'Nigeria: the context for violence' (2006-2013)

[marct]

As an addendum,

U.S. urges 'fivefold expansion' in Alberta oilsands production
Last Updated: Thursday, January 18, 2007 | 6:31 AM ET
CBC News

The U.S. wants Canada to dramatically expand its oil exports from the Alberta oilsands, a move that could have major implications on the environment.
....

Now I'll go read the article.

Marc

[marct]

Okay, this pretty much ties in with the other material I have read about the Niger delta. It's time to stop acting like conquistadors and invest something in the local economy. After all, do we really want to have to fight a war in Nigeria when, with a minuscule investment in local PR, e.g. schools, clean water, etc., we can stop this insurgency before it starts?

Honestly, as a Canadian, I don't really have to worry about this. Nigeria is the #5 source of foreign oil to the US. Want to guess what the #1 source is? Canada. If Nigeria goes into a civil war, I won't freeze. Still and all, doesn't it make sense to force the oil companies to invest in local development? It would be a situation of, to quote the great American philosopher Tom Lehrer, "doing well, by doing good."

Marc

[sgmgrumpy]

A decade later, the potential consequences of this conflict have escalated in both human and economic terms across a swathe of territory 30 times the size of Ogoniland. Nigerian and international military experts have recognised that the crisis requires a negotiated political resolution. Any attempt at a military solution would be disastrous for residents and risky for the oil industry. Most facilities are in the maze of creeks and rivers that are particularly vulnerable to raids by well-armed militants with intimate knowledge of the terrain. But inaction risks escalating and entrenching the conflict at a time when tensions are already rising in advance of the 2007 national elections.
MEND increasingly serves as an umbrella organisation for a loose affiliation of rebel groups in the Delta. It has not revealed the identity of its leaders or the source of its funds but its actions demonstrate that it is better armed and organised than previous militant groups. Observers warn that a worst-case scenario could lead to a one to two-year shutdown of the oil industry in the Delta, where most of Nigeria’s 2.3 million daily barrels of crude oil originate.

Full Document
http://www.sweetcrudemovie.com/pdf/icgaugust2006.pdf

[marct]

Full Document
http://www.sweetcrudemovie.com/pdf/icgaugust2006.pdf

Really good paper, thanks for posting it!

Marc

[georgev]

Full Document
http://www.sweetcrudemovie.com/pdf/icgaugust2006.pdf

Hi!
Thank you very much for doc. Good to know!
Regards,
George

[sgmgrumpy]

We The Ijaws, the predominant indigenous people in the Niger Delta, moved to the Delta over 7,000 years. We have a distinctive language.

The Niger River Delta, one of the largest and beautiful deltas in the world, is the largest delta in Africa, and it covers approximately 14,000 square miles (36,260 square kilometers). Its origination is in the highlands of the Fouta Djallon Plateau in western Guinea 150 miles (240 kilometers) from the Atlantic Ocean.

From Lokoja in Nigeria, the Niger travels south 250 miles or 400 kilometers, becoming a great fan shaped delta before emptying into the Ijaw Gulf. It is this delta that we the Ijaws have called home for over 7,000 years.

Ijaw Website
http://www.unitedijawstates.com/


Another good read:

Militancy and Security in the Niger Delta

The Bottom Line
The ongoing security situation for foreign oil companies and ex-patriots in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria remains highly
adverse. Increased militant activity targeting oil production assets, oil workers and government forces will continue, and
further disruption to oil production in the Delta is expected. The threat of kidnap remains high and hostage taking of oil
workers has been occurring in the states of Bayelsa, Delta, River as well as at sea and from offshore oil rigs – on 2 June
eight foreign oil workers employed by Dolphin Drilling Ltd were abducted from Fred Olsen Energy ASA-owned Buford Dolphin
oil rig 60 km of the coast near Warri in an early morning raid . There have also been troubling tactical developments with
urban terrorism emerging in Port Harcourt, including a car bombing at an army barracks on 20 April, the shooting of a US oil
services company executive on 11 May and the murder of six policemen on 15 May. There is a high degree of instability and
civil unrest in the states of Anambra, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Ondo and River, with ethnic and religious rivalries
frequently erupting in violence. Recent attacks have also targeted government security forces, which provide security for
foreign oil companies. On 21 May, a communiqué was issued by Ijaw militants announcing a new alliance of the most prolific
militant groups in the region and their intention to launch a new offensive over the coming weeks.

Militancy and Security in the Niger Delta
June 2006
http://www.riskadvisory.net/uploads/..._-_Nigeria.pdf

[Eddie Beaver]

Tension has ebbed and flowed in the US security relationship with Nigeria, most notably portrayed in Dana Priest's excellent "The Mission", where the Nigerians were all about "give us the guns" while the US was intent on human rights training before anything else.

The Beijing Consensus certainly doesn't work like that. As the Chinese increasingly edge out the US in providing security training, weapons and cash to the Nigerian obligarchy (a process that could be sped up depending on who wins power in the upcoming Nigerian elections), the government's tactics against peaceful protests and violent rebellion alike will edge toward systematic scorched earth tactics which will only worsen the insurgency.

Given the propensity for ethnic cleansing and mass murder on behalf of the government in Nigeria's history, this will not end well and could be the big fissure that helps dismember Nigeria along religious, ethnic and even tribal lines. The chances of US intervention of some sort (whether US soldiers, special ops or private contractors like Blackwater) in Southern Nigeria (just like in Southern Sudan) will rise dramatically once it becomes a resource war shrouded in holy and ethnic terms.

[Jedburgh]

ICG, 28 Mar 07: Nigeria's Elections: Avoiding a Political Crisis

...An election that produces widely disputed results could itself lead to post-election violence, which could degenerate into wider and more intense forms of conflict, threatening the nation’s stability. Electoral malpractice and violence were the military’s justification for seizing power in 1966 and 1983. Violence associated with elections, therefore, poses a serious threat not only to the April 2007 elections but also to Nigeria’s continued path towards stable, democratic development. This in turn could have far-reaching consequences for Africa. The elections urgently need to be salvaged.