By Uzor Maxim Uzoatu
A new ground-breaking study of the
complex politics of kidnapping of oil
workers in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria
is due for its first public presentation on
Saturday, October 26, 2013, at Telus
Centre, Room 150, University of Alberta
Campus, Edmonton, Canada. Entitled
Criminal Resistance? The Politics of
Kidnapping Oil Workers the award-
winning work by 2011 Governor General
of Canada Academic Gold Medal
recipient, Tope Oriola, will be formally
reviewed by Biko Agozino, Professor and
Director, Africana Studies, Virginia Tech,
USA. The event is being sponsored by
the Global Education Program,
Department of Sociology & Faculty of
Arts, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
Recently released by the notable
academic publishers Ashgate, the book is
based on a multi-actor qualitative
research in the oil-rich Niger Delta region
of Nigeria. Crude oil extraction in the
Niger Delta region generates 96% of all
foreign earnings and 85% of state
revenues. However, several generations
of state neglect and mismanagement
have ensured that the Delta region is one
of the most socio-economically and
politically deprived in the country. By the
late 1990s there was a frightening
proliferation of armed gangs and
insurgent groups. Illegal oil bunkering,
pipeline vandalism, disruption of oil
production activities, riots, and
demonstrations intensified and in 2003,
insurgents began kidnapping oil workers
at a frenetic pace. An uber-insurgent
movement 'organization' was formed in
Nigeria in late 2005. Christened the
Movement for the Emancipation of the
Niger Delta (MEND), it operates as an
amorphous, multifaceted amalgam of
insurgent groups with an unprecedented
clinical precision in execution of intents.
Offering more insight into the book in his
Foreword, Patrick Bond, Professor of
Political Economy at the University of
KwaZul-Natal in South Africa avers that
the “book is a healthy corrective to the
romanticized non-violence fetish of much
social movement scholarship as well as
that of solidarity movements which arose
to support Ken Saro-Wiwa’s heroic fight
against pollution and underdevelopment
of the Ogoni people a quarter of a
century ago.” Bond further notes that: “In
part because of his tasteful stylistic
approach, as well as the extremely rich
information and synthetic capacity, Oriola
has produced amongst the finest works
in the tradition of socio-political framing
narratives. This book is, therefore, a vital
addition to the academic understandings
of the Delta conflict, but much more, it
offers lessons to anyone interested in
Nigeria, Delta solidarity, the oil and
security sectors, social movement
mobilisation, and environmental justice
strategies and tactics”
The book launch event promises to
provide an enlightening narrative about
the production of the book--the
experience garnered in the course of the
research, including interviews and focus
group discussions with insurgents. The
event will bring together (public)
intellectuals, students, human rights
activists, as well as the Edmonton
community and beyond. Guests will be
engaged in a robust conversation on
kidnapping of oil workers in Nigeria’s
Delta region as well as the significance
of the global phenomenon.
Currently an assistant professor in
criminology & socio-legal studies,
Department of Sociology, University of
Alberta, Oriola has authored or co-
authored several refereed journal articles.
His works have been published in leading
journals, such as Sociology, the British
Journal of Criminology, Critical Studies
on Terrorism, and Canadian Journal of
Family and Youth, among others. His
research focuses on kidnapping, police
and use of force, state crimes and the
political economy of crime. Oriola’s on-
going SSHRC-funded book project
investigates the use of “less-lethal” force
options by Canadian police (under
contract at University of British Columbia
Press with Nicole Neverson & Charles
Adeyanju).
