ABSTRACT

The Nigerian government exhibits a pattern of behavior in its management of conflicts. It confronts any major crisis with the use of force. Usually, this quells the conflict. Then it attempts to soothe frayed nerves with the constitution of a judicial commission of inquiry. 1 A new conflict resolution methodology is being experimented with by the government – negotiations and amnesty programs. Negotiations/amnesty was first used after the Nigerian Civil War (1967–1970) when the federal military government led by General Yakubu Gowon declared “no victor, no vanquished.” It was again used skillfully by President Umar Musa Yar’Adua in 2009 to end an armed insurgency in the Niger Delta that crippled oil mining operations. Oil production is the economic mainstay of government revenues providing up to 90% of foreign currency earnings. 2