Nigeria Weapons Small Weapons Trafficking Thesis

Few if any of the militant groups in Nigeria using the weapons have the means to obtain these weapons directly; instead, they are typically purchased by otherwise legitimate Nigerian businessmen from illicit manufacturers and distributors and traded for oil "bunkered" (stolen) by the groups themselves (Keili 2008). Nigeria and other countries in the region placed bans on the importing, exporting, or manufacturing of most small arms and weapons within their borders as far back as 1998, but Nigeria is known to have especially porous borders on both land and sea, and lax export controls in many weapons supplier countries have exacerbated the problems caused by Nigeria's sudden wealth but lack of security and infrastructure still further.

The issue is made still more complex by the political situation within Nigeria. Groups like the Movement for the Emancipation of the Nigerian Delta claim that their country -- or their specific region -- is being exploited for outside interests and that typical Nigerians are nw worse off than they were before the discovery of oil and the arrival of foreign companies and domestic big-wigs (BBC News 2006). There is a large amount of truth to this statement, and though it does not exonerate the small arms dealers or the militant groups who use these weapons, it does raise serious questions as to the motives behind Nigerian officials and diplomats please for help in putting down the militants. The fact of the matter is that the arms trade exists due to the severe unrest among the general populous of Nigeria; though those who have chosen and advocated militancy as a response are in the minority, many Nigerians express their extreme dissatisfaction and feelings of unfairness regarding their current situation.

That being said, it is essential for the safety and continued (or eventual) development of Nigeria as an emerging nation that the small arms trade in the country be ended. One is left with something of a ctach-22: the arms trade both exists because of and flourishes under the political unrest and governmental impotence in Nigeria; reestablishing political dominance is the only way to curb the illicit weapons trade, but doing so is nearly impossible with the fragmentation caused by the militant groups there. The first aim of the Nigerian government should be too regain complete control of the oil producing regions of the country. While raising the ire of the militant groups, this will also cut them off from their only reliable source of funding.

References

BBC News. (2006). "Nigeria's shadowy oil rebels." April 2006. Accessed 14 May 2009. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4732210.stm

Keili, F. (2008). "Small arms and light weapons transfer in West Africa:

A stock-taking." Disarmament forum. Accessed 14 May 2009. http://www.unidir.org/pdf/articles/pdf-art2832.pdf

Thachuk, K. (2007). Transnational Threats Smuggling and Trafficking in Arms, Drugs, and Human Life. Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing.