Austin Onuoha From Conflict to Collaboration

Annotation

One of the major policy challenges for the US following the events of September 11 2001 and their aftermaths has been how to reduce the country's dependence on oil from the Middle East. There have been suggestions of policy shifts in Washington in which Africa's share of US oil imports will rise dramatically over the next few years. Nigeria, one of the world's largest producers of crude oil, is believed to have more than 30 billion barrels of crude oil reserves, mostly in the Niger Delta areas. Despite this huge reserve however, crude supplies from the country remains at best erratic largely because of conflicts, violence and the rise of ethnic militias in the oil-producing areas of the country. The book explores the causes, sources and dynamics of the conflicts between the oil-bearing communities and oil companies in Nigeria. Taking its point of departure from the social interaction paradigm, it argues that the conflicts in the Niger Delta are embedded in the triangular relationship between the government, the oil companies and the host communities.