Punctuated Peace in Nigeria’s Oil Region

“Punctuated Peace in Nigeria’s Oil Region is an important contribution to our understanding of the dynamics of political violence and to the pathways capable of leading to sustainable peace.”

 — Michael Watts, University of California, Berkeley, USA.

“A thought-provoking study exploring how disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration are possible in efforts to forge a stable peacebuilding milieu while demilitarizing Nigeria’s oil region.”

— Sean Byrne, University of Manitoba, Canada.

“An excellent resource for understanding African armed conflicts and peacebuilding that doesn’t romanticize or belittle indigenous approaches.”


— Eliakim M. Sibanda, University of Winnipeg, Canada.


“An insightful reflection on the success and failure of the peacebuilding program designed to address Nigeria’s oil insurgency.”

—Uwafiokun Idemudia, York University, Canada.

This book examines the extent to which peacebuilding processes such as disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration are possible in the attempt to demilitarize Nigeria’s oil region and establish a stable post-conflict environment for nurturing durable peace. The book argues that the failure of the peacebuilders to address the structural tensions at the heart of insurgency, along with competition for access to the material benefits of peacebuilding, have revived violence at repeated intervals that punctuates the progression of peace. The author’s analysis shows how the interventions pursued by peacebuilders have been successful in stabilizing the oil region by taking arms from insurgents, paying them monthly allowances, and building their capacity to reintegrate into society through a range of transformational processes. While these interventions are praiseworthy, they have transformed the political realities of peacebuilding into an economic enterprise that makes recourse to violence a lucrative endeavour as identity groups frequently mobilize insurgency targeting oil infrastructure to compel the state to enter into negotiations with them. There was little consideration for the impact corruption might have on the peacebuilding process. As corruption becomes entrenched, it fosters exclusion and anger, leading to further conflict. The book proposes pathways to positive peacebuilding in Nigeria’s oil region.

Obasesam Okoi is Assistant Professor of Justice and Peace Studies at the University of St Thomas, USA.