Drill and Grievance: Oil and Community Grievance Articulation in West Africa

The incursion of petro-capitalism into West Africa has activated grievances among the region's crude oil host communities in unprecedented ways. From Pujehun district in southern Sierra Leone to Takoradi in Western Ghana, from Bomahun in south eastern Liberia to the well-publicized Niger Delta in southern Nigeria, the ancillary effects of oil and the mode of distribution of its proceeds has inflamed passions among populations that are often exposed to enormous negative externalities with few tangible benefits. This paper discusses the symbiotic relationship between oil and grievances at the community level in West Africa. It explores the eclectic nature of these grievances and the wide array of actions adopted by oil-producing communities in seeking redress for perceived injustices emanating from the region's emerging petroleum industry. The paper concludes that the failure of West Africa's petroleum industry to translate oil wealth into human-centered development that meets the socio-economic aspirations of the local communities in particular and the countries in the region as a whole, has the potential to undermine the region's precarious peace and stability.