Environmental Degradation and Oil Politics in Nigeria’s Niger Delta

Abstract

The Niger Delta Region is one of the richest regions of Nigeria as regards natural resources endowment. Indeed, the region is blessed with large quantity of crude oil as well as extensive forest, good agricultural land, among others. These natural resources, especially oil and gas have attracted the attention of oil companies, whose activities often result in multitude of economic and social problems, such as environmental pollution, occupational dislocation, cultural extinction and rural/urban drift. Arguably, regarding extraction of oil in the region, there have been ecological devastation and neglect arising from oil production. These activities have left much of the region uninhabitable, desolate and poor. This has also affected the economy and quality of life of the inhabitants. The Nigerian state and the multinational oil companies operating in the region make little or no concrete effort to control the environmental problems occasioned by oil exploitation and exploration in the region. This paper examines the environmental challenges caused by oil exploration in the Niger Delta. In doing this, the paper employs secondary sources of historical data. The study, therefore, concludes by recommending, among others, that the Nigerian state should enforce stringent environmental laws in order to regulate environmental consequences of oil exploration in the Niger Delta.