IMPACT OF RESOURCE CONTROL AGITATIONS AND INSTITUTIONAL AGENCIES ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGER - DELTA REGION IN NIGERIA

Resource Control Agitation, otherwise known as the resource Control Movement, has been a topic of debate since the late 1990s over the control of oil resources in the Niger Delta, Nigeria. The people of the Niger Delta have been agitating that since Nigeria receives 95% of its foreign exchange from oil should have a fair share from the proceeds of oil sales for the development of the Niger Delta. The researcher adopted a descriptive survey design for the study. Sample size of 320 respondents drawn from the entire population of the study area was used. Frequency tables were used to ascertain the number of occurrences of phenomena of interest. The pearson product correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between Niger Delta agencies and the development of the region. Resource curse theory propounded by Richard Auty in 1993 was anchored as the theoretical foundation for the study. The following findings were made from the analysis. The major challenge bedevils the development of the Niger Delta region is corruption among elites and agencies. There is poor implementation of several policy frameworks enacted by the federal government in addressing Niger Delta region development issues. The Niger Delta elites are not effectively involved by the resource control agitator in the region, thus making it seem like gangsterism demands from government institutions. The study concludes that the legal regimes and institutions /commissions established over the years and the manipulation of the same arising from the conspiracy of the elites within and outside the region are the major obstacles to the agitation for resource control by the people of the NDR. The study recommends that resource control agitations should eschew violence and armed struggle and engage their past and current governors to give account of their stewardship vis-à-vis the political/ establishment group in the struggle; to join hands with other stakeholders for the call to restructure Nigeria to reflect on true federalism.