Resource Control, Federalism and Peace in the Niger Delta: A Reflection on Nigeria at Fifty

Abstract

At fifty, Nigeria’s nation-state project is still being called to question and strong fears are expressed for a possible disintegration. Some make bold to suggest that the current contraption may not survive beyond 2015. A section of this school thinks that the Nigerian nation-state project was a “mistake” that is about to be corrected. Others think it is a noble dream that is slowly being awaken to and feasible in spite of the huge challenges. The challenge of the national question which in part rests on the tripod of federalism, resource control and the elusive peace in the Niger Delta region is often held culpable for the failure of Nigeria to realize her full potentials as an emerging federal African state. Rather than make progress, she is caught in a cycle of debilitating conflict imposed on her by what appears to be the struggle of various sections of the Nigerian elite to appropriate control of public resources. The continuous exacerbation of the conflict in the Niger Delta and the inability of the post-independence state in Nigeria to resolve it provide the evidences required by the pessimists to question the prospect of the continuous survival of the Nigerian nation-state. This paper critically interrogates the practice of federalism, the resource control palaver and the elusive peace in the Niger Delta of post-independence Nigeria. It finds a positive correlation between them, but concludes that just as the conditions for conflict and disintegration are evident, so are those for sustainable peace, survival and development. The paper points the way towards the understanding of these dynamics and their resolution.

Keywords: Federalism, Niger Delta, Peace, Resource control.