ABSTRACT
The Niger Delta was the locus of commerce in palm oil and general merchandise in pre-colonial and colonial times. Currently, the Delta has great strategic value because of its oil and gas reserves. Crude oil accounts for 95 percent of Nigeria's foreign exchange earnings and about 25 percent of the gross domestic product. Besides the great fuel wealth, the Delta also possesses arable land, forests, rivers and coastal waters teeming with fish and sundry aqua-cultural resources. The Delta is one of the most ecologically rich and diverse regions in the world. It covers an area of about 112,110 square kilometers situated in the southern part of Nigeria and bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the south and Cameroon to the east; it includes about 12 percent of the country's area. 1 The region is home for the Ijaws, Okirikas, Kalabaris, Efiks, Ibibio's, Urhobos, Igbo, Edo, Ukwuanis and Itsekiris and so forth. Prior to the advent of the British colonial government, the different ethnic groups enjoyed unbridled monopoly over the waters in their areas. They used the rivers and the sea for their economic advancement.
