IMPACT OF OIL EXPLORATION AND EXPLOITATION ON THE NIGER DELTA REGION: ENVIRONMENTAL PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria in 1956, the country has been suffering the negative environmental consequences of oil exploration and exploitation. Between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4647 incidents resulted in the spill of approximately 2,369,470 barrels of oil into the environment. In addition, between 1997 and 2001, Nigeria also recorded a total number of 2,097 oil spill incidents. In 1998, 40,000 barrels of oil from Mobil platform off the Akwa Ibom coast were split into the environment causing severe damage to the coastal environment. Several oil spill management policy and efforts are in place to reduce the menace of oil spill incidents in the country. Some of these policies and efforts were made by the Federal Government, Non governmental agencies and oil firms in the country. The use of oil trajectory and fat e-models is also incorporated in oil spill management policy in the country. The results from a hypothetical simulation with the model from a point around OPL 250 located about 150km off the Nigerian coastline shows that the simulated oil spill for wet season reached the shore around Penington River after 104hours, about 4.5 days. Also during the dry season, the results from the model indicate that the oil spill reached the shore at the entrance of Benin River after 162 hours, 6.5days. This paper examines the impact of oil exploration and exploitation which encompasses environmental degradation, social annihilation, and economic impoverishment in the Nigeria’s Niger-Delta and the emerging socio-economic multiplier effects on the people of the region. The study employed tables and as well as percentages forms of statistical analysis. Data for the study were mainly secondary sources extracted from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the United Nations Development Programmes report. The study revealed that the emerging social disorder and HIV/AIDS prevalence in the region is as a result of the social and economic multiplier effects such as unemployment and high level of poverty. The study then recommends an integrated community based approach involving commitment from all stakeholders.