Economic diversification and second‐tier political conflict: Assessing bitumen political ecologies in southwest Nigeria

Abstract

Since its emergence as a research field in the 1980s, political ecology has provided a useful tool to explicate violent environments, notably as hallmarks of natural resource-dependent economies.Practitioners regularly address what might be called 'charismatic' natural resources such as oil and other precious minerals to describe contestation over access and control of natural resources. Yet, where this focus exists, the political ecology of less economically valuable or 'noncharismatic' resources is thereby obscured. Thus, Nigeria's dependency on oil production has generated much scholarly attention with its unstable political economy described as a rentier state. In contrast, this paper draws on extensive field experience and knowledge about the country to assess in a preliminary manner some of the dimensions and ramifications of a less well known second-tier natural resource commodity that is gaining attention as part of a possible national economic diversification strategy. Using the case of bitumen, a viscous hydrocarbon mainly used in road surfacing and roofing work, I assess the trajectory of this relatively overlooked resource, thereby opening a window onto the political ecology of a noncharismatic resource. In contrast to the ubiquitous violence in the oil-based Niger Delta, I suggest that bitumen political ecologies, while also provoking political conflict and debate, nonetheless seem to being marked by new power dynamics that might augur a less violence prone path in terms of Nigeria's political economy of natural resource production.

Rethinking corporate‐community engagement in the petro‐economy of the Niger Delta

“…The political ecology perspective employed in this paper on the Niger Delta describes man‐nature interaction in a region characterized by conflicts arising from inequities in natural resource governance and underdevelopment. The political ecology perspective reflects an ever growing field of research that assesses the unequal relations of power in the interactions between man‐environmental resource systems worldwide (Kim et al ., 2012a; 2012b; Ojo, ; Okoli, ). In this context, Nygren and Rikoon (: 767) argue that ‘within the last 15 years, political ecology has become one of the most important approaches for studying human–environment relations in the environmental social sciences’.…”

Environmental risks associated with developing oil sands in southwestern Nigeria

“…Nnimmo ( This Day , : 1) strongly argued that, enticed by the glamorous economic outcomes, the ‘government and its co‐promoters are silent on the social and environmental costs of bitumen exploitation and how to mitigate those costs.’ Even as oil sands production progressed in Nigeria, there is limited empirical work on how different classes of people and communities are likely to experience the impact of oil sands exploitation (Abutudu et al ., ). With the notable exceptions of works by Ojo and Oluwafemi (), Egunyomi and Olatumile (), Gbadebo () and Ojo (), it appears that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and the media do better in this regard.…”

“…(2006; 2008) and Gbadebo () anticipated oil sands exploitation to cause greater devastation to the environment, and Nwankwo () estimated the damage to the local environment to be 100 times greater than that caused by conventional crude production. In addition, communities located in the vicinity of proposed oil sands extraction are most likely to be affected by the extraction process because of its scale of production (Chindo, ; Ojo, ). Nnimmo ( This Day , : 1) strongly argued that, enticed by the glamorous economic outcomes, the ‘government and its co‐promoters are silent on the social and environmental costs of bitumen exploitation and how to mitigate those costs.’ Even as oil sands production progressed in Nigeria, there is limited empirical work on how different classes of people and communities are likely to experience the impact of oil sands exploitation (Abutudu et al ., ).…”

A review of diversity management in Nigeria: Organizational and national perspective

“…As highlighted by African researchers (Akinboye and Anifowoshe, 1999; Obi, 2001;Odiegwu et al, 2012), the 'divide and rule system ' Ojo (2012) established during the colonial rule era led to the establishment of a new elite of nationalists who, according to Abdulwaha (2012), were more interested in a scheme for power than reform. This form of rule led after independence consistently to 'ethnic, religious and geographical wars amongst nationals in Nigeria'.…”

“…Therefore, political partisanship as a dominant diversity dimension in Nigeria connects to ethnic, regional, religious and social class constructs and patriotism. Consequently, though Nigerians shy away from politics because of experienced negative attributes like bias (Ojo, 2012), Nigerians hold a strong connection to their heritage and would therefore pledge allegiance to a party, or a party ideology, because of its socio-cultural ties.…”