As rebel leaders in the Niger Delta lay down their arms in response to an amnesty offer, Umaru Yar'Adua, the Nigerian president, has called the move a new chapter for Nigerians.

This comes after years of rebel-led attacks on Nigeria's oil industry, which have cost the country billions in lost revenue.
 
Now the government has offered cash and jobs for thousands of fighters in return for peace.

But will this mean lasting peace for the region and will the people of Niger Delta finally see some of the oil wealth they have been denied?
 
Inside Story discusses with guests Buba Misawa, an associate professor of political science at Washington and Jefferson College, Michael Watts, a professor of geography and development studies at Berkeley, and Hakeem Babalola who writes regularly in the Nigerian press.

This episode of Inside Story aired from Monday, October 05, 2009.