Political Economy of the Amnesty Programme for Sustainable Peace and Development of the Niger Delta

Abstract

This study adopted a two-level political psychological analytic approach towards understanding the amnesty programme and the sustainable peace and development of the Niger Delta. The objective of this paper is to bring to lime light the critical debates underlying militancy and the strategic interventions achieved by the Amnesty Programme. A combination of theoretical framework of political economy paradigm and frustration-aggression theory of conflict is explored. While the political economy paradigm captures discrepancy of good governance in Nigerian, it awakens the subtlety of armed confrontation by the restive youths of the Niger Delta. The frustration-aggression theory of conflict reverberate the socio-environmental frustration and challenges faced by the people of Niger Delta, expressed in militancy. The Peace Ideology underlying Amnesty Programme in the Niger Delta is positioned to harness the talents of the people and make entrepreneurs of them. The study evaluated the policy drive of the Amnesty programme, its potency as a build bridge of support, strategic leadership and a tool for sustainable peace and development. It concluded by observing that the proramme could not offer women and children psychological succor as victims, and insensitivity of the programme in not paying specific attention to training them on indigenous occupation as fishing and agriculture to bring about endogenous and sustainable development to drive the desired peace in these areas.