Nigeria’s amnesty program: An educational and cultural perspective

Abstract

The residents of the Niger Delta endure extreme poverty, polluted environments, poor infrastructure, and high unemployment in spite of their abundant resources. In the early 1990s, these problems led to a violent uprising against oil exploration. In 2009, the federal government of Nigeria attempted to end the uprising by implementing an amnesty program for the militants that was designed to address the region’s problems. Studies indicate that education and culture are effective tools that can be used to guide social change efforts to build healthy, sustainable, and just communities in the Niger Delta region and thus bring about peace to that part of Nigeria. A better understanding of the importance of education and culture of the inhabitants of the Niger Delta region may be useful to key decision or policy makers who will be involved in creating policies that will address core reasons for the incessant turmoil and turbulence that have persisted in the last several years. Failure to take into account the strengths of education and culture may result in short term impacts which could be an immediate return to violence or conflict thereby threatening the security and peace of the various communities in the Niger Delta region. In the long term, such violence and agitations would continue to hinder the political, social, and economic development of Nigeria.

Keywords: Amnesty initiatives, development, empowerment, militancy, militants.