined with oil development in recent years to become one core of the conflicts.
The second factor concerns the negative relationship between the multinational companies engaged in oil development and local residents. The ecological environment of the region includes sea, brackish water, and freshwater areas, so that in addition to a range of fishery work and agriculture, there was a rich history of trading using water routes. However, oil development proved to be a major disruption of the living spaces these provided, and the local residents became increasingly dissatisfied, with this dissatisfaction developing into domestic and external lawsuits and movements to occupy oil-related facilities. On the other hand, while offering scholarship programs and employment opportunities to local people, the companies have attempted to sustain their operations by co-opting local politicians and influential figures.
The third factor is the negative relationship between the federal government and the local people. In order to appease the people living in the oil-producing areas, the federal government raised the ratio of subsidies, but many of the people feel they should be entitled to even higher subsidies. As a result, the residents feel politically and economically alienated, and have taken to carrying out violent acts including the destruction and sabotaging of oil-related facilities, and the kidnapping and murder of employees. The federal government responded to this through military means, leading to an increase in the intensity of the conflicts.
The fourth factor involves conflicts in neighboring countries. Conflicts are or were also occurring in neighboring countries, and along with democratization and the transition to free markets in those countries, weapons began to flow into Nigeria. At the same time, the federal government’s continuation and strengthening of its policy to defend the multinational companies led to a rising backlash among residents, and the number of armed youth bands and private armies organized by influential local figures increased.
As shown here, the conflict process in the Niger Delta appears to be a result of the proximal causes of oil development and environmental destruction, but in fact is governed by the complex interactions between diverse factors including the history of inter-ethnic relations, and the actions of the multinational companies, federal government, and neighboring countries.
In response to the presentation, the commentators gave the following opinions. First, GCOE Research Fellow Shiro Sato, focusing on the arming of youth groups, stated that rather than being rooted in conflicts of interest over resources and territories or values such as identity, violence itself seemed to be the goal of these conflicts. Next, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Researcher Toru Sagawa focusing on the names of armed groups and the small scale of livelihood units stemming from the contingent nature of ecological conditions in the Delta, stated that is little unity in the ideology of the residents toward the conflicts. Many opinions were also expressed from the floor. One that was particularly memorable was the statement by Prof. Akio Tanabe that since the colonial period, the Niger Delta has had, as an attribute, the aspiration to negotiate with outside society, and that the resentment its residents harbor today originates in the feelings of oppression coming from the construction of relations between themselves and the global environment. In response to a question concerning how to find a path toward internally generated regional development, Prof. Shimada stated that he believes it is important, even while reviewing traditional livelihood patterns and systems, to accumulate small efforts that are achievable today.
(Masaaki Hirai)