Ogoni-Andoni War, 1993: The Role of Dialogue in Inter-Group Relations (Published)
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.
Citation: Benson R. M. (2023) Ogoni-Andoni War, 1993: The Role of Dialogue in Inter-Group Relations, International Journal of History and Philosophical Research, Vol.11, No.1, pp.6-17
Keywords: Andoni, Dialogue, Ogoni, Relations, Role, inter-group