The Niger Delta is the southernmost portion of Nigeria, the world's third largest wetland, an area 3 times the size of the UK. It is home to an estimated 20 million people of as many as 40 different ethnic groups, and, critical to the conflicts that rage in the Delta, home to vast oil resources.
The oil is wanted by the rest of the world, especially the most developed nations and those rapidly developing, such as India and China; benefits from the oil are wanted, and needed, by the poverty stricken peoples of the Delta. Instead, benefits from the oil accrue to the elite few and, though many funds from oil revenue are paid to the Nigerian Federal, State and Local Governments, somehow little improvement results in the lives of the Niger Delta peoples. Neither do the substantial community development funds from the oil companies have much lasting, positive impact. Instead competition, power struggles, inter-community rivalries, jealously and criminality rules in many communities - resulting in conflict and the annual loss of many lives.
The Niger Delta is termed a "zone of high intensity conflict," with more than 1,000 deaths annually (data from World Bank). Why is this so, and how can the Niger Delta coastline's "corridor of conflict" become a "corridor of peace"?
Though there are many ethnic groups in the area, the major ethnicity, especially in the three states of the "core Niger Delta," is the Ijaws. They are the fourth largest ethnicity in Nigeria, mostly fishermen and women of the sea, the backwater swamp and the rivers. Their earnings are poor and decreasing, as trawlers illegally prowl the sea too close to the land, within the locals' fishing areas, and as oil pollution and locals' damaging fishing practices deplete the marine population. Especially at the ocean's coastline, soil conditions are sandy and poor, so it is very difficult to supplement declining income with agricultural crops. The GNP per capita in the Niger Delta is below the national average of US$280, itself a very low income. There is little access to safe drinking water in the rural areas, little effectively functioning education, and poor medical facilities. Yet the area is producing 2.26 million barrels of oil per day, providing over 90% of Nigerian export earnings and 60% of Nigeria's federally distributed revenue (Francis and Rahim 2005).
The violence that is both sporadic in some areas, yet almost constant in others, leads most tragically to injury and death of local people and of oil workers and to the suspension of oil operations, at times cutting national exports by 40%. The violence is not without cause and not without warning. In the early 1990s, the oil industry in Nigeria was warned by traditional rulers from the Niger Delta region that they were losing control of their youth and that soon, unless steps were taken, the area would explode into anarchy. By the end of 1999, that seemed likely. With the beginning steps into democracy, the youths could give voice to grievances repressed during the military era. With no viable response to that voice, no say in the region's development, and few opportunities to earn income, the youths took direct action, kidnapping oil workers and sabotaging oil installations, while some turned to piracy on the Delta waterways.
There is at least one notable exception to these behaviours, the Bayelsa State Ijaw community of 30,000 people of the Akassa clan who went peaceably about their business of development. It was, in the words of one Reuters correspondent, "a haven of sanity in a sea of madness." (Knight, Alagoa and Kemedi, 2000). The clan was engaged in a process of interactive, participatory development, facilitated by Pro-Natura International (Nigeria) (PNI-N) and funded by an oil company, the Norwegian government owned Statoil, which was beginning to prospect for oil far out at sea in Bayelsa State.
Within a couple of years, the programme grew. Multiple donors supported the program, including foreign embassies, conservation foundations such as the IUCN, development institutions such as the UNDP, volunteer groups such as the Voluntary Service Overseas and local charities, individuals and even other oil companies.
The programme builds peace because Statoil allows the communities to decide how, where and for what priorities the funding available should be spent on. All communities in the clan are treated equally - there are no host and non-hosts, (or have and have not's). An annual planning workshop is conducted where representative from all communities (the General Assembly) comes together to argue, debate and agree its priorities for the oncoming year. Funding for Akassa Development Foundation is made into a dedicated bank account and spent according to a published budget. Expenditure reports are also published along with quarterly progress report. In addition, the ADF reports progress to the General Assembly, a 'community council' like body made up of representative of each community and Clan institution in Akassa. This eliminates causes of suspicion and jealousy. In addition to the General Assembly, Clan Institutions oversee various development areas within the Clan: health, education, skills training, infrastructure development, youth, etc, the full list of Clan Institutions is shown here
Later PNIN expanded their facilitation to development programs in two other areas in the Niger Delta, in Rivers and Akwa Ibom state. More recently, PNI has begun facilitation in other Niger Delta regions and, by request from a northern Nigerian state, Yobe, has trained their Local Government Chairs and Special Advisors for Rural Development in principles and methods of participatory development. The 'living university' is now established as a field-based programme for learning about how community development can be peacefully achieved in the Niger Delta.
This initiative has since spread inland as communities and stakeholders have begun to adapt and adopt the "Akassa model" to suit their own needs and circumstances. In light of these developments, PNI Nigeria expanded its Coastal Development Initiative in 2007 to form the Community Development Foundation Initiative, promoting Community Development Foundations inland as well as along the coast.
The initiative currently incorporates our flagship programmes (which are now running independently, with only minimal input and supervision from PNI Nigeria), are the Akassa Development Foundation and the Eastern Obolo Community Development Foundation, both of which are featured on our website. We are also facilitating the establishment of other foundations, which are in various stages of the process in Opobo-Nkoro and Egi (Rivers), Kolo Creek, Ogbia Central and Kaiko-Ebeawo (Bayelsa State), Oron, Eket and Esit Eket (Akwa Ibom). In addition, a pilot, 'confidence building and learning' phase of a programme in Bonny LGA (Rivers State) was also completed in 2005.
In all these LGAs, PNI is actively creating legally responsible and accountable community based organisations through which development interventions can be channeled. Features of a CDF include:
A governance body consisting of a Board of Trustees and a General Assembly. The trustees are the legal proprietors of the Foundation and are registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. Members must be indigenes of the area and fully supportive of the Foundation.
A General Assembly which is the main body for overseeing the work of the Foundation. Its membership must be gender balance and all members must be resident in the area. All communities in the LGA are represented, regardless of their status with oil companies (host or non-host).
CDF staff trained to conduct Participatory Rural Appraisal in all communities within the LGA on an annual basis.
Projects identified through PRA, prioritised across the LGA by representatives of all communities and the General Assembly, planned and implemented by an institution or management committee consisting of beneficiaries and stakeholders, with support from the CDF.
When fully operational, activities of the CDF typically:
Operate a credit and savings scheme that all residents can be members of.
Improve educational facilities and standards in the LGA, through improving schools, educational scholarships, operate nursery schools, provide teachers' quarters etc.
Improve health facilities, train traditional birth attendants to reduce child mortality, run revolving drug schemes
Advocate to Local and State Government for additional support and resources.
Publish all their budgets, expenditure and progress in local newspapers on a quarterly basis, and
Other activities as determined by the communities; e.g., conduct annual sports events, football tournaments, operate subsidised transport, etc.
Most importantly, all activities are managed through community institutions or committees ensuring that there is full ownership of the programme by the community. Such is the success of these programmes that community members often refer to their Foundation as their "local government". The challenge is now to work with State and Local Governments to identify how the CDFs can be better supported by their LGA and to support the work of local government. Already, both Akassa and Eastern Obolo are actively campaigning their State and Local governments. In Akassa, the Bayelsa State Government has supported the micro-credit programme and awarded the construction of the coastal community road, (previously being undertaken section by section the ADF). In Eastern Obolo, the Government has partnered to provide staff and other support for health facilities constructed by the foundation.
The programmes are supported by Statoil, TOTAL Nigeria, Frontier oil and Gas, Nexen, The British High Commission, The French Embassy and other local and international donors.
The possible inclusion of communities within Brass LGA would mean that almost half of all coastal communities in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Bayelsa state are now participating to some degree. The ultimate aim of this is to realise sustained improvement in local conditions, the introduction of transparent decision making, improved local governance service delivery and ultimately a reduction in conflict and increased security for industrial operations.
The CDI has demonstrated that investments in community-led social development can be successful in the Niger Delta, when a coordinated partnering approach is taken, bringing multiple stakeholders together around a common interest and towards a common goal.
The success of these programmes has also influenced both SDPC and Chevron to adopt an institutional approach for community development through their own GMOU models. PNI advised Chevron and made a major contribution to the operational procedures for the SPDC GMOU model. Unfortunately, both organisations have excluded non-host communities from their models and are not working within local government areas, thus their capacity to reduce community conflict and to link with local government authorities will be reduced.
