Resource Conflict and Environmental Relations in Africa

The book explores the failure of African governments to provide social needs, leading to citizens seeking economic resources. Challenges to state ownership of resources are often driven by exploitation, negligence, and poverty. In the Niger Delta of Nigeria, the state has unleashed unlimited might on social groups and agitators, leading to mass armed conflict. Natural resources extraction is the most visible cause of conflicts and crises around the African continent, as it is a gift of nature that every human, group, and nation claims to represent.

Format: Hardback
Length: 201 pages
Publication date: 16 March 2023
Publisher: Springer Verlag, Singapore

The book delves into the profound failure of numerous African governments to fulfill the basic social needs of their citizens, leaving them in a state of desperation as they seek economic resources. Regrettably, in many African states, the control and exploitation of mineral resources are vested in the state machinery. However, when the masses challenge the state's ownership and control over resources that are deeply rooted in their ancestral lands, communities, and constituencies, tensions arise. This challenge often stems from a collective sense of exploitation, negligence, and widespread poverty, despite the abundance of natural resources in these regions.

In a paradoxical twist, the Niger Delta region of Nigeria serves as a case study in the book. Here, the state has employed overwhelming force against all social groups and agitators, resulting in an increase in the use of armed resistance by these groups. When informal resource agitators acquire weapons, they seek social and environmental justice, leading to clashes with government security agencies. These confrontations can even extend to rival local resource actors within the informal sector of their country's economy, as the resources under their jurisdiction become the focal point of national wealth.

It is in this state of utter desperation to control access, extraction, and sale of natural resources that the extraction of minerals emerges as the most conspicuous catalyst for conflicts and crises across the African continent. This is particularly understandable, considering that mineral resources are a gift of nature, and nature itself holds immense power. The book sheds light on the complex dynamics and challenges associated with resource extraction in Africa, highlighting the urgent need for sustainable management, equitable distribution, and conflict resolution to ensure a peaceful and prosperous future for the continent.

Weight: 421g
Dimension: 210 x 148 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9789811973420
Edition number: 1st ed. 2023