Oil was discovered in the late 1950's in Ogoniland, in south east of the region, and conflict, still unresolved, arose from the displacement of ethnic groups, in particular the Ogoni and the Ijaw. Scant compensation was given to these people, based on the lands original agricultural value, and not the value of the oil reserves beneath.
Sadly as GDP rose, living conditions in the riverine communities failed to improve.
With increasing oil infrastructure developing the towns of Warri and Port Harcourt, urbanisation grew, and traditional revenues from agriculture, including rubber, cotton and cocoa fell. Many ethnic groups felt alienated from the benefits of the oil industry, and little changed for the majority of subsistence fishermen and farmers in the region. Co-ordinated central investment in developing the infrastructure of the delta failed to materialise. With such vast oil revenues coming on stream the abuse of public office for private gain saw a sustained rise in corruption at the expense of the vulnerable. Figures from the World Bank estimate up to 12% of GDP or 1 trillion dollars sequestrated by those in public office.
Despite the establishment of initiatives to develop the region (the Niger Delta Development Commission) tensions between foreign oil companies and ethnic groups created a volatility and unrest in the region. With increasing access to weapons, militant and criminal factions used hostage taking, sabotage and oil bunkering for both political purposes and illegal gain. Amnesty for these groups in 2009 has seen a reduction in these activities, but there remains a generation of youth with little if any opportunity to access meaningful education and work.
Pollution of the land and rivers has decimated fish stocks, and all Health, Mortality and Educational indices for this region remain in the lowest global rankings, despite this being at one time the sixth richest oil producing region in the world.The Millennial development goals to substantially reduce childhood mortality and morbidity across a variety of measurable indices has been undermined by corruption and lack of grass roots investment.
The story of the Niger Delta is complex, and draws in elements of human greed, corporate cynicism, opportunism, abuse of human rights, political indifference and regional isolation.
There are multiple voices who will give varying account of this story, most with a partisan agenda.
New Foundations has no political stance, and no affiliation to any particular viewpoint historically, but views the problems as characteristic of man's innate propensity toward self interest.
We simply see before us people who will never have much of a voice, and are paying an unacceptable price in the rampant scramble for oil wealth. This is not to say local people are not complicit, indeed local acts of greedy self-interest sometime beggar belief.
There remain however many hundreds of thousands who will not get to the table, and we speak for them.
There is simply no need in these days, in an oil-rich region for:
Malnutrition, despite ample foodstuffs
Child abuse, and witch stigmatisation
Empty Schools, no resources, and absent teachers
to name but a few.......
Jesus Christ came to redeem the lost, that they may be saved. The Gospel of Jesus is not a ticket to get rich, a stick to beat the have nots, or a rule book to stunt personal maturity.
Jesus came to set the captives free, and put quite simply we believe the tortuous agendas of the Niger Delta are beyond the ability of man to sort. It is the love of Christ that will do this, He is able, and we serve Him in this place.
The issues of the Niger Delta are complex, Wikipedia remains open to editorial scrutiny,
and therefore a useful source for more information
