178. The CSAR points out that the Niger Delta crisis has pitched the local communities against the oil companies, against the state or against one another. The intercommunal conflicts result in massive loss of life and property, while also disrupting economic activities, particularly oil prospecting and extraction. Hostage abductions for ransom from oil companies and gang warfare among rival youth cults have led to severe cutbacks in oil production, estimated at about 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) – about a quarter of Nigeria’s estimated daily production of 2 million barrels. 179. The Niger Delta situation demonstrates the downside of minority status in terms of access to state power and centralised resource control in the context of the federal arrangement and elite struggle for power and resources. Consequently, the Niger Delta communities have been drawn into direct confrontation with the Nigerian state and the oil multinationals, which must share the blame. Interstate conflicts 180. The CSAR reports that Nigeria has not been involved in interstate conflicts since independence. The only conflict, involving Nigeria and Cameroon over the Bakassi Peninsula, was resolved by a decision of the International Court of Justice in favour of the transfer of the disputed territory to Cameroon. Mechanisms for preventing, reducing and managing intrastate and interstate conflict 181. Regarding intrastate conflict in Nigeria, the CSAR reports on the different state and nonstate institutions created to assist in reducing conflict: governments in states have variously put in place a standing committee on peace, conflict resolution and emergency relief; and NGOs, including faith-based organisations, have provided relief during conflicts. In an effort to promote better attitudes to citizenship, the government has also used the mass media to promote tolerance and mutual respect among citizens through the National Orientation Agency (NOA). 182. The CSAR also notes that successive Nigerian governments have taken steps to manage conflict and reduce the level of tension, particularly in the Niger Delta region, using approaches such as political appeasement, increased resource allocation to the region based on the derivation principle at the federal level, and the setting up of development commissions to provide basic needs and services. Since 1999, however, the central government has adopted a carrot-and-stick approach to tackling the root causes of the conflicts in the region. On the one hand, it has attempted to address the socioeconomic grievances of the people and the pervasive poverty in the region and, on the other, has deployed security forces to restore law and order to the region. 183. The CSAR highlights Nigeria’s exemplary and commendable external role in peacebuilding and conflict resolution in Africa. Nigeria has participated or led several peacekeeping missions to resolve conflict in 29 areas stretching across the world. Nigeria played key roles in ending the wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone under the Economic Community of West African 81