Horror in Paradise: Frameworks for Understanding the Crises of the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria ed. by Christopher LaMonica, J. Shola Omotola (review)

The crises of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria have remained an important subject of concern in African political economy. Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, has made billions of dollars over the last five decades from the vast deposit of oil and gas in the Niger Delta region. However, the region remains underdeveloped and highly volatile. In four sections and eighteen chapters, Christopher LaMonica and J. Shola Omotola’s Horror in Paradise examines how the successive governments of the country have betrayed the opportunities for development of the Niger Delta and of Nigeria generally, despite the abundant oil resources in the region and the possibilities for a new civilizing arrangement and sustainable democratic development (p. 21).

The first section of the book consists of contributions on culture, gender, and the environment. In this section, S. O. Aghalino provides an analysis of the nexus between oil and cultural crises, including the declining sacredness of the natural environment and the growing criminal disposition among youth in the region. In doing this, however, Aghalino assumes that culture is static by neglecting the role of human beings as its (re)makers and by attributing all changes in local culture solely to the influence of oil in the region. Beyond the impacts of oil on women in the Niger Delta, Shola Omotola’s contribution provides a gender dimension to the discussion of political mobilization. The succeeding contribution by Kelly Ejumudo focuses on the nexus between democratization of public life in Nigeria and environmental justice in the Niger Delta region of the country.

The second section of the volume focuses on governance. Under this section, Ekanade Olumide examines the crises in the Niger Delta region along the question of minorities and resource allocation in the Nigerian federation. The succeeding contribution by Mourtada Deme and Bodunrin Adebo focuses on the challenges of democratic elections in Nigeria. Although the authors provide an interesting note from the field, they fail to connect their contribution to the framework of the book. Subsequently, Uzoechi Nwagbara goes beyond the emphasis placed on structural determinisms in extant literature on the subject matter with his contribution on leadership transcendence and its relevance to peacebuilding in the Niger Delta region.

The third section of the book focuses on development. Akachi Odoemene’s contribution explores the degeneration of the Niger Delta region in terms of development, peace, and stability, drawing from the experience of Port Harcourt, the Nigerian oil capital. This position is reinforced with a contribution from O. J. Offiong and Jude Cocodia on the factors that militate against development in the Niger Delta region. Relatedly, Christopher LaMonica examines the international response to the crises in the Niger Delta and concludes that the Western response is misguided by ideological considerations. The succeeding contribution by Lere Amusan focuses on the militarization of state responses to dissent in the Niger Delta, especially from “operation law and order” to “operation restore hope,” and the challenges of human security in the region. Although this chapter provides a general overview of the response of the federal government in the region, the military operations that inform the contribution receive little attention in the final analysis. This section concludes with a contribution from Uzoechi Nwagbara on peaceful means to influence political affairs of the Nigerian federation to benefit the Niger Delta region, with special attention to mass media and civil society groups.

The last section of the book focuses on security and the amnesty arrangement for militants in the Niger Delta. George Obuoforibo examines the prospect of amnesty in the context of small and light weapons proliferation in the region. Thereafter, Franklins Sanubi explores militancy in the region in the context of sub-regional economic disparities. However, the contribution focuses more on background issues that were earlier addressed in the preceding...