The land of black gold, corruption, poverty and sabotage:Overcoming the Niger Delta’s problems through the establishment of a Nigerian Non-Renewable Revenue Special Fund (NNRSF)

Through statistics published by the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), the paper explores why oilfield sabotage from 2009 to 2015 remains a problem in the Niger Delta, despite the 2009 amnesty programme. It explains why some of these incidents are a direct result of the failure to implement socio-economic development in successive state agencies due to corruption, a consequence of the natural resource curse. The article then explores why and how a Nigerian Non-Renewable Revenue Special Fund overseen by the United Nations Development Programme should be established which would not only manage a portion of oil revenue funds from the Niger Delta but also initiate valid social and economic projects in order to help reduce the prevalence of sabotage and instability in the region

Harvest of violence: the neglect of basic rights and the Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria.

Drawing on the core commitments of Critical Terrorism Studies, and mostly, the ethic of emancipation, this article focuses on the Boko Haram insurgency to investigate recurring violent conflict in Nigeria. It identifies a governance gap not adverted to in the official narrative which has led to gross discontent at the lower levels of the society. The governance gap has created fertile breeding grounds for the recruitment of disillusioned youths who are easily mobilised to violence and lately, insurgency. There are normative and pragmatic reasons to adopt and prioritise social welfare through the implementation of economic, social and cultural obligations and due-process rights as a viable approach to at least reducing the spate of violence in the country. The discussion has relevance for resolving situations of violence and conflict in sub-Sahara Africa in particular and elsewhere in the developing world