Huge income has been realized from the exportation of oil, but yet the territory has been exposed to extreme land deprivation, financial disruption, expanding poverty, wretchedness, military occupation and bloody brutality. The oil rich regions have been remained reliant and neglected, insistently abandoned, socio-culturally relegated and expressively isolated. It has been accounted that regardless of more than forty years of manufacturing oil in the country and heavy amount of money realised from oil, the occupants of the oil-rich region, particularly the riverine, stay in extreme poverty. Most inhabitants of this region live without the normal requirement for livelihood which includes access to electricity and clean water supply.
There had persistent protest and demand for attention regarding development, employment, social amenities, and so on in the Niger Delta. Youth unemployment, poverty, and other related social maladies are discovered to be prevalent in the Niger Delta region, and, therefore, have heightened restiveness. The conflict in the oil-rich region rose in the beginning of 1990s as a result of to friction between International Oil Companies (IOCs) and a few delegates of the South-South ethnicities that sensed they were being marginalised without due pay from the IOCs.
• The Distribution of Resources from the Federation Account
The oil-rich region has been experiencing marginalization as a result of unequal disbursement of federal allocation to the regions. As Nigeria operates “Federalism” as a system of government, claims have shown that Nigeria does not operate a true one. Almost all States are not viable and they depend majorly on the allocation coming from the federation account. Some States such as Lagos State, Kaduna Stata, Rivers State are among the few States that do not rely on the Central government to sustain themselves. However, right before 1999, the Niger-Delta region have been suffering from reduction in the federal funds allocated to them. The report has it that in 1960, there was fifty percent (50%) allocation, in 1970, it went down to forty-five (45%), in 1982, it declined to twenty (20%) in 1982, and then in 1992 it was three (3%), It increased to thirteen (13%) due to vigorous activisms from stakeholders from the region.
• Unemployment
In the Niger-Delta, rate of unemployment keeps increasingas as noted by scholars. The younger generation have been neglected with little or no access to eductaion and enabling environment for their future. Although companies like Chevron, Shell and other transnational companies are displaying some corporate social responsibilities, it has been more of lip service with the influential ones getting what service is rendered to the community. Very low percentage of Niger-Delta people is found working in these organizations with more of men and few women; more or high percentage of workers in these oil companies are expatriate from Europe, United States and other western world. The Nigerian State is variously characterized as a synonym of the ‘power elite’, ‘the Nigerian National Bourgeoisie’, ‘Foreign Dependent Pseudo-Bourgeoisie with imperialism for the building of capitalism in Nigeria’, ‘the training of foreign and local businessmen and State officials’, ‘the Nigerian Bourgeoisie power and Petty Bourgeoisie and the various sections’, and the Nigerian capitalist class, which has developed from being a ‘regional bourgeoisie into a federal bourgeoisie’.
• Environmental Degradation
As stated by the World Bank, there are five great plagues of mankind: War, Famine, Pestilence, Environmental Pollution and Death. The Niger-Delta is in the throes of becoming an environmental wastebasket. From the oil spills to the round-the-clock gas flares and effluents from industrial wastes, the fragile ecosystem of the Niger-Delta is under constant assault. However, it is still a mystery that no comprehensive study of oil exploration in Niger-Delta and its effect on the environment exists. “The uncontrolled exploitation of crude oil and natural gas beneath the lands of the Niger-Delta has caused tremendous and irredeemable ecological devastation of the Niger-Delta land.” The environmental impact of the petroleum industry in the Niger-Delta region of Nigeria include land deprivation, soil quality change, destruction of aquatic ecosystem and air pollution.
• Divide-and-Rule Policy
One element that has featured in the nature of the relationship between the Multi-nationals and host communities of oil producing areas is the policy of Divide and Rule. In time past, the giant oil companies in this region have been creating and sponsoring rifts among people to generate a discord. The corporate social responsibilities of these companies have been stylishly circumvented through the discord created. The mediators that are supposed to clamour for better welfarism of the inhabitants have been individually compensated by the companies leaving the poor masses at the peril of the illegal activities going on in the region.
As being what is indicated, in a few communities, customary rulers and nearby town leaders have become dishonest due to the fact that they are now beneficiaries of different deals and money disbursements to the disadvantage of the people they are meant to represent. Following this development, the dissatisfied ones mostly the youth form units of associations so as to confront the MOCs. In this way, the young people rose as group pioneers; these youths turned into the power facilitators, the connection with the Multinational Companies, and their financial objectives. Owing to the newest outcome of violence as a means to get what they want from the MNCs, a number of youth have formed groups labeled as militants have employed social vices such as abduction, pipeline busting, irregular attacks of oil companies’ facilities and so on.