ABSTRACT:

The human security paradigm places premium on the security of people; its concern is with how people live, how much access they have to opportunities and whether they live in peace or conflict. This contrasts sharply with the traditional militaristic conception of security that lays emphasis on the protection of the state and the regime in power. The Nigerian state subscribes to the narrow militaristic concept of security. This explains its concern only with unimpeded access to crude oil at very cheap costs; notwithstanding the adverse impacts of oil activities on the environment and the people of the Niger Delta. The people of the Niger Delta on the other hand, places premium on the concept of human security. Thus, to the Niger Delta people, security means the recognition that ecological damages from oil activities are a threat to their livelihoods and resources. This has given rise to contradiction of security, which is hinged on the opposition between perceptions and conditions of security advanced by the state on the one hand and that advanced by the Niger Delta people on the other. With a premium on human security, the people of the Niger Delta have protested against the adverse effects of oil activities in the region, which often, impede oil activities. In response, the state has mostly resorted to repression and militarisation of the region to ensure unimpeded oil flow. The paper concludes that until this contradiction is resolved, violent conflicts may continue in the Niger Delta.