TOWARDS RESOLVING THE NIGER DELTA DEBACLE: GOVERNMENT INTERVENTIONIST AGENCIES IN PERSPECTIVE, 1960-2012

Abstract

This paper studies various efforts and interventions of various government of Nigeria towards resolving the Niger-delta question since independence through 2012. Given the view that the Niger-Delta question has continued to defy all measures intended for its resolution, there arises the need to move beyond the rhetoric of marginalization of the region and people to an examination of the causes of the region’s economic backwardness and the consequent social unrest. This seemingly intractable volatility in the region can best be explicated within the purview of the imbalance in Nigeria’s fiscal federalism. This study employed the thematic and analytical methods of historical research. The themes studied herein are presented in chronological order. The inter-disciplinary approach was utilized in the collection data. This study assessed the functionality of these interventionist agencies of government, viz; NDDB, OMPADEC, NDDC and the Ministry of Niger-Delta Affairs, as regards pacifying the oil bearing states, otherwise referred to as the Niger-Delta states of Nigeria. Despite these interventions, the crises are yet to abate. It was observed that Nigeria fiscal structure is at the root of the Niger-Delta debacle. It does appear that Nigeria’s fiscal systems have been a tool used by the dominant ethnic groups for expropriation of allocable resources against the interest of the minority groups whose lands produce the mineral wealth, hence the crises in the Niger-Delta. This study frowns at the quick-fix mechanism of the Federal government, and thus recommends the restructuring of Nigeria’s fiscal regime to accommodate equitably the interests of all the federating units.