Academic literature on the topic 'Ogoni'

The focus of this paper is to examine the Ogoni-Andoni war of 1993 with respect to the role of dialogue in inter-group relations. The Andoni and Ogoni are immediate neighbours in the Eastern Niger Delta of Nigeria. Both ethnic groups have aged long relationship characterized by peace, conflict, crisis and war. The immediate cause of the 1993 Ogoni-Andoni war was attributed to the violent activities of the militant wing of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People during their agitation for Ogoni Kingdom and other environmental issues. In the 20thcentury the two ethnic groups fought wars at interval of twenty years; 1933, 1953, 1973, 1993. The war had great consequences on both ethnic groups which called for dialogue to end it. The paper explored primary and secondary sources to document the war history. This paper found out that the Ataba (Andoni)-Ogoni Peace Conference was the platform for the inter-ethnic dialogue which brought the war to an end by late 1994. Their relationship was restored fully by 1995. The Peace Conference forestalled subsequent crisis related development which would have snowballed into another full scale war between the Ogoni and Andoni in the 21stcentury. It concluded that dialogue did not only end the war but it sustained and enhanced inter-group relations between Andoni and Ogoni over twenty years today.

AbstractThe existence of the Ogoni ethnic group is taken for granted in the literature that has grown out of the minority rights and environmentalist campaigns of the 1990s. This article departs from this tradition by engaging the historical development of the Ogoni ethnic group, taking as its point of departure elite politics in the context of colonial categories and post-colonial politics. With comparative data on the development of ethnic groups in Nigeria, it shows how elite politics and state structures and administrative decisions influenced the development of the Ogoni ethnic group and the identity it purveys. It also shows that differing interests in oil with unequal power bases spurred rigid positions that served to facilitate or constrain the execution of the Ogoni identity-building project.

Every society has its own norms, values and morals, which help them to structure their universe. Among the Ogoni indigenous people, the centrality of ii-ii wa (traditional marriage) as the nucleus of society is the under guiding factor for their comprehensive marriage rites. To the Ogoni indigenous people, marriage is a sacred institution, inextricably attached to the Ogoni traditional religion. It is a process rather than a discrete event that marks one’s transition from one stage of life to another; it involves rituals, negotiations, and transactions that stretch over years. It is a community practice within which the values of a community are shaped and preserved. However, the eventual contact with the western culture through colonialism, christianity, education and, with the subsequent upsurge of globalization, reflects the diffusion of modern orientations and ideologies. These values are not only being challenged but also eroded. Consequently, this onslaught brings into question the place of the Ogoni cultural values and marriage system amidst modernization. This study, therefore, centers on the organized system of the Ogoni traditional marriage forms in relation to specific underlying dimensions, attributes and categories. The study further distinguishes between Bia-k𝑒̅, biabe and the assumed Sira-culture that do not exist in Ogoni cultural practices. In analyzing the subject matter, the study adopts the descriptive research design, using the philosophical approach, with special reference to the structural functionalism and the diffusion of innovation theories. Through the research effort it was observed that the fortunes of marriage and family institutions are dwindling due to the emerging trends of individualism, loosed morality, materialism and intrusion of foreign ideas into marriage and family system in Ogoni. Hence, the need to respect, project and protect those core Ogoni traditional marriage values.
 Keywords: II-II-Wa (traditional marriage), family values, religion, social change

This article is a product of research in the Ogoni region of the Niger delta between 1981 and 1991. It analyses an aspect of the pre-colonial economy of Ogoni, which aimed at preserving the proceeds of agricultural production and increasing the wealth of the individual. Agricultural production was not all for subsistence. A substantial proportion was sold off and the proceeds invested in the economy. The article argues that this was possible because the Ogoni were acquainted with the use of an all-purpose currency before the arrival of Europeans. By a method of linguistic analysis it was possible to trace the existence of such an indigenous currency and its spread from the Ogoni area to the rest of the eastern Niger delta and to the greater part of south-east Nigeria. It is shown that the Ogoni were major producers and distributors of large transport and fishing canoes in the eastern Niger delta. A thriving canoe-making industry at Ko on the Imo river, led to a culture of marine transport and distributive long-distance trade through the waterways of the delta and to the island of Equatorial Guinea and to the Cameroons. The conclusion summarises the evidence and drives home the fact that in pre-colonial Ogoni wealth was accumulated and reckoned not by the yardstick of more cash but by the possession of livestock and landed property.

The Biakē custom, an ancient practice among the Ogoni indigenous people, refers to a system by which certain girls or women are not allowed to marry, but are legitimately allowed to raise children for their parents or family, because of some peculiar circumstances of the household, thus the idea of ‘mothers but not wives.’ However, the Biakē practice has been misconstrued with the malapropism called ‘Sira-Custom,’ implying a system in which the first daughters are not given out for marriage. This study focused on the philosophical foundation of Biakē and its implications on the Ogoni contemporary society. The study discovered that there was never a time in Ogoni history when Sira (first daughters) was denied the right to marry out. Every Ogoni daughter is eligible for marriage. The study argues that though the philosophy of Biakē emphasizes the continuity of the family/lineage, women serving under Biakē and their children may experience psychological trauma due to the absence of a “father figure” and other unmet needs. Using the prescriptive method, this paper advocated for the promulgation of laws, and regulations to modify the Biakē custom to accommodate the Ogoni modern-day reality.

The article analyzes the Ogoni case, which combines several high-profile lawsuits in the courts of Nigeria, the United States, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom, the African Commission on Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the Economic Communityof West Africa. Practical issues related to the jurisdiction of states are covered, namely, extraterritorial jurisdiction, universal jurisdictionin civil matters, ‘piercing the corporate veil’, ‘forum shopping’, doctrines ‘forum non conveniens’, ‘forum necessitatis’, etc. The Ogonicase demonstrated the diversity and complexity of jurisdictional issues at the national and international levels. Although in terms ofjurisdiction the courts of Nigeria were the most appropriate forum to bring an action in this case, due to the inefficiency of the Nigerianjudicial system, the plaintiffs appealed to other jurisdictions. The Wiwa and Kiobel cases before the US courts can be considered asexamples of an attempt, albeit unsuccessful, to implement the extraterritorial application of US national law and to apply the principleof universal jurisdiction in civil tort cases. US courts have denied the plaintiffs’ claims under the ‘forum non conveniens’ doctrine andrefused to apply extraterritorially the American tort law to corporations located and registered in other states. In the Akpan case, theDistrict Court of the Netherlands refused to ‘pierce the corporate veil’, but the Court of Appeal ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear thacase concerning both Shell and the Nigerian subsidiary. In the Kiobel case, which is also before the courts of the Netherlands, an alternativebasis for jurisdiction was used – ‘forum necessitatis’. In the Okpabi case, the British courts have so far refused to recognize theirjurisdiction. It should be noted that the Wiwa and Kiobel cases concern the liability of Shell and SPDC for human rights violations,while the Akpan and Okpabi cases concern the civil liability for environmental damage. The above proceedings in national and internationalcourts are a clear example of ‘forum shopping’. The case was considered by the African Commission on Human Rights, whichrecognized its jurisdiction despite the absence of domestic remedies exhaustion, and by the West African Economic Community Court,which recognized its jurisdiction to hear the case under the African Charter as well as international covenants on human rights.

The article analyzes the Ogoni case, which combines several high-profile lawsuits in the courts of Nigeria, the United States, theNetherlands, the United Kingdom, the African Commission on Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the Economic Communityof West Africa. Practical issues related to the jurisdiction of states are covered, namely, extraterritorial jurisdiction, universal jurisdictionin civil matters, ‘piercing the corporate veil’, ‘forum shopping’, doctrines ‘forum non conveniens’, ‘forum necessitatis’, etc. The Ogonicase demonstrated the diversity and complexity of jurisdictional issues at the national and international levels. Although in terms ofjurisdiction the courts of Nigeria were the most appropriate forum to bring an action in this case, due to the inefficiency of the Nigerianjudicial system, the plaintiffs appealed to other jurisdictions. The Wiwa and Kiobel cases before the US courts can be considered asexamples of an attempt, albeit unsuccessful, to implement the extraterritorial application of US national law and to apply the principleof universal jurisdiction in civil tort cases. US courts have denied the plaintiffs’ claims under the ‘forum non conveniens’ doctrine andrefused to apply extraterritorially the American tort law to corporations located and registered in other states. In the Akpan case, theDistrict Court of the Netherlands refused to ‘pierce the corporate veil’, but the Court of Appeal ruled that it had jurisdiction to hear thacase concerning both Shell and the Nigerian subsidiary. In the Kiobel case, which is also before the courts of the Netherlands, an alternativebasis for jurisdiction was used – ‘forum necessitatis’. In the Okpabi case, the British courts have so far refused to recognize theirjurisdiction. It should be noted that the Wiwa and Kiobel cases concern the liability of Shell and SPDC for human rights violations,while the Akpan and Okpabi cases concern the civil liability for environmental damage. The above proceedings in national and internationalcourts are a clear example of ‘forum shopping’. The case was considered by the African Commission on Human Rights, whichrecognized its jurisdiction despite the absence of domestic remedies exhaustion, and by the West African Economic Community Court,which recognized its jurisdiction to hear the case under the African Charter as well as international covenants on human rights.