Working Paper
A cultural perspective on the cycle of violent conflicts in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria

Violent conflicts act as disincentives for sustainable socioeconomic development in conflict-prone societies, especially in the Global South. 

Existing studies focus largely on economic, political, and social triggers of violent conflicts; cultural factors, while important, are often not considered. This paper undertakes a case study of the Niger Delta region, Nigeria, to investigate the importance of cultural factors in the cycle of violence. 

Analysing field data collected in conflict-impacted communities of the region, I argue that an interplay of political, social, economic, and environmental drivers has engendered violent conflicts, and society’s permissiveness regarding violent behaviour in the guise of the ‘Niger Delta struggle’ has created a latent culture of violence, reflected in the emergence of new cultural norms that support and encourage violent behaviour. 

These norms shape individual and collective interpretations of the struggle for self-determination against structural violence meted out by the Nigerian state through militarization and the economy of violence created by the ‘struggle’. Violent conflicts have increasingly become a means to achieve socially desirable goals (e.g., wealth, political power, status) as society rewards violent actors with social goods. This has created a cycle of violence as these rewards are an incentive for new entrants while violence is increasingly part of the material and non-material aspects of culture.