Conflict, Corruption Reasons for Slow Investment in Niger Delta
Conflicts and Corruption have been identified as responsible for poor and slow investments in the Nigeria Delta region, experts and civil society organizations (CSOs) have said.
The experts who spoke during a Documentary screening of a film titled: Time for Collective Action Against Conflict and Corruption in the Oil Rich Niger Delta attributed the near absence of key investments like industries and infrastructure to what it referred to as “conflict Entrepreneurs”.
The Documentary and the accompanying research were conducted by African Initiative for Transparency, Accountability and Responsible Leadership (AfriTal).
Speaking at the event to unveil the documentary in Abuja, Dr. Zibima Tubodenyefa, Lecturer, Niger Delta University, a key consultant to the project said the conflict entrepreneurs activate violence against planned investments which give them ample access to rents.
“We realized that what this conflict entrepreneurs do mostly and very effectively is to stoke legacy issues, ethic issues, land disputes among others, apart from using the instrument of ignorance against the people to their personal advantage”, he said.
“We realized that they have information and they control information around these investments very well, so what they let out is oftentimes half-truth or a misrepresentation of the facts. They stoke sentiments and people act. They become key stakeholders when it gets to a point of negotiations,” he lamented.
These group of persons who cut across government, its agencies and the host communities are said to be feeding fat on the current rent seeking system they operate and ready to stall investment in the region that is not to their personal benefit.
The documentary screening was sponsored by Facility for Oil Sector Transparency and Reform in Nigeria (FOSTER) is titled: “The Impact of Corruption and Conflict on Investments in the Energy Rich Niger Delta Community.”
The convener of the documentary, Dr Louis Brown Ogbeifun however encouraged Nigerians to hold government responsible and accountable for failure to providing social amenities, infrastructure, and encouraging pervasive corruption in high places which has left the people poorer than they were in 2018.
Dr Ogbeifun also said “these are individuals that have turned themselves into principalities and powers who must be worshipped and consulted without which no investment can prosper in the Niger Delta region.

The experts cited a clear example of the Gas Revolution Industrial Park, Ogidigben in Delta State and the Gelegale Seaport in Edo State which have failed to kickoff despite the preparedness of foreign and local investors to invest in projects and the enormous economic benefit were stalled by community leaders in collaboration with their allies in government by initiating conflicts
Making his contribution at the event, Dahiru Modi, a consultant to AfriTAL described what is currently happening in the region as a veritable conflict market.
“To understand what has happened and what is happening, we have to understand that just like we have the very functional political market place in Nigeria, we have a functional conflict marketplace in the Niger Delta and like every other market, it functions on demand and supply.
“The conflict entrepreneurs we talk about in this communities, talk about Ogidigben, Gelegale, Obioku in Brass, Nembe, you realise that across this communities, there are specific individuals who play this role. Before now it has been taught that these individuals are desperate and disconnected one from the other.
“You have the government officials, you have the commissioners, the ministers, governors, presidents, on the other hand you have the people who have money, that is investors and then the communities. We have thought them to be isolated but from our research and engagement and arising from a trend analysis of the specific outcomes associated with plan investments in oil rich communities we have come to realise that the dynamics are evolving, you realise that the actors we thought are disconnected are actually connected,” he said.
The panel however recommended the inclusion of women in decision making process at all levels in the oil and gas value chain, by incorporating them into the frameworks for conflict resolution.
According to them, government must recognize the existence of conflict entrepreneurs and how to checkmate their influence among other recommendations.