The Political Ecology of Oil in the Niger Delta: Understanding Youth Violence from the Perspectives of Youths A thesis submitted to University College London For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy By Alozie Modesta Tochi May, 2019 Development Planning Unit, 34 Tavistock Square, London WCIH 9EZ The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment University College London 1 Declaration I, Modesta Tochi Alozie, confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. 2 Abstract The Niger Delta is an oil-producing region in Southern Nigeria. It is rich in biodiversity and has abundant petroleum resources. Increased demand for Nigeria’s low sulphur oil shortly after Shell D’Arcy discovered oil in the Niger Delta in 1956 transformed Nigeria, previously an agrarian economy, into the largest oil producer in the continent of Africa. Today, oil dominates Nigeria’s export and contributes significantly to its foreign exchange earnings. With the commercialisation of oil in 1958, the federal government introduced new institutional mechanisms which set the stage for Nigeria’s fiscal centralism. These include a nationalised oil company (NNPC) established in 1971 and the distributable pool account introduced in 1966, subsequently renamed the federation account in 1979. In contrast to the fiscal arrangement in pre-oil Nigeria, these institutional mechanisms gave the federal government the legitimacy to retain a large proportion of the profits generated from the oil industry. But while the federal government and oil companies accumulate enormous profits from oil, violence became a part of everyday life in the Niger Delta. To a significant degree, the linkages between oil and violence in the Niger Delta is connected to discontent over the oil revenue distribution pattern, which has led to the emergence of violent groups in which youths, and male youths, in particular, are the main actors. These violent groups, known locally as ‘militants’, are resisting the oil companies, local leaders, and the federal government who they blame for their experiences of violence. The media and official discourses characterise these violent groups as criminals and problematic and blame them for violence. So far, there has been little systematic effort to give these youths a voice in discussions about violence in the Niger Delta. Using a political ecology approach which combines Bourdieu’s thinking tools-(habitus, field and capital)-with Connell’s concept of hegemonic 3 masculinity, this thesis seeks to understand petro-violence from the perspective of youths but male youths in particular. This means an analysis that prioritises how young people perceive, explain and justify their relationship with violence. The arguments in this thesis resulted mainly from 5 events of focus groups and in-depth interview with 84 youths mostly from two ethnic groups (Ijaw and Ogoni) who have experienced oil-related violence in both direct and indirect forms. It also includes in-depth interviews with 42 institutional representatives who have relevant knowledge about youth violence in the Niger Delta. The findings highlight the role of the political ecology of oil as well as institutional and social factors in shaping young people’s experiences of violence. Based on these findings, this thesis shifts away from an explanation of youth violence which focuses on youth (mis) behaviour and moves towards an analysis which locates young people’s relationship with violence within the broader social structures that contours their lives. 4 Impact Statement Policy Impact By studying the processes that lead to violence in the context of oil exploration in the Niger Delta and how this violence shapes the lives of male youths, this research shares ideas that have direct policy contribution in terms of understanding how to deliver social and environmental sustainability in the context of oil exploration. This policy impact is relevant in Nigeria but also beyond because it relates to the politics of fossil fuel exploration more generally. Theoretical Impact This thesis adopts political ecology as the general perspective that helps us to understand how the resource base and resource extraction contribute to shaping youth experiences of violence. In addition, the thesis also combines Bourdieu’s thinking tools-habitus, field and capital-with Connell’s idea of hegemonic masculinity. Bourdieu’s tools help us to understand how violence becomes a part of society by highlighting how the dialectical connection between structure and agency shapes violent practices. The idea of hegemonic masculinity helps us to understand specifically, how the masculine gender structure shapes agency. Combining these theoretical insights to study youth violence is an innovative approach which enriches the political ecology literature by introducing ideas that are new within the literature. Academic Impact To extend the impact of this research, I plan to publish research findings in internationally recognised, peer-reviewed academic journals such as ‘Antipode’, Urban Geography’, ‘International Journal of Sociology’ and ‘Men and Masculinities. I will also present my research to other students and academics, and while I have begun this process already, I plan to present soon in several other conferences including the 2nd International Conference on Energy Research and Social Science organised by Elsevier, and in the Energy Transitions Workshop at the Merian Institute, University of Ghana. 5 Dedication To Nwokem, Who understands everything, Loves consistently, And supports unconditionally. To my mother, Augustina Nkem Alozie Who created early foundation for academic excellence. Thank you so much, mum! To my father Bernard Munaonyenkwu Alozie Symbol of courage, wisdom, and forthrightness. And to all the remarkable women and men whose actions give me hope that a violence-free world is possible. 6 Acknowledgements This study has been a stimulating journey, and I would like to thank all the incredible men and women whose guidance, reflection, participation, kindness and encouragement helped me to find my bearing in the course of this research. In retrospect, I can trace the beginning of this research to my earlier study at the University of Manchester. During this study, I benefited immensely from the expert guidance of Carolyn Abbot who supervised my MSc dissertation on environmental justice in the Niger Delta. In our supervisory meetings, Carolyn often said that I felt the destitution in the Niger Delta too strongly and she would often complain of how my writings easily deviated to human suffering and how it shaped their lives even when it was not the focus of my dissertation. Because of that, Caroline convinced me that doing a PhD in an area I deeply cared about was worth all the effort. She also helped to review my PhD proposal and guided the application process. This early guidance created the possibility to write the kind of thesis that I quite enjoyed, and for this, I am so grateful to Carolyn. I want to thank my primary supervisor, Professor Vanesa Castan Broto, whom I deeply admire at both professional and personal levels. Vanesa is such an intellectual genius, and her relentless hope in humanity inspires me. I was always struck by Vanesa’s exceptionally insightful feedbacks and their peculiar timeliness. Vanesa introduced me to Bourdieu’s idea that the social actions with the most serious consequences are often those unintended. While this idea shaped this thesis substantively, it has also stretched into my own everyday life making me very critical of social life in a way I have never been before. I also deeply appreciate Vanesa’s authentic and congenial personality which ultimately shaped my supervisory experience and thought me lessons that I hope I never forget. I must admit that Vanesa’s comments especially in the early days of this study strongly cautioned against poor performance and brought some slight discomfort. 7 In one feedback in February 2016, Vanesa wrote, ‘Dear Modesta….flowery and imprecise writings are not allowed’. Later, when I asked for more guidance with analysis in November 2018, she wrote ‘I am really sorry this is not something I can answer directly without having a new draft in front of me…you need to reflect deeply about what insights from the theory will help you to analyse your data...You can do it, Modesta. Trust your analytical capacities! As Chimamanda Ngozie Adichie would say, we must train ourselves to be comfortable with discomfort because sometimes discomfort opens us up to the truth, and to knowledge. And I would add based on my supervisory experience that discomfort can open us up to progress and teach us lessons in perseverance and stamina. Just as Vanesa was critical of poor work, she also valued and applauded my progress. When she read my revised conclusion Chapter, in March 2018, she wrote ‘very good stuff!!!..this is so amazing!!! ….good job Modesta! and it made me happy to hear how much my writing has improved especially coming from a woman I greatly admire. Vanesa also made frequent, small observations about other aspects of my life and sometimes it is often the smallest things that make the biggest impact. She easily felt when I was bothered with something, she asked about my love life, asked about my father’s health, complimented my stylishness, laughed graciously at my jokes, invited me to her home, questioned why I cut my hair and pointed out that my dense, full afro threatened her tress. These observations, as small as they might appear made me feel happy because it demonstrated to me that Vanesa valued me, not just as her student but as an individual, and such congenial gesture are not always easy to come by in today’s world of academia. But more importantly, these small observations taught me confidence because to value a person is to teach them to have confidence in themselves.