The Ijaw have been an UNPO member since October 2025.

The Ijaw are one of the Indigenous Peoples of the Niger Delta and constitute one of the largest ethnic groups in the region. Known for their deep connection to the Delta’s waterways, mangrove forests, and coastal ecosystems, the Ijaw have developed a distinct cultural heritage expressed through their languages, oral traditions, festivals, and spirituality. Despite their longstanding presence in the Niger Delta, the Ijaw face persistent limitations on their political, social, economic, and environmental rights within Nigeria.

Decades of intensive oil extraction in Ijaw territories have led to severe pollution, destruction of fishing grounds, and repeated ecological disaster, undermining the traditional livelihoods of Ijaw communities. At the same time, the benefits derived from the region’s natural resources rarely reach the local population, contributing to widespread poverty, inadequate infrastructure, and limited access to essential services. Calls for environmental justice, fair resource distribution, and meaningful participation in decision-making processes have frequently gone unanswered, deepening tensions in the region.

The UNPO Secretariat works for the rights of the Ijaw people as a whole and may collaborate with various civil society organisations, community groups, and representatives from Ijaw communities. However, the main organisation representing the rights of the Ijaw within the UNPO membership and exercising voting rights at the General Assembly is the Ijaw National Congress (INC). You can read more about the Ijaw National Congress here. 

The Ijaw possess a rich cultural heritage shaped by centuries of life along the waterways and coastal environments of the Niger Delta. Their identity is expressed through a diversity of Ijaw languages, vibrant festivals such as the Ogele and Seigbein masquerades, and deeply rooted oral traditions that emphasise ancestors, community solidarity, and spiritual relationships with the natural world. Fishing, canoe-building, and riverine craftsmanship remain central aspects of Ijaw cultural life, reflecting their historical dependence on the region’s creeks and mangrove ecosystems. Music and dance, often featuring drums, wooden flutes, and call-and-response singing, play an essential role in ceremonies, storytelling, and community gatherings.

The Ijaw are one of the largest ethnic groups of Nigeria’s Niger Delta, historically organised into autonomous riverine communities bound by kinship, councils of elders, and religious institutions. From about 1500 CE, Ijaw trading polities such as Kalabri, Bonny (Ibani), and Nembe/Brass became influential intermediaries in Atlantic commerce, first trading in enslaved people and later palm oil. In the nineteenth century, Nembe rose as a major palm hub but clashed with the monopolistic Royal Niger Company, leading to King Koko’s 1895 Akassa Raid and the brutal British retaliation that followed. With the consolidation of the Niger Coast Protectorate, Ijaw communities were drawn more tightly into colonial administration, missionisation, and taxation.

Colonialism had a profound impact on Ijaw cohesion. Prior to British rule, the Ijaw were politically independent, with treaties recognising their sovereignty. However, colonial restructuring, through the Oil Rivers Protectorates and ultimately the 1914 amalgamation, subsumed them under the Nigerian State and fractured Ijaw lands into multiple provinces and, later, states. This fragmentation undermined cultural cohesion and left Ijaw groups politically marginalised within multi-ethnic administrative units. The Ijaw Youth Council’s Kaiama Declaration of 1998 directly linked this discontinuity to colonisation, asserting that British rule placed the Ijaw under Nigeria and disrupted their natural evolution as a sovereign people.

In the postcolonial period, the Ijaw remained central to Nigeria’s oil politics: the first commercial oil discovery occurred in 1956 at Oloibiri in Bayelsa, an Ijaw homeland. Resource control grievances followed, most famously Isaac Adaka Boro’s 1966 armed revolt declaring a “Niger Delta Republic.” In the 1990s, the Kaiama Declaration renewed these demands, warning oil companies to stop exploiting Ijaw lands without local consent. The federal response was often violent, most tragically in the 1999 Odi massacre, when troops destroyed the predominantly Ijaw town, killing hundreds.

The Ijaw people face a complex set of political, environmental, and socio-economic challenges rooted in their position within the oil-rich Niger Delta. One of the most pressing issues is the severe environmental degradation caused by decades of oil exploration, spills, gas flaring, and industrial pollution in Ijaw territories. Contaminated waterways, degraded farmland, declining fish stocks, and loss of biodiversity have directly undermined the traditional livelihoods of many Ijaw communities, who depend heavily on fishing and small-scale agriculture. Despite national and international recognition of this ecological crisis, remediation efforts have been slow, uneven, and often insufficient, leaving many affected communities without meaningful compensation or restoration.

Economically, the Ijaw are affected by persistent underdevelopment, despite living in a region that generates a substantial portion of Nigeria’s national revenue. Many Ijaw communities face limited access to safe drinking water, healthcare, and education, while unemployment (especially among youth) remains high. The disparity between local conditions and the wealth produced from their lands has contributed to long-standing grievances about resource control and equitable revenue allocation within the Nigerian federal system. Politically, the Ijaw are often excluded from state and federal decision-making structures. Although some Ijaw individuals hold prominent political positions, many communities argue that these gains have not translated into broader political empowerment or sustained improvements at the grassroots level.

The Ijaw National Congress (INC) and other Ijaw civil society groups continue to advocate for greater political inclusion, community-based development, transparent environmental remediation, and meaningful participation in decisions affecting their lands and resources. Addressing these issues is essential for long-term stability in the Niger Delta and for ensuring that the Ijaw people can exercise their rights, maintain their cultural heritage, and pursue sustainable development on their own terms.