1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Conflict is an inevitable aspect of human existence whenever there is a call for significant social transformation; nonetheless, conflicts that give rise to unnatural deaths, deprivation, and adversely influence social security are inhumane and ought to be fought and rejected (Omolade 2022).

Nigeria is the most populous nation in Africa, boasting a population of around 140 million people and more than 250 distinct ethnic groupings.

The Niger Delta is an area in Africa that is rich in hydrocarbon resources and has a network of rivers, lagoons, and mangrove swamp forests. It is estimated that around 2.5 million barrels of crude oil are extracted from the Niger-Delta area each and every day. With output at this level, Nigeria is the most productive oil producing nation in Africa and the sixth most productive in the world. In addition, as a result of these discoveries and production, the Niger Delta is responsible for roughly 95% of Nigeria's foreign exchange profits and 90% of the country's income (CBN, Annual report 2003). Without a doubt, both Nigeria and the rest of the world place a high priority on the Niger Delta in terms of its importance and strategic value (Omolade 2022).

At first, the Niger Delta area consisted of just six states: Akwa-Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, and Rivers states. These states were dispersed throughout the southeastern and southwestern coasts of Nigeria. Today, the name "Niger-Delta area" has evolved to signify all of the states that produce crude oil, including the previously six states plus the additional three states of Abia, Imo, and Ondo (Austin, 2022).

It is more accurate to say that there is a "crisis inside a crisis" in terms of the scenario facing the oil-producing communities in Nigeria because of the intricacy and diverse nature of the problem that they are facing. In recent years, inter and intra community interactions in the Niger Delta have been marked by a high level of tension and violence. This has been the case in both directions. The struggle between the Ogonis and the oil infrastructure reached a level of increased severity and intensity on both sides beginning in December 1992 and continuing to the present day. In May of 1994, the level of military repression increased. On May 21, security forces of all kinds showed up in the majority of the Ogoni settlements. On that day, four Ogoni chiefs, all of whom were on the more traditionalist side of a rift within MOSOP over tactics, were executed with extreme cruelty. According to Austin, (2022), in May of 1994, nine activists from the movement that would later become known as "The Ogoni Nine," including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were arrested and charged of inciting to murder as a result of the deaths of four Ogoni elders. This led to their becoming known as "The Ogoni Nine." Saro-Wiwa and his friends rejected the allegations against them; yet, they were arrested and held in jail for more than a year before being found guilty and condemned to death on November 10th, 1995 by a specially constituted tribunal that was hand-selected by General Sani Abacha. The Nigerian state executed the activists by hanging them after denying them their right to a fair trial and hanging them after they were found guilty (Ben 2022).

The Warri ethnic war between the Ijaws and the Itsekiris began in March 1997 and claimed the lives of hundreds of people. Violence and conflict have also been reported between the Urhobos and the Itsekiris, as well as between various Isoko communities in Delta state and various Ijaw communities in Bayelsa state. The Warri ethnic war took place in Bayelsa state (Edo 2022). In the state of Ondo, the Ogonis have also been involved in conflicts with the Andonis, while the Ijaws have been involved in conflicts with the Yoruba groups. There have also been reports of violence between different communities in the state of Akwa Ibom. Since roughly the year 1990 and onwards, this has led to a rise in the amount of hostility and animosity that exists between the many people that live in the Niger Delta. Indeed, Ken-Saro Wiwa (1990) as referenced in Ben (2022), in an article titled "The impending battle in the Delta," had predicted of the escalation of inter-communal hostilities in the Niger-Delta region years before they occurred. As he expressed it at the time, some three weeks later, the conflict that was still raging in the Delta claimed its first lives, with six killed and twenty injured. I had predicted it far back in 1988, and I had provided plenty of advance notice. If urgent action is not done to defuse the situation, there is a real possibility that war may break out.... I am compelled to issue a warning to the residents of the Delta region, urging them to renounce the use of violence in the battle for the rights...

The admonition of Saro-Wiwa that "the worst is to come" has not only come to pass, but the situation has also deteriorated to the point where the various communities in the Niger-Delta are characterized by tension, violence, mistrust, and attempts by each community to demonstrate that it is first among the exploited and despoiled victims of the Niger-Delta.

While it is important to bring attention to the rise in the degree of violence that occurs between and within communities, it is also essential to stress that the connection that existed between the communities in the Niger-Delta was one that was marked by conflict (Ben 2022).

The researcher has an interest in looking into the disputes that are taking place in the Niger Delta region and determining how the conflicts in the Niger Delta areas may be properly controlled via the elimination of the difficulties that are being experienced by the residents of the region and how it affects educational productivity.

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