WHO BENEFITS THE MOST FROM THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS?
by , on 2009-08-17 00:52:02
NOI Polls, the leading opinion research firm in Nigeria, today released the maiden report of its annual Niger Delta Survey to the public. The theme of the 2009 Niger Delta survey is ‘Unmasking a Lingering Crisis’.

The survey addresses economic, social, political, ecological and security issues in the Niger Delta. Perhaps the most intriguing finding of the survey is the perception of the people of the Niger Delta that the Federal Government benefits the most from the instability in the region.

When specifically asked to identify the greatest beneficiary of the current instability in the Niger Delta, around 1 in 4 (26%) of the survey respondents in the Niger Delta identified the Federal Government. On the other hand, the militants were chosen by 16% of respondents to be benefiting the most from the crisis, while 12% said state government authorities. Only 4% said local government chairmen/authorities, an interestingly, an equal number of respondents (2%) chose traditional leaders, local communities and youth leaders.

The observed malcontent expressed towards the Federal government also extends to the oil companies. When asked about the relations between oil companies investing and local communities, 6 in 10 (60%) of respondents in the Niger Delta said that oil companies are not doing enough for the people of the region.  In contrast, at the national level, a much lower percentage of people (37%) said that the oil companies are not doing enough. 46% of Niger Delta respondents identified an area for improvement by the oil companies as job creation for the youth, and 43% of Nigerians held a similar view.  Likewise, 1 in 3 (or 34%) respondents in the Niger Delta said that they expected jobs to be provided by oil companies undertaking new oil and gas investments in their communities.

Other important findings from the survey relate to the universal perception of suffering in the Niger Delta, and the unanimous rejection of hostage-taking as a means of protest. Almost 9 in 10 (87%) of the respondents in the Niger Delta said that the people of the region are suffering.  A similar trend was replicated at the national level, with 6 in 10 (62%) of all Nigerians holding this view, while 10% of Nigerians said that the people of the Niger Delta are not suffering. Likewise, almost 9 in 10 (88%) of Niger Delta respondents and two-thirds (68%) of Nigerians said that the people of the Niger Delta had the right to protest against their current situation. However, regarding the use of hostage-taking as a means of protest, almost 9 in 10 (88%) of Niger Delta respondents said they did not support hostage taking as a means of protest. A similar view is held by a majority of Nigerians, as 86% of overall respondents voiced their disapproval of this type of protest.

The recurrence of violence in the Niger Delta, and the limited success with the existing strategies to resolve the causes of the unrest in the region pose fundamental challenges for the future of Nigeria’s petroleum sector. The crisis has undoubtedly taken an immense toll on the economic, social and political fabric of the region. However, the absence of comprehensive data and information on the opinions of the residents of the Niger Delta further compounds the inability to engage in broad-based public debates on finding solutions to the lingering crisis.

The Niger Delta Survey is one of NOI Polls’ strategic products designed to stimulate public debate among Nigerians, while strengthening dialogue between public sector officials, private corporations, and individual stakeholders in the oil and gas sector. It aims to address the information gap on the Niger Delta by providing robust statistical data on the views and opinions of the region’s inhabitants with respect to the pressing issues that affect their daily lives. Such a comprehensive pan-regional survey is the first of its kind in Nigeria. NOI Polls works in partnership with Gallup Poll (USA), the world’s foremost opinion research company with 30 years of international expertise, in conducting all its surveys. NOI Polls and Gallup adopt scientifically robust techniques in conducting opinion surveys in Nigeria.

The population sample for the Niger Delta survey is comprised of 2,680 randomly selected Nigerians aged 15 and above who participated in structured face-to-face interviews. The interviews were conducted in September 2008 as part of the larger annual Nigeria Poll. The sample was carefully selected to obtain a representative coverage of the Niger Delta, with 1,000 respondents chosen from the region. The results were analyzed in totality, for all Nigerians, and disaggregated by geopolitical region. The Niger Delta survey results are valid within a statistical margin of error, also known as a 95 percent confidence interval. NOI Polls adopts an independent approach to conducting empirical research; thus the views and opinions of survey participants are reported without any political bias.