The Role of Multinational Oil Companies (MNOCs) and Militancy in Niger Delta

Abstract

The discovery and exploration of oil in Nigeria seems to have come with good tidings and hope for a better development but today the reverse is the case. Oil has brought agony and insecurity in the country, particularly the oil communities of the Niger Delta region. The high level of marginalization and negligence on the part of the government, the elite and the MNOCs has resulted in militancy, which has consequently inflicted the economic growth of Nigeria. Resource curse is used to examine how the perceive petro dollar turns out to bring curse on the country. Despite different response by the government to address the unrest in the oil rich Niger Delta,yet the insurgency persist. This has been attributed to a commandist and lack of proper consultation with people of the region. This paper therefore, calls for a meaningfulcorroboration between the major actors in the exploration of oil and the people in order to have lasting solution to the prevailing problem and as a consequence a meaningful ataraxia.

Keywords: MNOCs, militancy, politics, Niger Delta, Nigeria.