A Contemporary Geopolitical Delineation of Niger Delta Communities: Identity in Coastal Nigeria

Abstract

Abstract:This study explores what constitutes a Niger Delta Community and differentiates communities from other forms of geopolitical entities and groups. Previous studies treat geopolitical entities denoted as communities as villages, towns, and ethnicities. This study proposes that they be defined by geopolitical factors that go beyond these terms. A qualitative research method through fifty semistructured interviews is applied in obtaining and analyzing evidence from Bayelsa, Delta, and Rivers states in the Niger Delta, Nigeria, to evaluate key arguments supporting this claim. It was discovered that the political and geographical subdivisions of postcolonial local government areas and, in some cases, the traditional and geographical sections of precolonial clans or kingdoms define contemporary Niger Delta communities. These determinations emphasize the factors that delineate such a community from gray terms used as its denotation. This article clarifies the definitional characteristics of these communities that help distinguish their municipal status from typical villages, towns, or ethnicities in the region.