THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF OIL RESOURCE CONFLICTS: A STUDY OF OIL VILLAGE COMMUNITIES IN NIGERIA By NDUBUISI NDUBECHUKWU NWOKOLO A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY International Development Department School of Government and Society The University of Birmingham September 2012 0 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. ABSTRACT Oil resources are the mainstay of Nigeria’s economy, but also a major source of affliction to the village communities in which they are located. This study uses the oil village communities in Nigeria, with particular focus on Delta state. It seeks to explore the extent to which the presence of oil fuels violent conflicts in these village communities, and how the moulding of socio-economic and political structures in local oil village communities by the presence of oil resources gives rise to economic opportunism and grievance characteristics. The research employs a qualitative approach using semi-structured interviews, focus-group discussions and documentary sources to collect and analyse data for the study. It adopts structural conflict theory as the anchor theory of the research, with the support of environmental scarcity theory and greed vs. grievance theory for the analysis and interpretation of data, rather than the single theory approach adopted in many conflict studies. The research also applies micro-level analysis and non-state perspectives, which is a deviation from previous studies, which have applied macro-level analysis and state-centric perspectives in exploring oil resource conflicts. The research demonstrates that oil resources fuel violent conflicts in oil village communities through the changes it bring to local socio-economic conditions: changes such as poverty, unemployment and land struggle; and changes from traditional power structures to new ones in which there are fierce struggles for power, arising out of the need people feel for access to oil opportunities and benefits. The literature posits that behaviours such as rent seeking, greed and the pursuit of grievances arise in many oil abundant states. However, little is known about the existence of similar characteristics in smaller village communities or the extent of the influence of oil resources on socio-economic and power relations in oil village communities and how these fuel violent conflicts. The study therefore assumes that the elimination of structural violence like social exclusion, poverty, environmental degradation will help in reducing the violent struggle for power and oil benefits in oil village communities. i DEDICATION This work is dedicated to my family for their prayers, love and support. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I give all glory to God who in his infinite mercy made the completion of this study possible against all odds; with God all things are possible. The burning desire to deepen the findings of my Masters thesis at The Katholieke University Leuven, Belgium was one of the major motivations for undertaking this ‘tremendous ‘study for a PhD. However, the task of accomplishing this dream and desire met a lot of financial brick- walls. However, this dream was kept alive by someone who did not just lead the supervision of this research, but became a mentor, a brother, a confidant and a friend. To Professor Paul Barry Jackson, I say thank you! I owe you a lot for your encouragement, patience, diligence, guidance and support throughout this study. One of your words kept me on my toes, even during the period of my numerous exclusions, “For PhD, you don’t just have to be very bright but to be equally focus, resilient and committed”. I am also indebted so much to Dr. Heather Marquette, who co- supervised this thesis. She understood the situation I faced, and at each time provided invaluable comments and suggestions. Her words of support were inestimable. Thanks Heather! I am also grateful to my immediate family; my wife- Chioma, daughter- Zara and sons-Kosi and Kamso, thanks for your understanding, not just for my absence, but for all you have to forsake because of this research. To my parents, Brothers and sisters, am grateful for your supports, I wish we could all have our names written on the certificate, your financial contributions made it possible. To my father and mother-in laws, I say thank you for your support. The next gratitude goes to Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu of University of Nigeria, Nsukka for his comments and suggestions; they were just invaluable! A special thanks to Ms. M.O. Kolawole, whose contributions to this study are unquantifiable! To my colleagues at IDD as well as my associate Jare, I say thanks all for cross-fertilization of ideas. To all my friends and associates who encouraged me in one or the other, I remain entirely grateful! EKENE DILI CHUKWU! iii Table of Contents ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................ i DEDICATION ....................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................. …iii TABLE OF CONTENT……………………………………………………………………iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.................................................................................... vii ABBREVIATIONS/ACRONYMS ..................................................................................... vii CHAPTER ONE .................................................................................................................... 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1 Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 1.1Statement of the problem and research questions ............................................................. 5 1.2Aims and Objectives of the study/Purposes of the study ................................................. 6 1.3 Justification of the research Study ................................................................................ 7 1.4 Structure of the thesis.................................................................................................. 8 CHAPTER TWO ................................................................................................................. 10 THE INTERFACE BETWEEN OIL RESOURCES, VIOLENCE AND CONFLICT: A REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ..................................................................................... 10 2. Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 10 2.1 Defining Conflict, Violence, Violent Conflict and Resource Conflict .......................... 11 2.2 Understanding the Paradoxes of Oil Resources ............................................................. 19 2.3 Demystifying Oil “Resource Curse” and Violent Conflicts Arguments ....................... 25 2.4 Conceptualising Resource Conflicts and Violence in Oil States ................................... 34 2.4.1 Examining Oil rent, Rent-seeking and Oil Resources Conflicts................................. 41 2.4.2 Oil Resources and the Cultures of Greed and Grievance ........................................... 44 2.4.3 Oil Resources, Environmental Degradation and Scarcity........................................... 49 2.5 Oil Resources and Changes in Socio-economic Structures ........................................... 53 2.6 Oil Resources, Power Struggle and Violent Conflict .................................................... 56 2.7 Summary and Conclusion .............................................................................................. 58 CHAPTER THREE ............................................................................................................. 61 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ....................................................................................... 61 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 61 3.1 Structural Conflict Theory ...................................................................................... 62 3.1.1 The Environmental Scarcity Theory ........................................................................... 65 3.1.2 The Greed versus Grievances Theory ......................................................................... 70 3.2 Explanation and Application of the Framework ............................................................ 72 3.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................... 80 CHAPTER FOUR ................................................................................................................ 82 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................