Paper short abstract:

The research findings reveal that the oil exploitation and exploration have unleashed significant environmental damage and public health hazards to the communities in the Ogoniland.

Paper long abstract:

This presentation examined the nexus between the role of central government, oil companies and community conflict in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria as well as the factors that led to the conflict. Since the discovery of oil in 1956, the Niger Delta has been entrapped in environmental degradation as a result of oil mining, spurring a wide range of developmental challenges. Subsequently, by the 1990s, deepening poverty and underdevelopment, exacerbated by ecological problems, opened the space for the emergence of youth restiveness and a violent arms struggle by the Niger-Delta youth to challenge the legitimacy of the Nigerian state and the corporate irresponsibility of Multinational Oil Companies (MNCs). The region faces security challenges, championed by environmental vanguards and armed youth groups, which are triggered by neglect on the part of international and local oil companies and the failure of Nigeria's central government to meet the developmental, environmental and security demands of local communities.

To achieve the objectives of the study, the study used triangulation approach and primary data was sourced through in-depth and focus group interviews which were conceptualised within the grounded theory method. The research was carried out mainly using qualitative data, supplemented by secondary quantitative data. Primary data used were gathered from the in-depth interviews and focus group discussions.