International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 8 • No. 6 • June 2018 doi:10.30845/ijhss.v8n6p16 140 Conflict Resolution in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria: An Empirical Investigation Onibere, E. A 1 Egbokhare, F. A 2 Ekong, V. E 3 Amadin F. I 4 1, 2, 4 Department of Computer Science University of Benin Benin City Nigeria 3 Department of Computer Science University of Uyo Nigeria Abstract This study investigated conflicts in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria which is triggered by prolonged socio- economic and political alienation marked by extreme poverty, hunger, disease, environmental pollution and high levels of youth unemployment. The region has witnessed an unprecedented spate of violent conflicts in the recent past, and all efforts to quell it seem to have defied solutions. In this study, we obtained unstructured and structured data from indigenes of the Niger Delta oil producing communities, oil exploration and oil-based organizations operating in the region and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on the projects sited so far, the criteria used, causes of conflicts and current methods of resolution. The results of the findings provided insights on the current reality of conflict in the region by identifying a number of political, socioeconomic, and environmental risk factors as central to conflict escalation as well as measures to curb them. Keywords: Conflicts, Conflict Resolution, Dialogue, Niger Delta, Prevention Introduction The Niger Delta region is made up of nine of Nigeria‟s thirty-six states namely: Abia, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers state. Located in the south-south zone of the country (See Figure 1), it is the region that produces oil – the lifeline of the Nigerian economy, as oil provides 95% of Nigeria‟s foreign exchange earnings and 80% of the government‟s budgetary revenues (Ajodo-Adebanjoko, 2017). According to the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC), Nigeria‟s oil production accounts for 8% of the Organi zation of Petroleum Exporting Corporation‟s (OPEC) total daily production and 3% of the world‟s volume. The oil and gas resources are operated by multinational firms such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron, Elf, Agip and Texaco, in joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (Ajodo-Adebanjoko, 2017; Okoh, 2005). Figure 1: Map of Nigeria showing the Niger Delta states