Conflict in the Niger Delta holds profound implications for the democratic and developmental transformation of Nigeria. The analysis of the causes and impacts of the oil conflict in the region, and of strategies to resolve it, requires an understanding of the traditionally and constitutionally enshrined resource rights of the marginalised inhabitants. Patterns of resource appropriation by multinational oil companies and the mismanagement of resource revenue by federal government, and the associated environmental pollution, remain a legacy of the topdown approaches that have been employed in an attempt to resolve conflicts in the Niger Delta. These approaches have largely failed to effectively address the complex issues affecting the indigenes and have even triggered further dissention amongst various local communities. Using grounded theory as a research method, this thesis explores the grassroots approach to conflict resolution in the Niger Delta region as a socio-political paradigm for developing substantive content for the resolution of conflict in this oil-rich region of Nigeria. Drawing on history and using social and conflict theories, the paper investigates the potential for the bottom-up approach to be applied to the conflict resolution paradigm, in order to advance a sustainable peace process and promote economic, political and social transformation in Nigeria - and, in particular, the Niger Delta region.