Beyond Oil: Environmental Rights, Travel, Local Knowledge, and Youth Conflict in the Oil-Rich Niger Delta of Nigeria

Narratives of economic deprivation and resource control dominate the explanation of the Niger Delta oil conflict in the literature, but this article argues that the conflict can be located largely in the infringement of oil exploitation on the environmental rights of local minorities, particularly the youth. This infringement has engendered both travel and the deployment of local knowledge in the people’s struggle against oil corporations and the federal government. The conflation of environmental rights, travel, and local knowledge has helped boost and sustain the conflict. Despite a much-applauded amnesty program, the end of the conflict lies in addressing the environmental rights of the people and effecting socioeconomic improvements in the region.