sector has recorded rapid growth in recent times, rising from a low of 3.9 per cent in 2001 to a high of 7 per cent in 2006. Overall, real GDP growth averaged 6.15 per cent during the 2004–2006 period. However, real GDP growth has not translated into job growth. Unemployment remains high at 11.9 per cent in 2006. 129. On the other hand, the relatively slow growth in the oil sector is largely attributable to disruptions in oil production due to oil bunkering and acts of civil disobedience. These have been perpetrated in reaction to perceived injustices in the distribution of oil wealth and the provision of social services to the oil-producing regions. For a long time, Nigeria’s military rulers were resistant to initiating greater transparency and accountability in managing the multibillion-dollar oil industry, to the detriment of economic growth. This practice has fuelled unrest, notably in the Niger Delta, which accounts for the bulk of Nigeria’s oil revenues. Perceptions in the Niger Delta are that successive governments have exploited the natural resources in the region without benefiting the surrounding communities and at the expense of the environment, health and socioeconomic development, resulting in aggravated social injustices. This has accounted for a high level of resistance to government’s activities in the area by several civil society and pressure groups. 2.6 Nigeria’s role in Africa and beyond 130. The anticolonial struggle in Nigeria was always linked to wider PanAfricanist struggles for independence and the fight against colonialism and racism. Nigeria played a proactive role in the fight against foreign domination by supporting several countries that had not yet attained selfdetermination, and contributing logistics to the liberation movements that led to the independence of some African countries such as Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa. 131. Since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, Africa has continued to be at the hub of Nigeria’s foreign policy and international relations. This is reflected in Nigeria’s membership of, and participation in, various regional and continental organisations, including the Monrovia Group of African States, ECOWAS, the AU, the United Nations (UN) Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB) and, more recently, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the APRM. Indeed, historical landmarks in African unity, such as the Lagos Plan of Action, the Final Act of Lagos (1980) and the Abuja Treaty (1991) were consummated in Nigeria. 132. Nigeria established a Directorate of Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA) in 2001 under the Ministry of Cooperation and Integration in Africa (MCIA) in the presidency. Its emphasis is on promoting an exchange programme of high-level technical experts in several areas, including science and technology, the humanities and the arts, law, agriculture, mining, medicine, manufacturing, industries, nuclear science, energy, mineral resources development, transport, and information and communication technology (ICT). It also collaborates with several other African institutions and organisations (see chapter 4, objective 5 of the report). 55