Democratic governance and the management of oil conflict in Nigeria’s Niger Delta: Policy options and challenges

Abstract

Nigeria oil producing region has for long remains a site of contention between the state and local groups fighting for
conscious environmental practice, resource control and development. During the long years of military rule, repression
and military occupation were the core of state response to agitations and protests of the people in the region. The
nation’s returns to democratic rule spur hope that things will change for the better. Such enthusiasm was premise on
the believe that democratic rule will facilitates dialogue, herald political accountability, stimulate good governance,
promote sound management of the nation’s resource and wealth and facilitate peaceful resolution of disputes under
the spirit of democratic governance. This article assesses policy response to the Niger Delta debacle in the last ten
years of democratic rule. It discusses the successes and challenges of resolving the crisis via institutional
arrangement that characterize state response under the present democratic arrangement. It point out the imperative of
democratic governance as the way for constructive resolution of the environmental insecurity and crisis of
development facing the region.