AbstractBased on the interpretation of a large seismic data set, we provide a comprehensive description of the structures affecting the entire Niger Delta, from the onshore domain to the deep‐offshore. The shale‐dominated delta lies on a divergent segment of the west African passive margin. The delta is underlain by Lower Cretaceous oceanic crust offshore, transitioning landwards to the distal margin and the necking domains of a hyperextended continental lithosphere. The southward progradation of the delta over poorly consolidated Paleocene to Eocene shales facilitated their mobilization since the Early Miocene. Thick shales accumulated over a structural depression, where limited portions of exhumed mantle have been interpreted. The shales are characterized by overpressure conditions, which can be related to both rapid burial and hydrocarbon expulsion. The top of overpressure migrated over time and progressively truncates older successions toward the continent. The downslope flow of shales led to the formation of shale rollers, ridges, and other mobile‐shale structures such as complex anticlines and walls. These structures are associated with minibasins filled by Miocene to the Quaternary growth strata. Within the transitional zone and the outer fold–thrust belt, the shales reduced their mobility. Updip extension, which started in Paleogene times, was transferred toward the toe of the gravitational system since the Late Miocene. The magnitude of updip extension is about the double of shortening in the outer fold–thrust belt. Strain unbalance at the scale of the gravitational system results from gravitational spreading being partially accommodated by tectonic (i.e., lateral) compaction of the shales.