of labor from other parts of the country, and commonly argue that they have not been sufficiently compensated for these costs. Finally, the intensity of conflict (the cost in terms of lives and money) has been higher when the extraction process is susceptible to “hold-ups” by local people. The author cites recent conflicts in Colombia, Sudan and Indonesia (Aceh) that reflect these dynamics.

Apparently, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria<sup>2</sup> contains these key ingredients for a mineral-based conflict (Ross 2003a). The region is the source of most of the country’s oil reserves (Table 2). It is populated by minority ethnic groups that have borne a disproportionate share of the cost of oil extraction for which they believe they have not been adequately compensated and an equally higher share of government repression. And the spread of oil platforms, pumping stations, and other oil installations and infrastructure across the region provides an opportunity for locals to express their dissatisfaction by blocking the extraction process. Furthermore, as Ross (2003) asserts, the Niger Delta has “three addition liabilities” which increase further the risk of an armed (secessionist) struggle: its unusually high level of unemployment and poverty and abysmally low level of social services compared to the national average<sup>3</sup> , its swampy terrain which makes it difficult and expensive to develop, and what the author calls a “moral social disorder” arising from the activities of youth-based movements that frequently challenge not only the oil companies but also traditional authorities in their own communities, a development which makes peaceful settlement of disputes more difficult to achieve. There is an added “general liability” that the author did not note however : the fact that the Nigerian nation is currently passing through a 2 The Niger Delta region is a wetland of about 70000 sq km spread over a number of ecological zones along the Gulf of Guinea, and the third largest wetland in the world ( _Tell_ , Lagos, 6 September 2004). Officially, the Niger Delta is made up of nine states (Abia, Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers) and has an estimated population of about 26.7million ( _Tell_ , 6 September 2004). Two of the states that officially constitute the Niger Delta (Abia and Imo) are situated in the southeastern part of Nigeria, one (Ondo) is located in the Southwest, while the remaining six constitute the South-South geopolitical zone (SSZ) and inhabits the so-called minority ethnic groups. Some authors have distinguished between the official Niger Delta and the geographical Niger Delta. The latter is thought of as consisting only of the six States in the South-South zone of the country.

The Niger Delta alone accounts for over 90 percent of the nation’s oil revenue and its gas reserves are now touted as the next greatest potential revenue earner for the nation (Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, 2005). Geological research shows that the Niger Delta (both onshore and offshore areas) is particularly conducive to the formation and accumulation of oil and gas (Hyne, 1995:90-98).

3 Household survey conducted by the Federal Office of Statistics (FOS, 1996) Nigeria, puts poverty in the South-south region at 58.2 percent, the highest rate in the country.

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