Sunday Okobi
Since crude oil was discovered in Nigeria in 1956, which led the subsequent exploration and production of petroleum products, including gas, the region has been regarded as the mainstay of the country’s economy, accounting for more than 70 percent of Nigeria’s revenue.
While crude oil should be a blessing to the people of the region, it has become a source of conflict. The people constantly complain of environmental pollution as a result of the oil operations by oil companies and seeming economic neglect by the federal government.
Despite the huge economic benefits of crude oil, a large percentage of the population in the oil-bearing region still live in poverty, triggering armed violence that lasted for years until the federal government granted amnesty to the militants in 2009. This singularly seemed to have reduced the conflict.