African Journal of Political Science

African Journal of Political Science ISSN 3461-2165 Vol. 8 (5), pp. 001-008, May, 2014. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Using Hooke‟s law of elasticity to explicate trends and dimensions of crisis in the Niger Delta

Nkpah, Young Aakpege

Department of Sociology Faculty of Social Sciences University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. E-mail: [email protected]. Tel: 08064525958.

Accepted 24 October, 2014

Abstract

The study draws from a corollary in the physical sciences, showing how a quantitative form could change to a qualitative form (that is water under 100°C). Likewise, the constant bombardment of the Niger Delta social formation could alter its relations of production. To this end, the study goes beyond, (i)  the era of early oil exploration/expansion years and community passivity (1903-1970), (ii) Era of oil-industry “consolidation”, incipient agitations and of oil companies, (iii) Era of state command intervention and community reactive militancy to (iv) „fracture‟. However, elastic materials, either stretched, compressed, or bent comes back to its original shape and size when the force is removed. We posit that the “proportionality limit” is exceeded in the Niger Delta and the region can never be the same using this theoretical exposition. This supports our thesis that “mindful humans under certain conditions would tend to behave like mindless atoms”. The study recommends a Cognitive Personal Development Scheme (CPDS) for development of innate skills and adaptive mechanism for youths of the area as panacea to youth restiveness

Key words: Elasticity, elastic limit, socio-economic conditions, viscerogenic, plasticity, psychogenic.