Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-7cvxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-22T15:17:16.941Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Networks of violence and becoming: youth and the politics of patronage in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 November 2014

Akin Iwilade
Akin Iwilade*
Affiliation:
Department of International Development, University of Oxford, United Kingdom and Department of International Relations, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria
*
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article argues that access to clientelistic networks is central to the ability of youth to engage in violent activities in Nigeria's oil-rich Delta. Even though the literature has demonstrated that the contradictions of oil wealth and economic neglect provide the backdrop for conflict in the region, the actual channels through which it becomes possible to activate incentives for violence have not been properly addressed. It also points out that a fixation on the narrative of resistance has undermined our ability to engage with other critical variables such as social codes of masculinity, survival and ‘becoming’ which play very central roles in animating violent networks in the region. Drawing evidence from interview data, the article uses the lived experiences of ‘ex-militants’ to highlight these points as well as to raise questions about the applications of neopatrimonial theory to governance projects in African states.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Modern African Studies , Volume 52 , Issue 4 , December 2014 , pp. 571 - 595
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

I am grateful to Professor David Pratten of the African Studies Centre, University of Oxford and three anonymous reviewers for their very helpful comments.

References

REFERENCES

Abbink, J. 2005. ‘Being young in Africa: the politics of despair and renewal’, in Abbink, J. & Kessel, I., eds. Vanguard or Vandals: youth, politics, and conflict in Africa. Leiden: Brill, 1–35.Google Scholar
Abdullah, I. 2004. ‘Bush path to destruction: the origin and evolution of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF/SL)’, in Abdullah, I., ed. Between Democracy and Terror: the Sierra Leonean civil war. Dakar: CODESRIA, 41–65.Google Scholar
Adebanwi, W. & Obadare, E.. (eds). 2013. Democracy and Prebendalism in Nigeria: critical interpretations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Anugwom, E. 2011. ‘Something mightier: marginalization, occult imaginations and the youth conflict in the oil rich Niger Delta’, Africa Spectrum 46, 3: 3–26.Google Scholar
Arowosegbe, J. 2009. ‘Violence and national development in Nigeria: the political economy of youth restiveness in the Niger Delta’, Review of African Political Economy 36, 122: 575–94.Google Scholar
Beckman, B. 1993. ‘The liberation of civil society: neoliberal ideology and political theory’, Review of African Political Economy 20, 58: 20–33.Google Scholar
Blok, A. 2000. ‘The enigma of senseless violence’, in Aijmer, G. & Abbink, J., eds. Meanings of Violence: a cross-cultural perspective. Oxford: Berg, 23–38.Google Scholar
Chabal, P. & Daloz, J.. 1999. Africa Works: disorder as political instrument. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Christiansen, C., Utas, M. & Vigh, H. (eds). 2006. ‘Navigating youth, generating adulthood’, in Navigating Youth, Generating Adulthood: social becoming in an African context. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute, 1–28.Google Scholar
Clapham, C. 1985. Third World Politics: an introduction. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.Google Scholar
Collier, P. & Hoeffler, A.. 1998. ‘On economic causes of civil war’, Oxford Economic Papers 50, 4: 563–73.Google Scholar
Collier, P. & Hoeffler, A.. 2005. ‘Resource rents, governance and conflict’, Journal of Conflict Resolution 49, 4: 625–43.Google Scholar
Courson, E. 2009. ‘Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND): political marginalization, repression and petro-insurgency in the Niger Delta’, Discussion Paper 57. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute.Google Scholar
Daiute, C. 2006. ‘General introduction: the problem of society in youth conflict’, in Daiute, C., Beykont, Z., Higgson-Smith, C. & Nucci, L., eds. International Perspectives on Youth Conflict and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 3–22.Google Scholar
Duriesmith, D. 2013. ‘Is manhood a causal factor in the shifting nature of war?’, International Feminist Journal of Conflict 15, 2: 1–13.Google Scholar
Eberlein, R. 2006. ‘On the road to the state's perdition? Authority and sovereignty in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’, Journal of Modern African Studies 44, 4: 573–96.Google Scholar
Erdmann, G. 2013. ‘Neopatrimonialism and political regimes’, in Cheeseman, N., Anderson, D. & Scheibler, A., eds. Routledge Handbook of African Politics. London: Routledge, 49–58.Google Scholar
Erdmann, G. & Engel, U.. 2006. ‘Neopatrimonialism revisited – beyond a catch all concept’, GIGA Working Papers 16.Google Scholar
Forest, J. & Sousa, M.. 2006. Oil and Terrorism in the New Gulf: framing US energy and security policies for the Gulf of Guinea. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.Google Scholar
Gore, C. & Pratten, D.. 2003. ‘The politics of plunder: rhetorics of order and disorder in southern Nigeria’, African Affairs 102: 211–40.Google Scholar
Greenpeace International. 1994. Shell-shocked: the Environmental and Social Costs of Living with Shell in Nigeria. Amsterdam: Greenpeace International.Google Scholar
Hansen, K. 2005. ‘Getting stuck in the compound: some odds against social adulthood in Lusaka, Zambia’, Africa Today 51, 4: 3–16.Google Scholar
Harshe, R. 2003. ‘Politics of giant oil firms: consequences for human rights in Africa’, Economic and Political Weekly 38, 2: 113–17.Google Scholar
Honwanna, A. and de Boeck, F. (eds). 2005. Makers and Breakers: children and youth in postcolonial Africa. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Ibeanu, O. 1997. ‘Oil conflict and security in rural Nigeria: issues in the Ogoni crisis’, AAPS Occasional Paper Series 1, 2: 7–13.Google Scholar
Idemudia, U. 2011. ‘Corporate social responsibility and the Niger Delta conflict: issues and prospects’, in Obi, C. & Rustad, S., eds. Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: managing the complex politics of petro-violence. London: Nordic Africa Institute/Zed Books, 167–83.Google Scholar
Idemudia, U. 2012. ‘The resource curse and the decentralization of oil revenue: the case of Nigeria’, Journal of Cleaner Production 35: 183–93.Google Scholar
Ifeka, C. 2004. ‘Violence, market forces and militarisation in the Niger Delta’, Review of African Political Economy 31, 99: 144–50.Google Scholar
Ifeka, C. 2006. ‘Youth cultures and the fetishization of violence in Nigeria’, Review of African Political Economy 33, 110: 721–36.Google Scholar
Ikelegbe, A. 2001. ‘The perverse manifestation of civil society: evidence from Nigeria’, Journal of Modern African Studies 39, 1: 1–24.Google Scholar
Ikelegbe, A. 2005. ‘The economy of conflict in the oil rich Niger Delta region of Nigeria, African and Asian Studies 5, 1: 23–56.Google Scholar
Iwilade, A. 2012. ‘Green or red? Reframing the environmental discourse in Nigeria’, Africa Spectrum 47, 2–3: 157–66.Google Scholar
Iwilade, A. & Okwechime, I.. 2012. ‘Politics of social movements in minority contexts: oil, elections, resistance and representation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria’, in Fois, M. & Pes, A., eds. Politics and Minorities in Africa. Rome: Nova Collectanea Africana, Centro di Studi Africani in Sardegna (CSAS), Università degli studi di Cagliari, 197–217.Google Scholar
Joseph, R. 1987. Democracy and Prebendal Politics in Nigeria: the rise and fall of the second republic. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lindell, I. 2010. ‘Informality and collective organising: identities, alliances and transnational activism in Africa’, Third World Quarterly 31, 2: 207–22.Google Scholar
Maier, K. 2000. This House has Fallen: Nigeria in crisis. London: Penguin Books.Google Scholar
Meagher, K. 2006. ‘Cultural primordialism and the post-structuralist imaginaire: plus ça change’, Africa: the Journal of the International African Institute 76, 4: 590–7.Google Scholar
Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Act. 1999. Abuja: Federal Government of Nigeria.Google Scholar
Nwajiaku, K. 2005. ‘Between discourse and reality: the politics of oil and Ijaw ethnic nationalism in the Niger’, Cashiers d'Etudes Africaines 178, 2: 457–96.Google Scholar
Nwajiaku-Dahou, K. 2012. ‘The political economy of oil and ‘rebellion’ in Nigeria's Niger Delta’, Review of African Political Economy 39, 132: 295–313.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2001. The Changing Forms of Identity Politics in Nigeria under Economic Adjustment: the case of the oil minorities movement of the Niger Delta. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2004. The Oil Paradox: reflections on the violent dynamics of petro-politics and (mis) governance in Nigeria's Niger Delta. Pretoria: Africa Institute of South Africa.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2005. The Oil Paradox: reflections on the violent dynamics of petro-politics and (mis) governance in Nigeria's Niger Delta. Johannesburg: Africa Institute of South Africa.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2006. Youth and Generational Dimensions to the Struggle for Resource Control in the Niger Delta: prospects for the nation-state project in Nigeria. CODESRIA Monograph Series. Dakar: CODESRIA.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2010. ‘Oil as the ‘curse’ of conflict in Africa: peering through the smoke and mirrors’, Review of African Political Economy 37, 126: 483–95.Google Scholar
Obi, C. 2011. ‘It is not about the hype; it is about what the hyperconflict portends’, Globalizations 8, 3: 379–83.Google Scholar
Obi, C. & Rustad, S. (eds). 2011. Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: managing the complex politics of petro-violence. London: Zed Books.Google Scholar
Okonta, I. 2008. When Citizens Revolt: Nigerian elites, big oil and the Ogoni struggle for self-determination. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.Google Scholar
Okwechime, I. 2011. ‘Oil multinationals and the politics of corporate social responsibility in the Niger Delta’, in Alao, A. & Taiwo, R., eds. Perspectives on African Studies: essays in honour of Toyin Falola. Munich: Lincom Publishers, 2–38.Google Scholar
Olukoshi, A. 1998. The Elusive Prince of Denmark: structural adjustment and the crisis of governance in Africa. Uppsala: Nordic Africa Institute.Google Scholar
Omotola, J. 2009. ‘Liberation Movements” and rising violence in the Niger Delta: the new contentious site of oil and environmental politics’, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 33, 1: 36–54.Google Scholar
Oriola, T., Haggerty, K. & Knight, A.. 2013. ‘Car bombing “with due respect”: the Niger Delta insurgency and the idea called MEND’, African Security 6, 1: 67–96.Google Scholar
Osaghae, E., Ikelegbe, A., Olarinmoye, O. & Okhomina, S.. 2007. Youth Militias, Self Determination and Resource Control Struggles in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria. CODESRIA Research Report No. 5. Dakar: CODESRIA.Google Scholar
Owolabi, O. & Okwechime, I.. 2007. ‘Oil and security in Nigeria: the Niger Delta crisis’, Africa Development XXXII, 1: 1–40.Google Scholar
Peluso, N. & Watts, M.. 2001. ‘Violent environments’, in Peluso, N. & Watts, M., eds. Violent Environments. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 3–38.Google Scholar
Peters, K. & Richards, P.. 1998. ‘Why we fight: voices of youth combatants in Sierra Leone’, Africa 68, 2: 183–210.Google Scholar
Pratten, D. 2013. ‘The precariousness of prebendalism’, in Adebanwi, W. & Obadare, E., eds. Democracy and Prebendalism in Nigeria: critical interpretations. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 243–58.Google Scholar
Reno, W. 2007. ‘Patronage politics and the behaviour of armed groups’, Civil Wars 9, 4: 324–42.Google Scholar
Richards, P. 1997. Fighting for the Rain Forest: war, youth and resources in Sierra Leone. Oxford: James Currey.Google Scholar
Shaxson, N. 2007. Poisoned Wells: the dirty politics of African oil. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Smith, S. 2011. ‘Youth in Africa: rebels without a cause but not without effect’, SAIS Review XXXI, 2: 97–110.Google Scholar
Somers, M. 1994. ‘The narrative constitution of identity: a relational and network approach’, Theory and Society 23, 5: 605–49.Google Scholar
Turner, T. 1976. ‘Multinational corporations and the instability of the Nigerian state’, Review of African Political Economy 3, 5: 63–79.Google Scholar
Ugor, P. W. 2013. ‘Survival strategies and citizenship claims: youth and the underground oil economy in post-amnesty Niger Delta’, Africa 83, 2: 270–92.Google Scholar
Ukeje, C. 2001. ‘Youth, violence and the collapse of public order in the Niger Delta of Nigeria’, Africa Development 26, 1–2: 337–66.Google Scholar
Ukeje, C. 2006. ‘Youth movements and youth violence in Nigeria's oil delta region’, in Daiute, C., Beykont, Z., Higson-Smith, C. & Nucci, L., eds. International Perspectives on Youth Conflict and Development. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 289–304.Google Scholar
Ukeje, C. & Adebanwi, W.. 2008. ‘Ethno-nationalist claims in southern Nigeria: insights from Yoruba and Ijaw nationalisms since the 1990s’, Ethnic and Racial Studies 31, 3: 563–91.Google Scholar
Ukeje, C. and Iwilade, A. 2012. ‘A farewell to innocence? African youth and violence in the twenty first century’, International Journal of Conflict and Violence 6, 2: 339–51.Google Scholar
Utas, M. (ed.) 2012. ‘Introduction: Bigmanity and network governance in Africa’, in African Conflicts and Informal Power: big men and networks. London: Zed Books, 1–34.Google Scholar
Vigh, H. 2006. Navigating Terrains of War: youth and soldiering in Guinea Bissau. Oxford: Berghahn.Google Scholar
Watts, M. 2007. ‘Petro-insurgency or criminal syndicate? Conflict and violence in the Niger Delta’, Review of African Political Economy 34, 114: 637–60.Google Scholar
Zalik, A. 2004. ‘The Niger Delta: ‘petro violence’ and ‘partnership development’, Review of African Political Economy 31, 101: 401–24.Google Scholar
Bereni (no last name given), 26-year-old former member of Buccaneers Cult group at the University of Port Harcourt. Currently in the UK studying for an undergraduate degree under the sponsorship of the Amnesty Office. Lagos, 16.7.2013–22.9.2013.Google Scholar
Peter C., 26-year-old ex-militant fighter in the Niger Delta Volunteers (NDV) based in Warri and now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Lead City University, Ibadan, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar
Tarela A., 29-year-old former gang member now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Lead City University, Ibadan, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar
Tony O., 29-year-old student now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Lagos, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar
Bereni (no last name given), 26-year-old former member of Buccaneers Cult group at the University of Port Harcourt. Currently in the UK studying for an undergraduate degree under the sponsorship of the Amnesty Office. Lagos, 16.7.2013–22.9.2013.Google Scholar
Peter C., 26-year-old ex-militant fighter in the Niger Delta Volunteers (NDV) based in Warri and now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Lead City University, Ibadan, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar
Tarela A., 29-year-old former gang member now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Lead City University, Ibadan, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar
Tony O., 29-year-old student now enrolled in the amnesty programme and is being sponsored to study for a degree at the Igbinedion University, Okada, Lagos, 27.3.2013–15.4.2013.Google Scholar