BY NATE HAKEN* With 1.7 million people, Bayelsa is one of the smallest states in the country, by population. Most residents are of Ijaw descent. Bayelsa produces between 30-40% of Nigeria’s oil and gas. In addition to the petroleum sector, the state has an extensive commercial fishing industry and produces oil palm, raffia palm, rubber, […]
Tag Archives: Nigeria
Conflict Bulletin: Delta State – July 2014
- 10 July 2014
BY PATRICIA TAFT* Delta is the second most populous state in the Niger Delta, with an estimated 4.1 million people. The state produces about 35% of Nigeria’s crude oil and a considerable amount of its natural gas. It is also rich in root and tuber crops, such as potatoes, yams, cassava, and coco yams. Delta […]
Conflict Bulletin: Cross River State – July 2014
- 10 July 2014
BY PATRICIA TAFT* The coastal state of Cross River in the southeastern part of Nigeria is home to approximately 2.9 million people (2006 census), predominantly of Efik, Ejagham and Bekwarra background. One of the fastest growing states in Nigeria, Cross River is endowed with vast mineral resources, plentiful arable land, and a growing number of […]
Voices of Peace from Nigeria: Children in Conflict
- 08 July 2014
BU LAURA BRISARD When there is conflict, the entire community is affected. The most vulnerable, however, are children. Two members of the Partners for Peace network tell their stories about what happened to them more than 40 years ago, when they were little children during the Biafran War. These events may have occurred a long […]
Conflict Bulletin: Borno State – May 2014
- 07 May 2014
BY PATRICIA TAFT AND NATE HAKEN Borno State, the location of the April 2014 abduction of nearly 300 school girls, is at the heart of what has been called the “Boko Haram” insurgency. The insurgency, perpetrated by a militant group called Jamāʻat Ahl as-Sunnah lid-daʻwa wal-Jihād (JAS), began in 2009 as a mass uprising against […]
Conflict Bulletin: Adamawa State – January 2014
- 10 January 2014
BY PATRICIA TAFT* Formed in 1991, Adamawa is one of the largest states in Nigeria. Located in the country’s northeast, it borders Cameroon to the east, Borno state to the north, Gombe state to the west, and Taraba state to the south. Its position makes it a key corridor between Borno, a hub of Boko […]
Conflict Bulletin: Edo State – November 2013
- 14 November 2013
BY NATE HAKEN Conflict Bulletin: Edo State – November 2013 Edo state is in the south of Nigeria, located next to Delta and Ondo states in the Niger Delta region. It has a total population of about 3.2 million people, according to current estimates. The primary ethnic groups are the Edos, Bini, Owan, Esan, and […]
Conflict Bulletin: Rivers State – August 2013
- 21 August 2013
BY NATE HAKEN* Rivers, among the largest of the oil-producing Nigerian states, had been at the heart of the Niger Delta militancy until 2009. Now it is beset with a different array of issues as former combatants have turned to criminality, and uneven economic development continues to pose a challenge to sustainable peace and human […]
Anatomy of a Storm: Regional Impacts of the Arab Spring
- 24 June 2013
BY NATE HAKEN Does state failure matter? Obviously it matters mostly for the population of that country, but even for its neighbors, the answer is a resounding yes. Chaos in a single country can often impact an entire region. In 2011, as measured in the 2012 FSI, Tunisia and the wider “Arab Spring” were the […]
State of Emergency in Nigeria: Balancing Hard Security with Peacebuilding
- 29 May 2013
BY NATE HAKEN AND BENJAMIN KAUFMAN On 15 May 2013, President Goodluck Jonathan imposed a state of emergency in three states in northeastern Nigeria. In a televised statement, he called for “extraordinary measures to restore normalcy” in Borno, Yobe and Adawama states, where the domestic non-state armed group(s) Jama’atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda’Awati Wal Jihad (JAS), commonly […]