INTRODUCTION
Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, is the continent’s largest producer of oil.
Nigeria’s vast oil resources are mostly concentrated in the onshore and offshore
areas of the volatile Niger Delta region, this region has been described as the seat of
oil and gas production in the country and placing the country as one of the top ten
(10) leading oil producing nation in the world is no longer news. Oil, being the
mainstay of the Nigerian economy, plays a vital role in shaping the economic and
political destiny of the country, Although Nigeria’s oil industry was founded at the
beginning of the century, it was not until the end of the civil war (1967-1970) that
the oil industry began to play a prominent role in the economic life of the country
(Odularu, 2008). With over 40 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and a daily
production of about 2.4 million barrels, the country has become one of the major
petroleum exporters in the world. Ranked as the 6th petroleum giant in the
Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, its recoverable reserves are
estimated at 35 billion barrels. Nigeria generates about 95% of its total revenue from
oil and gas exports and has earned over $400 Billion as oil revenue since the early
70s.
In 2006, the Nigerian Government estimated it was earning about $36 billion
each year from the petroleum industry, Despite the vast wealth created by petroleum,
the benefits have been slow to trickle down to the majority of the population, who
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since the 1960s have increasingly abandoned their traditional agricultural practices;
for instance, annual production of both cash and food crops dropped significantly in
the latter decades of the 20th century: cocoa dropped by 43% (Nigeria was the
world's largest cocoa exporter in 1960); rubber dropped by 29%; cotton dropped by
65% and groundnut dropped by 64%. In spite of the large number of skilled, wellpaid Nigerians who have been employed by the oil corporations, the majority of
Nigerians and most especially the people of the Niger Delta states and the far north
have become poorer since the 1960s (Osungade, 2008). The Nigerian economy has
thus become almost entirely dependent on oil, with less emphasis been placed on
agriculture and other sectors which, prior to oil discovery, were the main stay of the
economy. Dependence on oil has been paradoxical in its socio-economic effects on
the Nation. While it can be well spoken of in terms of revenue generation, the “curse
of oil” has been evident in the Niger Delta oil-rich communities where exploration
and exploitation take place; with land degradation and loss of marine lives been
predominant, which has subsequently led to unemployment, crisis, and
environmental deterioration, among others.
Niger Delta’s coastal communities, oil pollution of the marine environment
has depleted the fishing and water resources that people have traditionally depended
on for their livelihoods. This has led to a complex pattern of conflicts in the region
since the late 1990s.
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Oil spills, gas flaring, and other activities of oil companies have led to massive
degradation of land and marine resources. Environmentalists and scientists have
provided varying estimates of the magnitude and frequency of oil spills in the region.
Local people blame the oil multinationals and the Nigerian government for the
environmental degradation, and feel they have not been properly compensated for
its impact. Communities have also developed conflicts within and between
themselves over these issues.
The Nigerian government has failed to compel oil multinationals to adhere to local
environmental protection regulations. This is not surprising since the government
benefits from oil revenue, the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. But the damage to
the natural environment has exposed the region’s people to poverty. The high rate
of poverty in the Niger Delta in contrast to the enormous oil wealth has been clearly
depicted in the 2015 United Nations’ Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index. Oil-related
activities have also damaged sources of clean water. This has fueled conflict over
the limited available resources.
The actions of aggrieved locals – including attacks on oil facilities and pipeline
vandalism – have made the situation even worse. And there’s another dimension:
the complicity of local elites and elders. Their quest for monetary gain through oil
benefits, including contracts to clean up oil spills and monitor pipelines, has
complicated the environmental problems.
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The roles of diverse local actors in this environmental and conflict landscape have
been downplayed by analysts. But it is important to grasp how all the players –
locals, oil companies and government have contributed to the protracted insecurity.
Environmental degradation is a subject of global concern as heightened industrial
activities have impacted negatively on environments of nations. Industrial wastes
emanating from activities of manufacturing and mineral resources exploiting
companies have occasioned degradation of the environment where they operate with
far reaching implications for human livelihood and existence. In the Niger Delta of
Nigeria, it has been alleged that the activities of oil exploration and exploitation
companies have been responsible for the incidence of environmental pollution and
degradation of the region. Furthermore, the abiding crises in the Niger Delta has
been linked to the negative impact of the activities of the multi-national oil
companies which have degraded the region environment, occasioning poverty,
deprivations and attendant reactions of the people. More so, other core complaints
of the people occasioned the crises are still persisting.
This effort shall examine the nature and extent of environmental degradation
exacted by the exploration and exploitation activities of the oil multinational on the
environment and people of the Niger Delta; and the conflict situation in the region.
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THE HISTORY OF OIL EXPLORATION IN NIGERIA
The beginning of colonial rule in Nigeria coincided with the expansion of oil
exploration in most countries of the world. There was high demand for oil and other
lubricants due to the development of the combustion engine in the 1890’s (Udosen
et al, 2009). At the same time, there was increased need for military ships to protect
the island following World War I (Collins, 2018). The British government decided
to explore their colonies for oil resources to meet up the demands back home.
Nigeria, being one of those colonies, was explored first for bitumen, coal, and
finally oil. Oil exploration and exploitation in Nigeria is believed to have started far
back 1903 with the British Mineral Survey Company (World Bank, 2000; Collins,
2018). Much later, around 1908, the German surveyors of the Nigerian Bitumen
Corporation began prospecting for Tar Sand deposit in Araromi in the present Ondo
State. By 1914, the British government passed the first mineral oil ordinance that
was controlled solely by them as they excluded non-British subjects from having
right of oil exploration in Nigeria. However, these pioneering efforts ended with the
outbreak of the World War I in 1914. After several years later, petroleum exploration
began again in 1938, when Shell D’Arcy (a consortium of Iranian Oil Company that
later became British Petroleum and Royal Dutch Shell) was granted a sole ownership
right over the whole country. Again, the World War II that started between 1939
to1945 terminated the oil exploration activities by Shell D’Arcy.
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Oil exploration in the Nigeria’s Niger Delta resumed in 1946 after World War
II with several exploratory wells as the search for oil persisted. After years of
continuous search with a reported investment of over $30 million spent by SPDC,
the first recorded commercial quantity of petroleum was discovered at Oloibiri and
Afam oil fields in the Niger Delta in 1956. There were reports that SPDC was
successful in oil discovery in other settlements like Bomu oil field in Ogoniland.
However, such findings were only reported at a later date in 1958. The giant Bomu
oil field was reported as having an estimated ultimate recovery (EUR) of 0.311
billion of barrels (BB) of oil and a total of 0.608 billion of barrels of oil equivalent
(BBOE) including gas, making this oil field a massive treasure to the operating
company (SPDC) and the Nigerian government (Vassiliou, 2009; Aniefiok, et al.,
2013). Mobil Producing (Nigeria) Ltd, a subsidiary of American Socony- Mobil Oil
Company, was also at the background working their way into Nigeria.
Thus, they obtained license to explore for oil and began operations in Nigeria
in 1955 under the name Mobil Exploration Nigeria Incorporated which was later
incorporated as Mobil Producing Nigeria on June 16, 1969. In 1958, SPDC started
oil production and export from the Oloibiri field in Rivers State (presently in Bayelsa
State) at the rate of 5,100 barrels per day and about 10,500 barrels the following
year. By 1960, the petroleum sector was beginning to gain weight in transforming
the Nigerian economy and the dominant source of revenue (which was agriculture)
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began to lose relevant, as government was focused on expanding the oil and gas
sector. As a result, the Nigerian government abandoned other sources of revenues
(like agriculture, manufacturing, creative arts and entrepreneurship) that was already
giving the country recognition overseas. It was not a surprise that immediately this
policy was introduced, other multinational oil and gas companies started coming to
Nigeria to do business and make as much profit as possible why the offer lasted. In
addition, non-British firms were also granted license to explore oil. Subsequently,
Mobil came in 1955, Texaco Overseas Nigeria Petroleum Company Unlimited in
1961, Amoseas in 1961, Gulf Oil Company in 1961 (now Chevron), Société
Africaine des Pétroles (SAFRAP) in 1962 (which later became Elf Nigeria Limited
in 1974), Tennessee Nigeria Limited (Tenneco) in 1962, Azienda Generale Italiana
Petroli (AGIP) in 1962, ENI in 1964, Philips Oil Company in 1964, and Pan Ocean
Oil Corporation in 1972 (Poindexter, et al., 2008; Udosen et al., 2009; Aniefiok, et
al., 2013). These multinational oil and gas companies within few years in Nigeria’s
oil business became richer than some countries in the world today. They grew from
small start-up companies to oil giants in the world today. Thus, they recorded
remarkable successes in oil and gas exploration and production in both onshore and
offshore fields in the Niger Delta. For example, in 1984, Nigerian Agip Oil Company
started its operations in Ibocha-Obiafu axis of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local
Government Area of Rivers State.
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Currently, they (AGIP Oil Company) have built the largest gas plant in the
entire West Africa in Omoku and have spread almost to the entire Niger Delta region
of the South-South. One thing is clear for all to see, oil business in Nigeria is good
for the multinational oil and gas companies, as their stations where company
machines and staffs resides, have been transformed into little heavens on earth. As
oil exploration progressed in Nigeria, the Nigeria Government became aware that
they were outsmarted in the oil business and decided to create the Department of
Petroleum Resources (DPR) Inspectorate in 1970. Later on, Nigeria joined the
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) in 1971, The first
national oil company, the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC), was created
in 1971 and it later became the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)
in 1977.
The Federal Government of Nigeria went on to take control of the country’s
petroleum industry by nationalizing BP’s holding completely in 1979, and Shell–BP
became Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) in the same
period. Also, SPDC was in-charge of producing about 39 per cent of the nation's oil
and remains the major producer in the Nigeria’s petroleum industry. In January
1979, Nigeria attained its all-time peak in petroleum production at the rate of 2.44
million barrels per day, with millions of dollars going into the government accounts
daily from oil sales, The Niger Delta region is truly blessed and it is reported to have
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31 giant oil and gas fields. This is with an estimated ultimate recoverable oil of more
than 500 million barrels that produces in excess of 1 million barrels a day, Vassiliou
(2009) reported that 17 of the giant oil and gas production fields are located offshore
and some of them include Bomu (which is cited in Kegbara Dere in Gokana in Rivers
State), Oso, Ubit, Assan, Meren, Abo, Bonga, Bonga Southwest and Agbami, etc.
The Niger Delta oil is not only very important for the survival of the Nigeria state
but also to other nations of the world (Asuni, 2009). The hike in oil prices at the gas
stations around the world by January, 2006, was a clear indication that the activities
of militant groups in the region have affected international oil supplies. By 2008, the
cost of oil was $147 per barrel, at a time when oil production in the Niger Delta was
down by a quarter (Asuni,2009).
THE NIGER DELTA CRISIS
The Niger Delta area is the southernmost region of Nigeria. Although it occupies
90% of the Nigerian coastline, it is specifically between the Mahin river estuary in
the west and the Cross River estuary in the east. A geographical area measuring over
70,000sq km with a population of over 31 million inhabitants, it is broadly viewed
to comprise about 16,000 communities in the nine (9) oil producing states of Abia,
Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross Rivers, Delta, Edo, Imo, Ondo and Rivers; with over 40
different ethnic groups who speak more than 250 languages and dialects (Amaechi,
2009). It is the third largest wetland in the world and boosts of the 4th largest
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mangrove area (Stewart, 2006). The delta is described as the home of extraordinary
biodiversities, and is also endowed with several mineral deposits. The region has
huge oil and gas reservoirs (World Bank, 2008), ranking at the 6th world’s largest
exporter of crude oil and 3rd world largest producers of palm oil after Malaysia and
Indonesia. For many decades, the 63 regions have remained the backbone of the
Nigerian economy, accounting for over 90% of the country’s foreign exchange
revenue (Niger Delta Regional Development Master Plan, 2006).
The oil explorations and exploitation activities in the Delta region which
generate incessant pollutions of the land and waters of the Niger Delta environments
from oil spillages on farmlands and fishing waters has rendered the traditional
farming and fishing activities of the people unprofitable as a result of the degradation
of the lands and waters, the mainstay of the people’s livelihood. Indeed, from our
study, for more than five decades the Niger Delta has suffered from the twin evil of
oil spill and gas flaring. The oil spills and gas flares experienced by the communities
of the region over the years had no doubt its attendant negative effects on their
environment, health and livelihood.
An UNDP annual report (2009) titled “Nigeria: Petroleum, pollution, and
poverty in the Niger Delta” observes that the enormously rich natural endowment in
the Niger Delta in the form of land, water, forests and fauna have been subjected to
extreme degradation due to oil prospecting. Poverty therefore ravages the region’s
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people while the Nigerian state and oil multi-nationals do little or nothing to alleviate
the suffering of the people, remediate the degraded environment for instance Oloibiri
where oil was first struck in Nigeria has only one government institution a small
health centre, no good road, no electricity, no portable water, etc. The UNDP report
further captured the situation in the Niger Delta as a region suffering from
administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high
unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor, and endemic
conflict. The report further notes that the region has become one of the worlds’
starkest and most disturbing examples of the “resource curse” Francis Amanda, a
Computer Engineer and an indigene of Bayelsa State (cited in Tell Magazine)
observed that Oil has become a curse to the region. According to him, oil has brought
poverty, as the regions have been destroyed and people have lost their livelihood.
The UNDP report (2009) reveals that over 70 percent of the People of Niger
Delta live in poverty while the Nigerian State earns so much money from the oil
resources of the region. According to the report, Since Nigeria first struck oil in
commercial quantity in the region, it is estimated that the nation has earned over
$600 billion from oil export, yet poverty holds sway in the region. Decrease in soil
quality and destruction of marine life have rendered the traditional occupation of the
Niger Delta people unprofitable, while at the same time, the oil companies and the
government who are in partnership have failed to provide alternative profitable
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means of livelihood or business options to allow for the peoples’ sustainable
development. Thus, a lot of youths of the region are alienated from both their
traditional means of livelihood (land and water) and the Nigerian State that
cannot provide alternative jobs for them. The result is the proliferation of militia
groups who have risen out of frustration and the bid to survive; taking up arms
against the enemies of their lives, the oil companies and the Nigerian State.
The militia groups since the late 1990s intensified terror and aggression against
the oil multinational companies and the Nigerian security agents, through
destruction of oil pipelines, rigs, ocean oil drilling platforms, piracy, oil bunking and
massacre on sight of police, army, navy and all agents of government found in the
creeks and land areas of the Niger Delta. A press statement signed by Cynthia White,
leader of Martyrs Brigade, one of the militia groups captured the resolve and
objective of the militia groups; “We have made it clear that those despotic forces of
the occupation of Nigeria and its imperial collaborators should vacate the Niger
Delta Area and they would not listen. Let us make it clear to them once. We shall
bleed you to your marrows and you shall beg to leave our fatherland. We shall
continue to unleash acts of sabotage against Agents and infrastructures of the
Nigerian State and its collaborators until they vacate the land (New swatch, 2006)”
The situation of inflammable blend of poverty, corruption, pollution, environmental
degradation and the federal capture of oil revenues of the region set off violent
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rebellion by various youth militia groups to fight the age-long perceived injustice.
The militia groups claimed that their environment has been exploited, polluted and
neglected, visiting poverty on the people and therefore wanted control or greater
share of Nigeria’s oil revenue back to the impoverished region where the oil money
is derived.
The violent rebellion was championed by the movement for the Emancipation
of the Niger Delta (MEND). The militant groups adopted guerrilla warfare tactics
and embarked on destruction of oil installation and equipment, abduction of oil and
top government workers and killing of security agents. The region was thus
described as an enclave of ‘intense strife’. The crisis badly disrupted oil production
and almost crumbled the Nigerian economy before the amnesty programme of Late
President Umaru Yar’Adua. The amnesty program has brought relative peace and
an uneasy calm in the region with some pockets of incidences and clashes between
Nigerian Security Agents, especially the Joint Task Force (JTF) and some militant
groups who claim that the oil companies and the Nigerian states have not changed
their attitude towards the Niger Delta environment and people.
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THE EFFECTS OF THE OIL CRISIS IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION
1. Poor Standard of Living
Despite the enormous natural endowment and wealth that has been generated
from the region, the Niger Delta settlement is always referred to as the poorest and
least developed in Africa. According Ken Saro Wiwa (1995), the Ogonis are
hardworking and industrious people that engage in farming and fishing activities and
had lived happily for many decades before the discovery of oil on their land. Despite
that, they are impoverished because of the destruction of their livelihood. The Niger
Delta environment has been described as a beautiful countryside that was a source
of fresh air and green vegetation; but unfortunately, many years of oil exploration
has made death and food scarcity the reality of the region. The rivers and lands have
been massively polluted by the activities of the oil multinational companies for
decades, With the lands for agricultural cultivation and rivers for fishing activities,
now contaminated by petroleum spills (that would take a minimum of 30 years to
restore the ecosystem back to survivable or habitable level), the people are left with
nothing to depend on (Bodo,2019). The people of Niger Delta had surplus food for
exportation in the pre-colonial and colonial eras, as theirs lands and rivers had
always given them all they need to live as a prosperous people.
Today, a region that has been described as been so blessed, now houses the
poorest people in the country. These are people with no job or occupation because
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their primary occupation of fishing and farming has been taken away from them.
Currently, in the region, food scarcity is a common occurrence with lack of social
amenities such good roads, adequate hospitals, safe drinking water, electricity,
schools, and markets (Bodo, 2019). The people now lived in polluted slums and
squalors that is highly militarized to keep them dumb and voiceless as the
government continue to explore the oil on their lands at the expense of the locals that
is on the verge of extinction.
2. Youth Restiveness
The definition of a youth could differ from one geographical area to another
because it is determined by the society. A youth is always characterized by excessive
energy that needs to be exerted which, if not guarded, could result into negative
tendencies. They are described as being neither teenagers nor children, Adewuyi
(2008) saw youths as people between ages 15 to 24 years. In Nigeria, the National
Youth Service Scheme (NYSC) regard young people as being within the age limit
of 30 years. The N-Power programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria sees a
youth as one that is within the age limit of 35 years. Realistically, in the Niger Delta
and even in Nigeria at large, one is regarded as a youth as long as he or she is
unmarried, and as an adult when married, irrespective of the age of that person.
Youth restiveness has been used as tool by the youth to get what they want from the
relevant authority. The Niger Delta People have been reported to be once peaceful
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people that have been provoked severally and pushed to the wall beyond bearable
limits.
Thus, they only retaliate against their oppressors out of pains and to avert their
death and extinction (Bodo, 2019). The consequences of several oil crisis and
disagreement between the people and government had led to formation of several
movements such as Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND),
Niger Delta People Volunteer Force (NDPFF), Niger Delta Avengers (NDA). There
have also been multiplications of several countless cult groups that have laid claims
of some abandon oil stations in the region, Killings and burning of houses is now a
daily occurrence in the region as attacks between the cults groups and the military
has led many to desert their home towns to seek refuge elsewhere.
3. Politicizing of Environmental Issues
The pollution of the Niger Delta region is no longer news, as the entire region
suffers from air, water and land pollution at a very high concentration, The Nigerian
government have also on several occasion recognised this fact and promised to
addressed the challenges on the region with immediate effect (Bodo, 2019).
Unfortunately, these statements by the government have been regarded as untrue and
as a deceit by the government; a ploy that was used to calm down or delay the
pressures from the people and neglect them in their sufferings. Every election year,
the proposed cleanup of the region is usually the selling point on the lips of most
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politicians from the zone (their own representatives) and even those outside the zone.
A typical example is the case of the Ogoni people where in 2011, the United Nation
Environmental Programme (UNEP) recommended immediate remediation of the
entire Ogoni ecosystem (a process that will take at least 30 years to restore the lost
habitat) after thorough Environmental Impact Assessment of the land (UNEP, 2011).
The same government that invited UNEP urgently to Ogoniland to assess the
environmental conditions of the land have refused to implement the urgent
recommendation for the immediate cleanup of the land.
4. Unemployment and Crimes
With the original source of livelihood of fishing and farming destroyed, the
majority of the people in the region are unemployed and poor. The majority of the
youths have embraced new trade of illegal bunkering, kidnapping, arm robbery, and
prostitution (for the women) as a means of survival (Bodo, 2019). The unfortunate
scenario in this entire eventuality is that the people involved in these businesses
found it profiting than their former lost, It is believed that his new business could
pay those involved hundreds of thousands naira weekly, making it impossible for
them to quit the trade despite its hazardous nature, Oil business of illegal bunkering
in the Niger Delta has further increased the destruction of the ecosystem in the region
as the operators of this illegal oil business are not environmentally literate about their
actions on their environment. Billions of naira has been reported to be realized from
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private individuals, operating companies, and state governments in the region on
ransom payments on kidnapped victims to militants’ groups. Unfortunately, the
military that were sent to checkmate these criminal vices are fully involved with the
locals in sharing the loots from these businesses.
5. Bribery and Corruption
It is believed that the cleanup of Ogoniland is being stalled by bribery and
corruption, as the leadership of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People
(MOSOP) has been reported to have been divided over their involvement in the
exercise, SPDC has been severally accused by the Ogoni people for dividing the
people and initiating crisis among themselves by bribing some of the corrupt locals.
In 1995, during the Ogoni uprising, SPDC was accused of bribing the four Ogoni
leaders that was later killed by mob action and for collaborating with military
government in the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and eight others. It has been reported
that the revenues (13% oil derivation) from the Federal Government to the states and
the parastatals (Niger Delta Development Commission, Ministry of the Niger Delta,
etc.) in the region running into billions of naira for over the years has been
mismanaged by their leaders. Many have also ascribed the backwardness of the
Niger Delta region to the corruptness of their leader.
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ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION AND DEGRADATION IN THE NIGER
DELTA
A report compiled by the World Wild Fund, the world conservation union, with
representatives from Nigeria and the Nigerian Conservation Foundation, conclude
that the Niger Delta is one of the five most polluted spots in the world (cited in
Azaiki 2003). The major negative effect of pollution is environmental degradation,
Environmental degradation is a major cause of productivity losses and poor human
health in the Niger Delta. In 1983, the inspectorate division of the NNPC accepted
that environmental problems in the Niger Delta were caused by the activities of the
oil companies operating in the region resulting from pollution.
Pollution refers to the presence of matter or energy whose nature, location or
quantity have undesired effects on environment, which may arise from nature
(natural pollutants) or as a result of human activities (anthropogenic pollutants),
through the environmental media of air, land or water. (Callan and Thomas, 1996)
In the Niger Delta, it has been found that major pollutions that have brought
environmental degradation have been mostly oil spillage and gas flaring by the oil
companies, leading to soil fertility loss, delta forest loss, biodiversity depletion and
fisheries decline among many others.
Gas flaring, which is identified as one of the foremost environmental pollutants in
the Niger Delta, occasioning environmental degradation of the region, is of grave
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concern, and engenders malignant negative impact on the people and the ecosystem.
Gas flaring has left its horrible scare on several communities in the Niger Delta.
When petroleum is extracted usually a natural gas known as “associated gas”
emerges along with it. In the developed
world, oil Companies either capture the associated gas for use or re-inject them into
ground. This practice prevents the economic waste of the gas while also avoiding
the negative impact of flaring the gas on the environment. But in Nigeria, Oil
Companies burn much of the gas at the point of extract.
Oil spills occur as a result of such factors, occasions or developments as
equipment failure, accidents, natural hazards and deliberate human actions. As a
result of these externalities, huge volumes of oil have been spilled into the
environment – land and water (rivers, ponds, lakes and sea), causing serious
damages to the ecosystem. The most publicized cause of oil spills in Nigeria is
vandalization.
This is the deliberate tampering by inhabitants of oil-bearing
communities and intruders, causing oil spills due to anger, frustration,
disillusionment or inadequate compensation to oil bearing communities. Other
instances are the desire to take part of the spilled oil (petroleum products) for
pecuniary gains.
The most common cause of oil spill, however, is equipment failure of the oil
companies in their operations, which is linked to overloading, manufacturing
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defects, age of oil pipelines, among others. At times, pipeline and holding tanks leak
oil into the soil, which may not be easily detected. Also, at various stages of oil
production, accidents do occur resulting in intermittent discharge of oil into the
environment. Oil well blow-outs, which are associated with uncontrollable drilling
into over- pressured zones far down in the bore-hole, may lead to escape of crude oil
onto the land and rivers. The infamous Texaco 1990 oil blow out which polluted
many creeks and rivers of various communities in the Niger Delta was an
environmental disaster that adversely affected the economic activities of many
families.
According to a report by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
(2006), titled Niger delta Human Development report, the region recorded over
6,800 oil spills between 1976 and 2006, with a loss of approximately 3 million
barrels of oil. A more recent report by Amnesty International (2009), titled Nigeria:
Petroleum, Pollution Poverty in the Niger Delta says that for the past 50years, the
region has experienced oil spills on par with the Exxon Valdez every year. The report
states that between 9 million and 13 million barrels had leaked in the five decades
of oil operations. The Exxon Valdez oil spills which happened in Alaska United
States in 1989 spilled 750,000 barrels crude oil into the Sea. It was described as one
of the worst humans caused of environmental disaster ever to occur in history.
(Algon M 2010). Given this assertion, it means that the quantum of the Niger Delta
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oil spills amount to something worse than disaster. Before the advent of commercial
oil production in the Niger Delta over fifty years ago (in1958), the region was
essentially a pristine environment which supported substantial subsistence resources
for the mostly sedentary populations. These included among other things, medicinal
herbs and barks, fish and shrimp, crabs and clams, wood for energy and shelter, as
well as a stable soil for farming and habitat for exotic wildlife.
There was the Delta elephant, the white crested monkey, the river
hippopotamus, as well as a colourful array of exotic birds, crocodiles, turtles and
alligators. The region also accounted for a large percentage of Nigeria’s commercial
fisheries industry. With increasing exploitation and drilling activities, the
environment has been heavily defaced as earlier mentioned. Its development has thus
remained a major challenge for the Nigerian State with local communities increasing
their expression of dissatisfaction with Government efforts to abating the present
problem. The problem of environmental degradation is global and topical as a result
of the heightened industrial activities taking place in all countries of the world,
occasioning the dangerous global warming and depletion of the ozone layer,
threatening mankind. The Niger Delta region of Nigeria has been the hub of oil
exploration and exploitation activities in Nigeria carried out by various multinational oil companies; and have equally been theatre of conflicts and crises, which
has drawn the attention of the entire world. Violent conflicts and militant activities
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undertaken by the youths of the region have caused the deaths of oil workers of many
nations and have continually affected global oil market prices. The paper reveals
that environment pollution and degradation occasioned by the operational activities
of the oil multi-national underlie the conflict situation and crises in the Niger Delta
region.
The pollution associated with the activities of the oil producing companies in
the Niger Delta has caused serious damages and environmental hazards to both the
environment and people of the Niger Delta region, leading to a highly degraded
environment that can no longer sustain the traditional economic activities of the
region’s people. Specifically, the environmental damages and
complications facing the Niger Delta include soil quality depletion, air and water
pollutions, loss of biological diversity, climatic change, destruction of ozone layer,
management of toxic waste and other associated environmental problem. Apart from
the effects of oil spills and gas flaring in the Niger Delta environment, the oil
exploitation activities impacted negatively in various forms to degrade the
environment. It is widely accepted that if the environment is insignificantly being
degraded and the degradation is not accounted for, then development will be
wrongly measured the availability of abundant human resources, if utilized, could
serve as a great catalyst to sustainable development but if otherwise, could exert
negative influence on the economy.
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The wastes produced from Petroleum exploration and production activities
consists of varying chemicals generated at each phase of their operations. The
disposal of these wastes in the Niger Delta has polluted land and water, damaged
fisheries and aquaculture, undermining the human right to an adequate standard of
living. Oil exploration activities equally produce hazardous wastes which include
drilling mud produce water and radioactive materials which poison the environment
and kill aquatic and terrestrial life forms. Other oil exploration activities affecting
the environment include, dredging of creeks and rivers, disposal drilling waste
and seismic activities. Adekoya (1995) pointed out that oil activity has spelt doom
to intricate biological webs of life that sustains the myriad of species. During seismic
surveys and exploration for crude oil, there is extensive use of explosives to obtain
configuration of the sub surface sediments. This activity has been reputed to result
in vast destruction of the environment. The use of explosives during seismic surveys
in oil exploration is of serious environmental hazard. Fish and some other forms of
aquatic life in both marine and fresh water, including many riverine and coastal
villages suffer obvious stress during seismic surveys.
The loud and excessive noise is known to adversely affect the behaviour of
wildlife and impair the hearing of the local population. Chikwendu (1998) has
reported diverse geological hazards and the extensive destruction of vegetation
during provision of access by seismic crew, threatening massive extinction of large
24
number of flora and fauna. On the whole, the visible signs of environmental
degradation in the Niger Delta due to oil pollution can be summed up as decrease in
fishery resources, damage to marine flora and fauna, loss of biodiversity,
disforestation, coastal and marine erosion and flooding. The associated industries to
oil like refineries, petrochemicals and fertilizer plants, occasion environment
hazards emanating from industrial effluents and air emissions, industrial solid waste
disposal, toxic waste among others.
25
CONCLUSION
This presentation has established clear evidence of environmental abuse and
degradation in the Niger Delta due to oil exploration and exploitation activities,
coupled with the neglect by the Nigerian State and oil companies which disrupt the
inhabitant’s means of livelihood, occasioning poverty, low quality of life and general
underdevelopment of the region.
The effects of the oil companies’ operations on the environment exacerbated
by the neglect and insensitivity of Nigerian government towards the condition of the
region’s people have triggered off the series of crises prevalent in the region. This
truth is captured by Oloruntimehin and Ayoade (2002), who observed that most of
the conflicts in the Niger Delta has arisen from complex environmental problem and
a long history of neglect of the basic social development of the peoples who have
seemed helpless, watching their land, water resources continually devastated by
intensive exploitation of petroleum and gas, without deriving any appreciable
benefits by way of investment in their development.
Youths and militia groups took up arms against the oil companies and
government in order to protect their environment from further destruction as well as
secure a fair share of the oil revenue for development of the region.
The Niger Delta crisis therefore has direct link with the pollution and degradation
of the region’s environment. Given this fact, lasting peace in the Niger Delta shall
26
require tackling the environmental pollution and degradation problems of the region
by both the oil companies and Nigerian state as well as improving the quality of life
of the people through massive infrastructural development, and providing alternative
means of livelihood for the people to engender sustainable development of the
region.
27
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