The political economy of oil bunkering and violence in Nigeria’s delta region par Ukoha Ukiwo (University of Port Harcourt, Nigéria)

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Enregistrements audio du colloque international "Le pétrole, entre nationalismes et régionalismes : approches géopolitiques et anthropologiques" organisé par Hosham Dawod (FMSH) et Marc-Antoine de Montclos (IFG) les 24 et 25 septembre 2014 à la Fondation Maison des sciences de l’homme de Paris (A retrouver sur France Culture Plus).

The political economy of oil bunkering and violence in Nigeria’s delta region par Ukoha Ukiwo (University of Port Harcourt, Nigéria).

In October 2009, the Nigerian Federal Government declared amnesty for militants in the Niger Delta. The militants had through targeted attacks on oil infrastructure virtually crippled production of hydro-carbons, which accounts for 80 per cent of export revenue. The ostensible grievance of the militants was the marginalization of community interests in distribution of oil revenues and the despoliation of the environment which threatened local livelihoods. However, the incentive for armed violence, which spiked from 2005 when the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) launched its offensive, was illicit and primitive accumulation of wealth from proceeds of stolen oil. While the amnesty deal purported to recognize the grievance of the militants, it was actually intended to reduce the incentives for armed groups to continue pillaging the country’s oil wealth. This explains why the amnesty process has privileged the placation and empowerment of the militant groups directly involved in oil bunkering. The paper explores the linkages between oil bunkering, political power, organization of force and violence. It shows how oil bunkering has been crucial for elite production and reproduction as well as armed violence in the delta.