Exploring Contemporary Sea Piracy in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Guinea
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Exploring Contemporary Sea Piracy in Nigeria, the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Guinea Chijioke J Nwalozie 1 Received: 12 February 2020 / Accepted: 9 August 2020/ # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Piracy is a global crime which impedes the free movement of ships containing people and goods, with its attendant economic ramifications. The perpetrators are usually heavily armed, with sophisticated weapons to enable them to hijack a vessel or vessels and redirect them to their desired location for the payment of an expected ransom. This paper thematically explores contemporary piracy in the African state of Nigeria, the Niger Delta and the Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria is undeniably a rich country based on its economic, agricultural and population advantages, but criminal activities like piracy have been a significant disadvantage. Most of the piracy activities happening in Nigeria are mainly located in the Niger Delta region, the heart of Nigeria’s oil and gas exploration. Some of the unemployed youths of the region use piracy activities as a fightback against the so-called “resource control” embarked upon by the Federal Government of Nigeria, which disadvantages them. Keywords Sea piracy . Nigeria . Niger Delta . Gulf of Guinea . Crime and conflict
Introduction This paper aims to explore piracy in Nigeria, the Niger Delta Region, and the Gulf of Guinea. The title is seemingly convoluted, by the mere fact that the Niger Delta belongs to Nigeria; and Nigeria is geographically within the coastal area of the Gulf of Guinea; yet, the title intends to capture vital and specific issues on piracy affecting the area in our contemporary era. Nigeria is a wealthy nation because of its vast oil resources, some economic diversity, a well-educated population, and an agricultural sector, which provides 35% of the national gross domestic product [GDP] (African Economic Outlook 2013). Nigeria’s GDP grew at an average rate of 7% per year from 2000 to 2014. From * Chijioke J Nwalozie [email protected]
1
De Montfort University, Leicester, UK
Nwalozie C.J.
2014 to 2016, the oil price had a considerable drop, combined with adverse production shocks; the GDP growth rate plummeted to 2.7% in 2015. With the 2016 recession, the economy contracted by 1.6% (World Bank 2019). Inflation has hovered around 10% in this decade (Reuters 2013); however, the country experienced high inflation of 11% in the first half of 2019 (World Bank 2019). Despite expansion in some sectors like the telecommunication industry, employment creation remains weak and insufficient to absorb the fast-growing labour force, resulting in the high rate of unemployment at 23% in 2018, with another 20% of the labour force underemployed (World Bank 2019). Unfortunately, some of the unemployed youths who are not successful participants in the selective bourgeoisie economy have been politically disruptive, drawing critical economic and military resources away from other areas, including the Niger Delta region where piracy critic
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