SOUTH WES AND THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLE IN TERMS OF THEIR SOCIAL POLTICAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE AS IT RELATE WITH ISSUES AND PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NIGERIA.

SOUTH WES AND THE NIGER DELTA PEOPLE IN TERMS OF THEIR SOCIAL POLTICAL AND ECONOMIC LIFE AS IT RELATE WITH ISSUES AND PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT NIGERIA.

Assignment : identify and discuss the cultural composition of the south west and the Niger Delta people in terms of their social political and economic life as it relate with issues and problems of national development of Nigeria:

Introduction:

Yoruba people live mostly in south west Nigeria, they have developed a variety of different artistic forms including pottery, wearing, beadwork, metal work, and mask making most of the artworks were made to honour the gods and most ancestors and since there are more than 401 known gods to the Yoruba there is much sculpture and artwork made.

History:

The Yoruba’s originated from Ile-Ife, arose and became quite popular by their trading with the Portuguese, which gave them large supply of guns. However, they were unable to push back the Fulani who invaded them and pushed much of the Yoruba to the south. In the late 1500s, the Yoruba’s formed a treaty with the Fulani and in 1901 they were colonized by the British, because of their enmity with the Fulani who are the great Islamic evangelists, most of the Yoruba people do not hold to Islam but instead worship many of the gods and spirits that the Yoruba hold to.

The Economical Life:

The Yoruba people primarily engage in agriculture, with about 15% of the people employed as merchants or artists and craftsman. One of the features that make Yoruba people unique is their tendency to form into large city groups instead of small village groups. The Yoruba’s are today one of the three main ethnic groups that make up Nigeria, they can also be found in neighboring countries

The cultural composition of the south west:

Yoruba people are a large ethnic linguistic group or ethnic nation in Africa, and the majority of them speak the Yoruba language. The Yoruba constitute approximately 35 percent of Nigeria’s total population and around 40 million individuals throughout the region of West Africa while the majority of the Yoruba live in western Nigeria, there are also sustained indigenous Yoruba communities in Benin, Ghana, Togo and the Caribbean. A significant percentage of Africans enslaved during the Transatlantic slave trade in the Americans managed to maintain the Yoruba spiritual religion known as Aborisha.

Indeed, the nation and practice of Aborisha spiritual religion offers a route to all people of African descent, who were victims of slave trade in the American’s or the Caribbean, to make claim to Yoruba heritage. The Yoruba’s are the main ethnic group in the states of Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, and Oyo, which are subdivision of Nigeria, they also constitute a sizeable proportion of Kwara and Kogi states as well as Edo state. Traditionally, the Yoruba’s organized themselves into networks of related villages, towns and kingdoms, with most of them headed by an Oba (king) or Baale (a noble man or major). Major Yoruba cities and towns include Ile-ife, Ibadan, Lagos, Ijebu ode, Abeokuta, Akure, Ilorin, Ijebu-igbo, Ogbomosho, Ondo Badagry, Ado-Ekiti, Osogbo, illesa, Oyo, Owo, Kabba, Offa, Illesa, Ilobu, Ede e.t.c. There are other Yoruba cities and towns such as ketu, sabe, Dassa and others in Replubic of Benin. There are other towns and cities with historical affiliation with the Yoruba people because they share one or more similarities together, some of the cities and towns are Benin city, Warri, Auchi, Okene e.t.c

The Niger Delta

The Niger Delta was a collection of regions controlled by different tribes and kings for example, Urhobo, Delta Igbos, Isoko, Itsekiri, Oron and Ijaw, These communities traded with each other before the arrival of the Europeans in the late 15^th Century. In 1471, the guest for glory and profit brought Portuguese navigators to the Niger delta and established contact with the local people. However, it was 10 years later that the first Royal emissary visited the count of the Oba of Benin. The relationship between both side was cordial with early reports of the Portuguese being allowed to speak in the Oba’s court. The relationship was formed over mortuary beneficial trade, exchange for coral beads, textiles and other product from a more developed Europeans markets. As the relationship was sustained, secondary economics grew that provided services to slave traders, creating self-sustaining economic conditions.

The growing Slave trade into Europe saw the break down of the inter-community trade relationships, not due to conflict, but due to the more uncreative opportunity from the European demand for slaves to the America’s.

The economic and social in flaws into the region saw an emergence of new cities and states, but as internal and external markets developed. Interestingly, even before the slavery trade dwindled due to an even more lucrative opportunity in the palm oil trade, towards the end of the 19^th century the British began to explore and Charter the regions territory and river systems in preparation for potential trade. One man in particular, George Goldie (1846-1925) formed the unlimited African company, muddled on the former east India company, a typical international British trade (and incorporated) organization of the time Goldie Partnered with other organization trading in the same area and effectively took control of the lower Niger River, an Obviously key trade route in and out of the region within two years Goldie and his agents had signed treaties with tribal leaders along the major Benue and Niger Rivers whilst also penetrating into the main land, against verbal agreements that had been made to restrict the organized activities to coastal regions. As the trading relationship developed a certain degree of agitation grew amongst the Niger Delta middle man, who had forged a successful and prosperous association with the European traders. As these middle men were from different regions and tribes, the commercial competition between them grew as the European traders were able to choose the intermediate that offered the best opportunity and therefore the greater profit for the European traders tension rose to a point here the first major conflict occurred, the rebellion of king William koko of nembe, who from 189-1895 resisted the royal Niger companies attempts to shut out the nembe people from the curative trade in palm oil.

The self imposed British control over the region was insufficient to stop the growing role in the area of the state sponsored protectorates of France and Germany who also craved hegemony, as well as growing tension from native tribes that required the use of gun boats from the royal Niger company sold its interest to the British government.

The interests were merged with the Niger, coast protectorate of Brasss, Bonny Oporobo,  Aobh and old Calabar excluding Lagos. This formed the southern Nigerians protectorate under the control of the British colonial office.

The onset of colonial role in Nigeria concluded with the expansion of oil exploration to many areas of the world. The development of the combination engine in the 1890s opened up new uses for oil and other lubricant based products Nigeria being one of those colonies was explored first for bitumen, coal and oil. This was invoked after the 1914 ordinary which ordered that any oil and mineral under Nigeria soil was right fully properly of the grown. In 1956 the first oil well was struck in commercial quantities at Oloibiri in Bayelsa state.

The creation of three regional administrative divisions along majority ethnic lives, the Hausa-Fulani’s of the north, Igbo’s of the east and the Yoruba’s of the west, vast ethnic minorities in the central south of Nigeria, particularly the Ijaws were ostracized from main stream majority agendas.

Tension grew as the people of the Niger Delta were not able to participate with the major groups which lead to significantly reduced economic, political and social opportunity which in turn lead to inequality and resentment.

Compounding these paralled events of oil discovery and independence, this laid another foundation for conflict as many Niger Delta saw themselves as second class citizens in an independent Nigeria they has assisted the British in creating .

The struggle for power and share of the oil wealth between rival political and military factions lead to Balewa being killed in a military coup that lead to the militarization of government whose controversial census fuelled regional and ethnic tensions. The economy faltered under military rule, leading to worsening tensions and increasing violence between different ethnic and political groups which culminated in one the regions.

Biafra, declaring itself an independent republican state in 1967. This sparked one of the worst and most bloody civil wars that Africa has ever seen, killing one million civilians either through fighting or the resulting famine in the region. Although the causes of the war were diverse, it has been noted that the involvement of the British, Dutch, French and Italian oil companies started and protracted the war. The Biafra leaders were over powered and surrendered in 1970 after which Biafra region was reintegrated back into Nigeria taking a step back and reflecting on the civilian population of the delta during the years from the Biafra war, there was an increasing rise in tension over the unfair distribution lead to the mobilization of the radical armed militia, the Niger Delta volunteer force (NDVF)  lead by Isaac Boro. Boro and his accomplices were captured and sentenced to said for treason. Although unsuccessful, Isaac Boros attempt to fight injustice pared the way for other like-minded activities, campaigning for the same cause. Once of the most prominent of these activities was ken saro wiwa, the leader of the movement for the survival of the Ogoni people or Mosop who advocated a non-violent approach to reconciliation of the injustice felt by the Ogoni people (people living in Ogoni land a large area of the Delta) from the actions of foreign extractive enterprises. The death by hanging of ken saro wiwa in 1995 was one of the most poignant events in recent Nigeria history and highlights the deep sense of injustice felt by many in the Niger Delta.

After the death of Abacha, in 199, democratic parliamentary and presidential election began with Olusegun Obasanjo sworn a presidential after the death of ken saro wiwa many incident armed group has emergy frighting against international oil companies and government through gang violence, pipeline destruction and oil bunkering etc spurring a were of criminal through the delta, the next few years are crucial to creating irreversible change, morning away from past atrocities fueled b the resource curse and correcting the balance of inequality felt and lived in by millions in the region.