Punctuated Peace in Nigeria s Oil Region

This book examines the extent to which peacebuilding processes such as disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration are possible in the attempt to demilitarize Nigeria's oil region and establish a stable post-conflict environment for nurturing durable peace. The book argues that the failure of the peacebuilders to address the structural tensions at the heart of insurgency, along with competition for access to the material benefits of peacebuilding, have revived violence at repeated intervals that punctuates the progression of peace. The author's analysis shows how the interventions pursued by peacebuilders have been successful in stabilizing the oil region by taking arms from insurgents, paying them monthly allowances, and building their capacity to reintegrate into society through a range of transformational processes. While these interventions are praiseworthy, they have transformed the political realities of peacebuilding into an economic enterprise that makes recourse to violence a lucrative endeavour as identity groups frequently mobilize insurgency targeting oil infrastructure to compel the state to enter into negotiations with them. There was little consideration for the impact corruption might have on the peacebuilding process. As corruption becomes entrenched, it fosters exclusion and anger, leading to further conflict. The book proposes pathways to positive peacebuilding in Nigeria's oil region.

Critiques mainstream peacebuilding approaches like disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration programs Uses new empirical evidence to enable a greater understanding of post-conflict transformations in the oil region Uses past failures in the region as a lens for identifying and understanding the root causes of current problems

Auteur
Obasesam Okoi is Assistant Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St Thomas, USA.

Contenu

1. Introduction: The Peacebuilding Universe in Nigeria's Oil Region.- Part 1: The Transition from Conflict to Peace.- 2. Transitional Justice and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding.- 3. Measuring Success in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding Processes.- 4. Empowerment and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding.- Part 2: The Collapse and Revival of the Niger Delta Peace Process.- 5. The Changing Landscape of Oil Insurgency.- 6. The Emergence of a Peace Economy.- Part 3: Conceptualizing and Theorizing Peace.- 7. Conceptions of Peace in the Niger Delta.- 8. Towards a Theory of Punctuated Peace.- 9. Pathways to Positive Peacebuilding.