South South

TheSouth South(often hyphenated toSouth-South) is one of the sixgeopolitical zones of Nigeria. It designates both a geographic and political region of the country's eastern coast. It comprises sixstates–Akwa Ibom,Bayelsa,Cross River,Delta,Edo, andRivers.
The zone stretches along theAtlantic seaboardfrom theBight of Benincoast in the west to theBight of Bonnycoast in the east. It encloses much of theNiger Delta, which is instrumental in the environment and economic development of the region. Geographically, the zone is divided with theCentral African mangrovesin the coastal far south while the major inland ecoregions are–from east to west–theCross–Sanaga–Bioko coastal forests,Cross–Niger transition forests,Niger Delta swamp forests, andNigerian lowland forests.
Although the South-South represents only ~5% of Nigerian territory, it contributes greatly to the Nigerian economy due to extensive oil and natural gas reserves. The zone has a population of about 26 million people, around 12% of the total population of the country.Port HarcourtandBenin Cityare the most populous cities in the South-South, and thefourth- and fifth-most populous cities, respectively, in the country. Port Harcourt and its suburbs, together calledGreater Port Harcourt, form the largest metropolitan area in the zone, with about 3 million people. Other large South-South cities include (in descending order by population)Warri/Uvwie,Calabar,Uyo,Ikot Ekpene,Ugep,Sapele,Buguma,Uromi,Ughelli,Ikom, andAsaba.
The South-South Region was created from parts of both the Western and Eastern regions of Nigeria in 1997 through the recommendation of the Alex Ekwueme panel, by the national regime of GeneralSani Abacha.
Edo, Delta, one-quarter of Bayelsa, and the Ndoni section of Rivers states were from the old Western region. Three-quarters of the area ofBayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states were from the old Eastern region.
On a federal level, theMinistry of Niger Delta Affairsand its parastatal — theNiger Delta Development Commission— cover the South-South in addition to three other oil-producing states (Abia,Imo, andOndo). Unlike the development authorities of other zones like theNorth-East Development Commission, the present authorities are responsible for the areas outside of the South-South as the NDDC was created in response to protests andconflictin the widerNiger Delta region. Nonetheless, the creation of a South-South Development Commission has been repeatedly proposed by some lawmakers in the late 2010s and 2020s, with proponents advocating fairness with the other zones' commissions while opponents deride the proposal as redundant.The remit of the current development agencies includes ecological protection and infrastructure development; however, both the ministry and commission have long been beset by corruption and mismanagement that has led to the abandonment or failure of many projects.
Although the areas that now comprise the South-South were electorally competitive during thefirst,second, and abortedthirdrepublics, every state in the region consistently voted for the nominees of thePeoples Democratic Partyinfourth republicpresidential elections from 1999 to 2019. AfterOlusegun Obasanjowon the South-South by substantial margins of victory in1999and2003,Goodluck Jonathan— an indigene ofBayelsa State— expanded PDP margins greatly in2011and2015. However, PDP margins of victory decreased in2019, whenAtiku Abubakarwas the party nominee. In2023, with Abubakar again as the PDP nominee, four South-South states broke their streaks of PDP voting — withRiversbeing won byBola Tinubu(APC) amid widespread irregularities whileCross River,Delta, andEdovoted forPeter Obi(LP).
Presidential votes in South-South states in the Fourth Republic: