Displacements in the Context of Social Crises in the Oil-Rich Niger-Delta of Nigeria and Oil-Rich Bakassi Peninsula in Cameroon
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Horizon Research Publishing
Abstract
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The Niger -Delta constitutes Niger’s ―oil belt’
that lies along the Guinea coast of the country. The region
sits on top of about 176 trillion cubic feet of gas and about
35.2 billion barrels of oil reserves. It also accommodates 20
million people which belong to more than 40 ethnic groups.
Similarly, the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula in the Western
Cameroon juts into the Gulf of Guinea. Adjacent to the
border between Cameroon and Nigeria, the Bakassi
Peninsula was the subject of a long distance diplomatic
dispute between the two countries until 2002. The swampy
Peninsula, cut by series of channels, covers an area of 50 sq
km and has large untapped reserves of petroleum. Nigeria
and Cameroon have disputed over the possession of Bakassi
for some years, leading to considerable tension between the
two countries. In 1981, the two countries were on the verge
of war over the oil rich peninsula. This paper discusses both
theoretical and empirical perspectives of patterns of
displacement of people as a forced/involuntary migration in
Nigeria and Cameroon. This perspective is based on a forcesubject-
migration reasoning.
Keywords
JA Political science (General), JZ International relations