Journal of Global Research in Education and Social Science, Mar 2, 2023
The Niger Delta has remained the epicentre of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation ... more The Niger Delta has remained the epicentre of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities for over six decades. During this period, operations of the oil companies have adversely impacted the environment. This is because the oil companies operations have involved unabated oil spillages and massive gas flaring. However, all these have occurred despite the existence of plethora of laws that are aimed to prevent hydrocarbon activities from impacting the environment adversely. It would seem that since oil revenues constitute the live wire of the State, its only concern is revenue generation; the cost to the environment notwithstanding. As such, the philosophy underlying hydrocarbon extraction in the Niger Delta appears based on maximum profit at minimum cost. Hydrocarbon operations are not without some pitfalls; however, the paper argues that the acute impact of oil operations on Niger Delta environment was State-created. It contends that the situation was due to the State’s sole reliance on hydrocarbon revenues to fund its budget. It argues further that the situation was compounded by the near insolvent position of the State oil company NNPC; in comparison to the oil multinationals, its joint ventures partners. As a result, hydrocarbon operations have acutely impacted the region’s flora and fauna.
The dialectical contradictions of modern states, which threaten stability and existence, are reso... more The dialectical contradictions of modern states, which threaten stability and existence, are resolved in a way to stimulate social and economic development. The contradictions of the Nigerian state however, are not resolved but treated in ways that are inimical to social and economic development. Such contradictions include ‘oilification’ of conflicts, (the tendency of the state to treat every conflict even those devised or abetted by it, as oil conflict in the Niger Delta) is one of such contradictions. This has increasingly exacerbated conflicts, resulting in the “Columbialisation” of the region by frustrated militant youths. This paper suggests that the nature of the state’s interests hinders its ability to appreciate and accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the Niger Delta people, thus its prevalent reliance on fusillades of military violence to suppress anti-oil protests in the region.
The Nigerian state has earned huge revenues from the vast oil resources in the Niger Delta, since... more The Nigerian state has earned huge revenues from the vast oil resources in the Niger Delta, since the advent of oil in 1956. However, despite the huge revenues, the Niger Delta remains an epicentre of pervasive poverty. The impoverish state of the region has been attributed in the main, to negative impacts of oil activities on the environment and their deleterious impacts on traditional means of livelihoods in the region. Thus, the impact of the land alienation through the Land Use Act on the Niger Delta has been given little attention. The paper interrogates the impacts of the Land Use Act and its application in the Niger Delta and the paper concludes that besides the issues of injustice, inherent in the Act, a nexus exists between the Land Use Act and poverty in the region. It recommends its immediate repeal.
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2015
The post-colonial Nigerian state imbibed the gory traits of the colonial state; it served mostly ... more The post-colonial Nigerian state imbibed the gory traits of the colonial state; it served mostly as a tool for economic exploitation. The emergent elites saw governance solely, as a means for predation, thus, excluding the masses and weaker political elites. Oil further deepened the chasm, as, contending elites used oil revenues to fund and reproduce their dominance rather than provide public goods; utterly disconnecting the elite from the people. To gain political power; the means of predation, the elite resorted to votebuying, and as, the electoral process became more competitive, they turned to even more weird ways; recruitment and arming of youths to secure votes; with unintended costs. The paper argues that the Boko Haram, which for years has caused dire insecurity in Nigeria’s North East is an unintended cost of elite predatory antics. The paper concludes that except there is vigorous deference of elite predisposition to predation, their actions may utterly emasculate nation...
Since 1956 the Niger Delta has been Nigeria‟s oil production enclave and is now synonymous with o... more Since 1956 the Niger Delta has been Nigeria‟s oil production enclave and is now synonymous with oil. The search for oil in Nigeria started in 1937 but was abandoned during the period of the Second World War and later resumed in 1946 (Oil and Gas News, 1965). In 1951, the first exploration well was drilled at Ihuo near Owerri, but in 1956 in Oloibiri, in present day Bayelsa State, the first successful well was drilled (Fagade, 1990). Few people could have guessed what was going to happen when helicopters first landed near St. Michael‟s Church in Oloibiri in 1956. A camp was hurriedly built; prefabricated houses, electricity, water and then a new road. Shell-BP (its name then) drilled 17 other wells in the Oloibiri oil field, which yielded over 20 million barrels of crude oil before the wells dried up about 20 years after the first well was drilled (Kashi and Watts, 2008). The Oloibiri discovery led to fervent exploratory activities that resulted in more discoveries. For instance, a g...
Journal of Global Research in Education and Social Science, Mar 2, 2023
The Niger Delta has remained the epicentre of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation ... more The Niger Delta has remained the epicentre of Nigeria’s hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation activities for over six decades. During this period, operations of the oil companies have adversely impacted the environment. This is because the oil companies operations have involved unabated oil spillages and massive gas flaring. However, all these have occurred despite the existence of plethora of laws that are aimed to prevent hydrocarbon activities from impacting the environment adversely. It would seem that since oil revenues constitute the live wire of the State, its only concern is revenue generation; the cost to the environment notwithstanding. As such, the philosophy underlying hydrocarbon extraction in the Niger Delta appears based on maximum profit at minimum cost. Hydrocarbon operations are not without some pitfalls; however, the paper argues that the acute impact of oil operations on Niger Delta environment was State-created. It contends that the situation was due to the State’s sole reliance on hydrocarbon revenues to fund its budget. It argues further that the situation was compounded by the near insolvent position of the State oil company NNPC; in comparison to the oil multinationals, its joint ventures partners. As a result, hydrocarbon operations have acutely impacted the region’s flora and fauna.
The dialectical contradictions of modern states, which threaten stability and existence, are reso... more The dialectical contradictions of modern states, which threaten stability and existence, are resolved in a way to stimulate social and economic development. The contradictions of the Nigerian state however, are not resolved but treated in ways that are inimical to social and economic development. Such contradictions include ‘oilification’ of conflicts, (the tendency of the state to treat every conflict even those devised or abetted by it, as oil conflict in the Niger Delta) is one of such contradictions. This has increasingly exacerbated conflicts, resulting in the “Columbialisation” of the region by frustrated militant youths. This paper suggests that the nature of the state’s interests hinders its ability to appreciate and accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the Niger Delta people, thus its prevalent reliance on fusillades of military violence to suppress anti-oil protests in the region.
The Nigerian state has earned huge revenues from the vast oil resources in the Niger Delta, since... more The Nigerian state has earned huge revenues from the vast oil resources in the Niger Delta, since the advent of oil in 1956. However, despite the huge revenues, the Niger Delta remains an epicentre of pervasive poverty. The impoverish state of the region has been attributed in the main, to negative impacts of oil activities on the environment and their deleterious impacts on traditional means of livelihoods in the region. Thus, the impact of the land alienation through the Land Use Act on the Niger Delta has been given little attention. The paper interrogates the impacts of the Land Use Act and its application in the Niger Delta and the paper concludes that besides the issues of injustice, inherent in the Act, a nexus exists between the Land Use Act and poverty in the region. It recommends its immediate repeal.
Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2015
The post-colonial Nigerian state imbibed the gory traits of the colonial state; it served mostly ... more The post-colonial Nigerian state imbibed the gory traits of the colonial state; it served mostly as a tool for economic exploitation. The emergent elites saw governance solely, as a means for predation, thus, excluding the masses and weaker political elites. Oil further deepened the chasm, as, contending elites used oil revenues to fund and reproduce their dominance rather than provide public goods; utterly disconnecting the elite from the people. To gain political power; the means of predation, the elite resorted to votebuying, and as, the electoral process became more competitive, they turned to even more weird ways; recruitment and arming of youths to secure votes; with unintended costs. The paper argues that the Boko Haram, which for years has caused dire insecurity in Nigeria’s North East is an unintended cost of elite predatory antics. The paper concludes that except there is vigorous deference of elite predisposition to predation, their actions may utterly emasculate nation...
Since 1956 the Niger Delta has been Nigeria‟s oil production enclave and is now synonymous with o... more Since 1956 the Niger Delta has been Nigeria‟s oil production enclave and is now synonymous with oil. The search for oil in Nigeria started in 1937 but was abandoned during the period of the Second World War and later resumed in 1946 (Oil and Gas News, 1965). In 1951, the first exploration well was drilled at Ihuo near Owerri, but in 1956 in Oloibiri, in present day Bayelsa State, the first successful well was drilled (Fagade, 1990). Few people could have guessed what was going to happen when helicopters first landed near St. Michael‟s Church in Oloibiri in 1956. A camp was hurriedly built; prefabricated houses, electricity, water and then a new road. Shell-BP (its name then) drilled 17 other wells in the Oloibiri oil field, which yielded over 20 million barrels of crude oil before the wells dried up about 20 years after the first well was drilled (Kashi and Watts, 2008). The Oloibiri discovery led to fervent exploratory activities that resulted in more discoveries. For instance, a g...
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