Resource Misgovernance and the Contradictions of Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Theoretical Conversation

Abstract

Nigeria remains Africa’s largest energy producer and at the same time possesses one of the highest gas flaring rates in the continent. Gas flaring in the Niger Delta region, estimated at 75% of the entire gas produced in Nigeria, highlights the environmental abuse posed by resource extraction, and exposes the failure of successive governments to eliminate the threat it portends to human survival in the oil region. The federal government formally declared gas flaring illegal since 1984, but multinational oil companies continue to treat compliance as a matter of convenience and not of necessity. Despite persistent protests against environmental degradation by the oil-producing communities, the refusal of the oil companies to end gas flaring and complicity of the government remained sources of concern. In the light of these, the study examines the crux of the gas flaring imbroglio, assesses the cost–benefits of gas flaring, and explores how gas emissions to the atmosphere have threatened human existence and ecological sustainability in the Niger Delta oil region. The study reiterates the urgency to enforce a zero-gas-flaring policy in Nigerian oil communities.