Amnesty and human capital development agenda for the Niger Delta
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Date
2010
Authors
Akinwale, A.A
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Abstract
The Niger Delta of Nigeria has become increasingly famous due to massive oil deposits and escalation
of violence in the region. The emergence of deadly militant groups embodied oil pipeline vandalisation,
hostage taking, massacre, and assassination. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government’s top-down
measures for alleviating the spate of violence in the region have not yielded desired results. This paper
examines amnesty and human capital development agenda, using content analysis of relevant
secondary data, with insights from the Habermasian Social Movement Theory and the Althusserian
State Apparatus Theory. The paltry financial rewards granted to ex-militants are incomparable with
huge amount of money they realised illegally. Thus, a resurgence of violence may occur in the region
except the undesirable socio-economic situations that fuelled militancy are addressed. While amnesty
is a good step towards peace building in the region, a holistic approach to human capital development
must be taken to compliment it. Fundamentally, ex-militants’ endorsement of the amnesty without
proven records of improvement in the Niger Delta situation is inappropriate. Also, the Nigerian
government’s adoption of amnesty without ensuring accelerated empowerment within oil-endowed
communities negates popular demands in the region. The amnesty programme should therefore be
complemented by other innovative measures such as wide consultation with various stakeholders and
inclusion of all youths in the training programmes that will cater for essential needs of the majority in
the region.
Description
Staff Publications
Keywords
Amnesty , Empowerment , Niger Delta , Human capital
Citation
Akinwale, A.A (2010) Amnesty and human capital development agenda for the Niger Delta. Journal of African Studies and Development, Vol. 2(8), 201-207pp.