Oil Economy and Society of Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region, 1956-2019

Abstract

This paper studies the oil economy with a particular focus on the Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region. It argues that since the discovery and exploration of oil in commercial quantities in the Region, it has become both a blessing and a curse. It is a blessing because it has provided wealth to the people and government of the region. Some indigenes of the Nigeria Delta are owners of the oil wells others are employed to work with the oil multi-national companies like Chevron, Texaco, Shell Petroleum Development Company, Agip Oil Company, et cetera. The exploration of oil in the area under review is also a curse because it has negatively affected plants and animals (that is the destruction of flora and fauna); it has destroyed the ecosystem of the area. Using survey and documentary methods of data collection; the paper reveals that despite the discovery and exploration of oil in the said region, Nigeria’s Delta Region has remained one of the underdeveloped regions of the country. This is to say that the impact of the oil industry on the economy and society of the people is marginally felt. Based on the foregoing, these policy options are made. The government should give immediate attention to the indigenes of the region where crude oil is being extracted from. This will reduce the unrest in that region. The government should establish an institution that will ensure that the multinational oil companies are socially responsible to their host communities. Environmental pollution and the adverse effects on the host communities of oil exploration sites in the Niger Delta is an important issue that requires urgent and prompt attention because petroleum production forms the major natural-based resources on which the country depends. Therefore, Policymakers of the various oil exploration companies should realize that there is a need to protect the health, safety, and welfare of these communities. The communities and the inhabitants have to be well protected and some of the health and safety measures, which members of the company staff benefit, should be extended to members of the host communities to improve their standard of living.