The resulting Niger Delta Job Creation and Conflict Prevention Initiative aimed to enhance peace and security in the country by empowering youth with skills relevant to local requirements. The first three-year phase of the program involved training 300 youth, at a cost of $2.4 million, for direct employment in the private sector or self-employment opportunities. Although restricted in terms of initial scope and outlay, the arrangement offered a desperately needed win-win situation for the Nigerian economy in general and for the youth and private sector in particular.
The volatile Niger Delta region, a network of shallow streams that empties into the Gulf of Guinea, is both the biggest boon and the biggest bane for the national economy and the undisputed hotbed of militant activity across West Africa. The discovery of vast hydrocarbon reserves in the area and the subsequent oil boom of the 1970s resulted in the widespread destruction of agriculture, along with the widespread displacement of rural communities from fertile land without adequate compensation.
The genesis of the conflict and militancy in the Niger Delta dates back to youthful unrest in the early years of the country’s independence, which precipitated a perception of injustices around the distribution of oil wealth. A secondary cause was severe environmental pollution from oil exploration that devastated the local ecology and left large tracts of land along the Gulf of Guinea uncultivable. Together, these causes transformed incipient community conflicts in the Delta region (they proliferated during military rule between 1983 and 1999) into serious criminal activity at the turn of the last century. Against all odds, the return of democratic governance only served to proliferate and further deepen the crisis.
While Nigeria’s aptly named “petroviolence” is seen by many as a just fight against the repressive practices of the federal government and Western oil companies, there is little debate about the magnitude of its impact on national fortunes. Bombings, kidnappings and raids on oil fields continue to cause estimated monthly oil revenue losses of $1 billion, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria1. Increasing attacks on oil infrastructure in recent years have restricted production to 66% of installed capacity of 3 million barrels per day. In fact, international observers point to a direct link between these developments and the record high of $150 a barrel that oil prices hit last year.
Therefore, it is understandable that there are considerable global and regional implications surrounding Abuja’s attempts to stop the violence through state intervention and peace initiatives. The most recent and notable of such efforts has been the unconditional amnesty for all activists in the Niger Delta offered by President UM Yar’Adua last year. Unfortunately, just days after the announcement, rebels loyal to the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) brazenly seized and destroyed a major oil distribution center in the first assault of its kind in Lagos, the country’s economic capital. .
The clear message emanating from this and similar incidents is that an amnesty offer, however well-intentioned, is not enough to resolve a longstanding and highly complex crisis. Despite the fact that some militia commanders have indicated their intention to surrender, the stakes for Abuja are much higher than the simple collapse of the law and order situation. The country’s central bank is unequivocally blunt in its view that growth in sub-Saharan Africa’s largest economy is critically dependent on containing unrest in the Niger Delta.
Even so, more than 40 million Nigerians remain jobless2 despite the recently announced figure of 29%. However, unemployment is just one of the many reasons behind youth riots across the country and in the Delta region in particular. Other includes:
* Lack of economic support activities and training programs.
* Marginal youth participation in community decision-making.
* Administrative breach, official negligence and corruption.
* Insufficient humanitarian initiatives and social welfare.
* High cost of living and failure to meet basic needs.
* Lack of education, sociopolitical empowerment and self-esteem.
* Drug abuse and violence; Inadequate recreational facilities.
* Good governance issues in the Niger Delta
* Overexposure to negative Western cultures
* Overexposure to the culture of greed
* Ethnicity and lack of national consciousness
Over the past decade, activists have kidnapped hundreds of foreign workers employed in the Niger Delta, forcing oil, telecommunications and construction companies to declare force majeure on multiple ongoing contracts and remove non-essential staff from vital facilities. . The growing security situation outside the area is now a major impediment to new investment, and not just in the oil sector or in the Delta. The greatest impact of the Delta crisis has been on Abuja’s efforts to achieve rapid and sustainable development through the business revolution. Clearly, that effort faces its biggest challenge in the escalation of petroviolence.
Previous initiatives in this regard, such as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), were able to achieve only limited success in the areas of youth development and conflict resolution, largely due to bureaucratic inefficiency, political inconsistent and the absence of regulatory frameworks. Due to its complex geopolitical and economic history, youth empowerment in Nigeria demands a holistic approach focused on certain key issues:
* Reform of the educational system with special emphasis on the development of skills and professional training.
* Provision of meaningful employment and occupational pathways that are consistent with local realities.
* Administrative reforms that focus on transparency and accountability in the implementation of youth policies.
* Rehabilitation programs that successfully steer activists away from violence and engage them in economically productive endeavors.
* Instill attitudes of national pride among youth through creatively designed outreach programs.
* Promotion of extensive youth entrepreneurship through financial concessions, technical assistance and grants.
* Social safety net policies that persuade the next generation of young Nigerians to turn away from crime and violence.
* In the face of Nigeria’s turbulent past, maintaining political stability and the authority of democratic institutions is critical to the success of any worthwhile youth reactivation initiative.
* Effective poverty alleviation programs that focus on business development as a viable means to legitimize prosperity. Mobilization of the young workforce to promote rapid business development in rural and urban areas alike.
* Improvement in per capita income, standard of living, and related human development indices through the implementation of informed changes in social and economic policies.
Just as business development is central to the issue of national revival, so is peace in the Niger Delta region. In fact, President Yaradua’s amnesty offer expressly cites that many activists in the Niger Delta are “healthy young people whose energies could be harnessed for the development of the nation at large.” To develop a nation of entrepreneurs, there must be a multi-sector, multi-level, multi-phase venture that begins with a collective determination to break out of the old mold of getting things done. We need passionate advocates of entrepreneurship who can inspire an entrepreneurial revolution in Nigeria and even in Africa as a whole. Hence, a radical and coordinated attempt to accelerate wealth creation through the promotion of innovative business practices. This recognition is a standing testament to the fact that Nigeria’s long-term goals are unattainable without the wholehearted participation of its sizable young population, even those who insist on sticking to their guns for now!