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Nigeria. By Breann Lehr , and Dajsa Deuel. Location. Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon. Colonial Era. Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to reach Nigeria The British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior after the Napoleonic Wars
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Nigeria By Breann Lehr, and Dajsa Deuel
Location • Western Africa, bordering the Gulf of Guinea, between Benin and Cameroon
Colonial Era • Portuguese explorers were the first Europeans to reach Nigeria • The British expanded trade with the Nigerian interior after the Napoleonic Wars • 1900- Nigeria became under the control of the British
Colonial Era Cont. • In 1914, the area was formally united as the Colony and Protectorate of Nigeria. Administratively • After World War II Nigeria wanted independence • British Government moved Nigeria toward self-government • By the middle of the 20th century, the great wave for independence was sweeping across Africa
Nigeria Delta States Ijaw, Urhobo, Igbo, Isoko, Itsekiri, Ika, Ukwuani, and other minor ethnic groups make up the Delta State.
Conflict in the Nigeria Delta • Conflict in the Niger Delta arose in the early 1990s • Tension is between the foreign oil corporations • Niger Delta's minority ethnic groups who felt they were being exploited • Ethnic and political unrest has continued throughout the 1990s
Conflict in the Nigeria Delta Cont. • Election of the Obasanjo government in 1999 did not help despite the conversion to democracy • Competition for oil wealth has fueled violence between innumerable ethnic groups • This causes militarization of nearly the entire region by ethnic militia groups as well as Nigerian military
Solving the Niger Delta Conflict • 1. Create more states in Niger Delta to bring development closer to the people • 2. Recognize Eastern Niger Delta and Western Niger Delta as separate region for developmental purposes • 3. Develop Caliber and equip with branch offices of Federal Ministries and foreign consulate offices
Solving the Delta Conflict Cont • 4. Develop Port Harcourt and equip with branch offices of Federal Ministries and foreign consulate offices • 5. Develop at least one new city in each of the Niger Delta States • 6. Help the new states and the regional centers with infrastructure development
Solving the Delta Conflict Cont • 7. The leaders of Niger Delta States need to realize that they have very limited time to develop their state as they will be out of oil very soon and the area may become the poorest in all of Africa if care is not taken
Gross Domestic Product • GDP is defined as the total market value of all final goods • It’s one of the measures of national income and output for a given country’s economy • It is also considered the sum of a value added at every stage of production • 1990s Nigeria had a GDP of 25% and has grow to 40% as of the year 2000
Traditional Agricultural Practices • Annual production of both cash and food crops dropped significantly in the later decades of 20th century • The majority of Nigerians and most especially the people of the Niger Delta states and the far north have become poorer since the 1960s.
Products that have dropped Cocoa production dropped by 43% (Nigeria was the leader in cocoa exports in 1960) Rubber dropped by 29% Cotton by 65% Groundnuts by 64%
Population • The Delta region has a steadily growing population estimated to be over 30 million people as of 2005 • The population density is also among the highest in the world with 265 people per square kilometer • This population is expanding at a rapid 3% per year • Ironically the growing population has forced them to destroy the ecosystem the need to survive
Oil Crisis Major political figure, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari, declared “all-out war” with the Nigerian state and oil industries. He threatened to disrupt oil production activities by attacks on wells and pipelines. Thus starting the oil crisis in Nigeria
Petroleum • Nearly four decades of oil production in Nigeria • In early 1990s it became the most dependent on petroleum extraction economically • The benefits have been slow to trickle down to the majority of the population
Burnt arm caused from being around the many oil companies in Nigeria.
Dangers With Oil • In one day about 500 people were killed when a pipeline exploded. • The pollution is effecting the waters which means people don’t have water and they can’t fish. • The war over the oil burns down villages and the environment.
Pipeline Explosion Video http://www.clipser.com/watch_video/239946
Sources • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_Harcourt • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conflict_in_the_Niger_Delta • http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/report/intro.html • http://www.hrw.org/backgrounder/africa/nigeria0205/1.htm • http://www.democracynow.org/2006/12/26/as_hundreds_die_in_an_oil