ABSTRACT
This chapter, using the ethnic minorities of the oil-producing Niger Delta region of Nigeria, examines the nature of majority and minority ethnic group relations. The relations between the ethnic majority groups and minorities has historically been overshadowed by both distrust and fear. Generally, the ethnic minorities see the control of power at the centre by the ethnic majority groups as a tool used to churn out policies that undermine their interests. The minority groups point specifically to such practices as the decline in the derivation component of revenue distribution as the share of oil revenue in Nigeria improved; gross environmental degradation resulting from oil exploitation; political marginalization; exclusion of oil-producing communities from the oil industry, among others. These grievances have spurred decades of youth-driven conflict largely over access and control of the oil resources in the region. The conflict affected the economy and development of Nigeria for almost two decades. However, the establishment of the amnesty programme, emergence of a citizen of the region as president between 2010 and 2015 and the much-awaited petroleum industry bill, among others, have generally diffused much of the tension in the region.
