THE OGONI UPRISING IN NIGERIA: THE NIGER-DELTA CRISIS AND ITS IMPACT ON NIGERIA’S UNITY, 1980-1999

CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION

The Nigerian government passed legislation in the 1980s and early 1990s meant to satisfy the needs of the people of the Niger Delta, but a lack of political will and a high level of corruption among political elites impaired the implementation of humanitarian policies.1 In many cases, private oil companies were allowed to act with impunity due to the connivance of government officials. As a response to these issues, a movement arose in the Niger Delta region which addressed the situation. During that time, Nigeria suffered from the control of military dictatorships which also collaborated with multinational companies, such as Shell, at the expense of the people in the Niger-Delta.2 This research takes into consideration the vast amount of secondary literature that has been written about the issue but also examines primary sources, such as letters, memoirs, correspondences, and interviews, with the leaders of the movement, local and national government officials, and voices from the trans-national oil companies. Most scholarship about and research into the Niger Delta crisis fails to address the implications of this protracted crisis on the unity of the Nigerian people (between the ethnic majorities and minorities.) Nor has scholarship considered the autonomous and largely self-governing nature of popular resistance movements in the Niger Delta, motivated by the corruption and inaction of their state government and by the wanton greed of international oil companies. This research seeks to fills that vacuum.

Chapter One looks at the state of the research on the topic and Chapter Two details the historical background leading up to the crisis. Chapter Three discusses the uprising as gleaned from documents and eyewitness accounts showing the various sides: those of the people involved in the movement (e.g. Ken-Saro-Wiwia) and those trying to eclipse and silence the movement such as the federal government of Nigeria and the multinational oil companies. Chapter Four assesses the outcome of the movement and the aftermath of the situation in the Niger Delta. This is followed by a conclusion in Chapter Five.

 

Statement of the Problem

In 1963, Nigeria became a republic after achieving independence in 1960.3 During this time, there were conflicts as a result of the domination of ethnic minorities by the ethnic majorities and the marginalization of the ethnic minorities in the country. This situation led the country into a civil war in 1967. Consequently, the Nigerian military overthrew the government through a coup d’état and became active in the politics of the country.4 While Nigeria had civilian governments periodically, the inability of the civilian government to take care of the ethnic crises in the country constantly brought the military back to the corridors of powers through a series of coups. The ethnic minorities who comprised the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region were most afflicted by the ethnic crises.5 From the

1970s on, the Niger Delta region became an area of armed conflicts between the oil producing communities and the federal government over the control of lands. The lands in the region were expropriated by the state following the discovery of crude oil.6 Members of the oil producing communities in the Niger Delta region were opposed to this expropriation primarily because those who controlled the federal government were members of dominant ethnic majority groups. Ethnic minorities in the Niger Delta believed that members of the ethnic majorities who largely constituted the federal government were only interested in the oil extraction in the region and were not interested in the development and wellbeing of the inhabitants of the region. This feeling of marginalization generated hate within members of the oil producing communities toward the federal government and the ethnic majorities specifically from the Northern region, namely the Hausa and Fulani. The ethnic hatreds morphed into continuous hostilities between the ethnic minorities and majorities in the country.

Land disputes between ethnic groups also arose in the Niger Delta region beginning from 1990. Although land disputes were ever-present in the region, but the tension that was created as a result of the uprisings against the federal government and oil companies led to intense land disputes that arose beginning from 1990. Most of these crises—including the Ogoni-Andoni, Ogoni-Ndoki, Itsekiri-Ijaw crises, among others—were orchestrated by the federal government to keep the communities hostile to one another in order for the oil companies to explore the lands for crude oil.

The oil producing communities (Ogoni, Nembe, Ijaw, Bonny, Brass, Obagi, and Oloibiri) regularly protested the activities of the oil companies (Shell-BP and Chevron) who wreaked havoc on the lands on which they inhabited. On October 4, 1993, over five thousand residents in Obagi community were led by a group of angry youths into the Elf facility in Obagi, protesting the environmental hazards caused by the oil company.8 (The environmental hazards included oil spills: the oil spills polluted the running streams and the soil. Air pollution, constantly releasing methane into the air causing many health problems like cancer of the lungs, skin and blindness. The oil spills that contaminated the running streams and lakes also killed aquatic lives in which the indigenous population in the Niger Delta relied on for survival).

They disrupted oil production activities in the facility, destroyed properties, and made away with many valuable items such as computers and televisions. Chief Albert Horsefall, the Executive Chairman of Mineral Producing Areas Development, immediately convened a peace meeting to resolve the disturbance.9 The meeting was held between the Managing Director of Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited and the representative of the Obagi residents, Professor J.G Chinwar.10 The Assistant Inspector General of Police and the traditional rulers of Egi clan (of which Obagi is a part) were also present at the meeting. A resolution to the crisis was reached when Elf Petroleum Nigeria Limited agreed not to recover the looted properties. All the youths who were arrested and detained were freed.

Similarly, on November 2, 1994, members of the Brass community of over three thousand carried out a peaceful demonstration at the premises of a local Agip terminal.11 The Navy and the Police responded by shooting into the air, and also threw canisters of tear gas at the protesters, leaving many people injured during the reprisal attack.

Protests arose again on February 21, 1994 when thousands of the residents of Rumuobiokani community, located very close to the Shell facility in Port Harcourt, staged a large peaceful demonstration at the premises of the Shell facility. The demonstrators demanded a meeting with the top executives of Shell to discuss ways of solving the environmental problems in the region. Two Shell representatives, Precious Omuku, and Steve Lawson-Jack, gave audience to the members of Rumuobiokani community. Human Rights Watch stated that, while the meeting was ongoing, another Shell agent informed the protesters to disperse. It was not long after the order was given by the Shell agent that over thirty-armed Nigerian Army, Navy, and Police officers moved into the premises. Army commandant, Major Paul Okuntiwo, ordered the army to shoot at anyone they saw. The army shot indiscriminately into the crowd, threw canisters of tear gas, assaulted protestors, and made many arrests.