* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.

JASEM ISSN 1119-8362

All rights reserved


J. Appl. Sci. Environ. Manage. September, 2008
Vol. 12(3) 29 - 37
Full-text Available Online at
www.bioline.org.br/ja


The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment

*EMOYAN, O. O.
a
; AKPOBORIE I. A.
b
; AKPORHONOR E. E.
a
;

a
Department of Chemistry, and
b
Department of Geology, Delta State University, Abraka Nigeria. E-mail: onostica_pub@yahoo.com.
Phone: +2348037410599

ABSTRACT: The causes of environmental degradation and biodiversity depletion arising from the activities
of the oil industry in the region are evaluated. The authors argue that, specific negative impact on the region
arising from the activities of the industries include: environmental pollution, biodiversity depletion, social
destabilization, underdevelopment of host communities, global warming and associated elevated flood risk
Furthermore, a direct consequence of property rights structure following from existing legislature is the
underdevelopment of host communities in spite of huge national earnings from oil and gas since 1970. The authors
concluded by favouring all embracing and genuine stakeholders participation in environmental and developmental
issues in the region. @ JASEM

The Niger Delta region is situated in the Gulf of
Guinea between longitude 5
0
E to 8
0
E and latitudes
4
0
N to 6
0
N, as shown in Figure 1, (Opafunso,
2007). ERML (1997) defines the original Niger
Delta region (about 29,900 square kilometers) as
comprising the area covered by the natural delta of
the River Niger and the areas to the east and west,
which also produce oil. Its approximate northern
boundaries are located close to the bifurcation of
the River Niger at Aboh, while the western and
eastern boundaries are around the River Benin and
the River Imo respectively. Summary descriptions
of its physiography and geology may be found in
Allen (1965), Short and Stauble (1967), ERML
(1997) and UNDP (2006). It is the largest wetland
in Africa and the third largest in the world
consisting of flat low lying swampy terrain that is
criss-crossed by meandering and anastomosing
streams, rivers and creeks.
This well-endowed ecosystem, which contains one
of the highest concentrations of biodiversity on the
planet, in addition to supporting the abundant flora
and fauna, arable terrain that can sustain a wide
variety of crops and economic trees, has more
species of freshwater fish than any ecosystem in
West Africa (Wikipedia 2007). However, this
ecosystem is under threat from pollutants generated
by a multiplicity of oil and gas related installations,
including flow stations, oil well heads, loading
terminals and tank farms (Egborge et al., 1986;
Onwudinjo 1990). Similarly, Eteng (1997), has
argued that, oil exploration/exploitation has over
the last forty years impacted negatively on the
socio-physical environment of the Niger Delta oil-
bearing communities, massively threatening the
subsistent peasant economy, the environment and
hence the entire livelihood and basic survival of the
people. Jimoh and Aghalino, (2000) concur and
the UNDP, (2006), forcefully asserts that the
Niger Delta is a region suffering from
administrative neglect, crumbing social
infrastructure and services, high unemployment,
social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor
and endemic conflict. It can be concluded
therefore that since the commencement of oil and
gas exploration/exploitation activities in the region
there has been social, economic, health and
ecological destabilization, and significant reduction
in terrestrial and aquatic life.
Since 1970, crude oil assumed a prime position in
the Nigerian economy. Government dependence on
oil revenues has also experienced phenomenal
increases since 1970. According to the Statistical
Bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN,
2004), the average contribution of oil to
government export revenue and national earnings
between 1970 and 2004 was 93 per cent. The irony
is that the region that produces this large
percentage of national wealth continues to
experience abject poverty, psychosocial and
environmental abuse and degradation resulting
from the intensive exploration/exploitation of the
petroleum resource that is yielding the wealth.
This situation is made possible by skewed and
cynical national legislation on natural resource
ownership, successive years of bad governance,
ineffectual policies that are operated by a bloated
and obtuse bureaucracy, as well as selfish and
irresponsible leadership.
Because of the continued absence of environmental
monitoring and surveillance systems in the region
even in the face of overwhelming evidence of
degradation, this effort reviews in broad strokes the
current state of available information on the
environment and attempts to further draw attention
to some of the factors that have continued and will
continue to entrench environmental degradation in
the delta while denying overlying communities,
access to judicial and constitutional remedies.




The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
30


The Petroleum Industry and Air Pollution
According to Cedigaz (2000), Nigeria is by far the
number one flarer of natural gas on the planet both
absolutely and proportionally- about 46 per cent of
Africas total and the most gas flared per tonne of
oil produced. The data also indicates that Nigeria
accounted for 19.79 per cent of the global figure.
Similarly, analytical assessment of the statistical
bulletin of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (2004)
showed that the average rate of gas flaring in
Nigeria during the period 1970-1979 stood at 97%,
while 97% and 95% were flared between 1980 and
1989, and 1990 to 1999 respectively. Between
2000 and 2004 51% was flared. In the same vein,
between 1970 and 2004 Nigeria has flared and
average of 76% of the total gas produced. Much of
the natural gas extracted in oil wells in the Niger
Delta is immediately flared into the environment at
a rate that approximates 70million /m
3
per day.
This is equivalent to 40% of African natural gas
consumption and forms the single largest source of
greenhouse gas emissions on the planet (Wikipedia
2007, Moffat and Linden, 1995). Orubu, (2002b),
who undertook a comparison of concentrations of
ambient air pollutants in the region and Lagos State
concludes that pollutant concentrations are highest
in the Niger Delta and argues that some of the
green house gases (such as methane and carbon
dioxide) emitted at flare sites contribute to global
warming This suggests therefore that Nigeria oil
fields contribute more to global warming (through
flaring of associated gas) than the rest of the world.
The largest proportion of these flare sites are
located in the Niger Delta. Moreover, gas flare
sites around the region generate tremendous heat
thereby causing thermal pollution. Ogbuigwe
The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
31
(1998), reports that temperatures produced at flare
sites could be as high as 1,600
o
C. Temperature as
high as 40
0
C at an average distance of 43.8metres
from flare sites in Isoko, Delta State have been
recorded by Alakpodia, ( 1989, 1995) has also
shown that such flares have negative effects on
vegetation growth, animal life and ecological
equilibrium in the Niger Delta area.
In addition, an assessment made by the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Changes
(IPCC), cited in Magbagbeola, (2002) noted that as
a result of global warming, an associated sea level
rise (SLR) will have serious and global
consequences for low lying coastal areas and island
states. Awosika and Foluronsho, (2006) has
documented projected impacts of SLR on the
Nigerian coastal area and resources and these
include: large scale inundation, increased coastal
erosion, salt water intrusion into coastal aquifers,
habitat modification with direct effects on wild life
distribution, increased frequency of high intensity
rainfall events and associated increased run off,
elevated erosion rates, flash floods and increased
frequency of ocean storm surges. The combined
effects of all these would jeopardize the survival of
coastal communities. Already, annual erosion rates
have been estimated at 18-24 meters at Ugborodo,
20-22meters at Forcados, 16-19meters at Brass, 15-
20 meters at Kulama, 20-24 meters at Bonny and
10-14 meters at Opobo River estuary (Ibe et al.
1984). Indeed, while Awosika et al. (1993) project
a loss of up to 15,000 km
2
by the year 2100 as a
result of a 1m SLR, Magbagbeola, (2002) projects
flooding of over 18,000km
2
land area for the delta
in an SLR of 1m per 100 years.
Finally, the effects of gas flares on vegetation and
microclimate, surface and ground water through
acidification of rain water could be profound.
Oluwole et al.(1996) in a comprehensive air quality
assessment of the Niger Delta show that the levels
of concentration of volatile oxides of carbon,
nitrogen, sulphur oxide and total particulates
exceed existing Federal Environmental Protection
Agencys (FEPA,1991) standards. Olobaniyi and
Efe (2007) also show elevated levels of lead (0.56
mg/l) and low pH values ranging from 5.10 6.35
in rain water collected in Warri and environs.
Akpoborie, et al, (2000) also report low pH values
from water obtained from shallow hand dug wells
in Ughelli, Warri, and Okurekpo all in Delta State.
Acidified rain water does not only corrode roofing
sheets, monuments and other economic structures it
can also damage vegetation and contaminate ponds
and lakes which are the sources of livelihood to
overlying indigenous rural communities in the
delta.

The Degradation of Land, Forest and Water
Resources
The United Nations Human Development Report
of the Niger Delta among several alarming
declarations on the state of the regions
environment asserts that there is a strong feeling
in the region that the degree and rate of
degradation are pushing the delta towards
ecological disaster (UNDP, 2006). This feeling is
buttressed by results of research.
An impact assessment of the 1983 Oshika oil spill
by Powell and White (1985) confirmed the death of
floating and submerged aquatic vegetations
especially water lettuce, crabs, fish and birds.
Atuma and Egborge (1996), NDES (1997),
Egborge, (2000) Orubu et al., (2002), and
Otukunefor and Biukwu (2005) have all shown that
the pollution levels of aquatic ecosystems observed
in the region are a result of unregulated effluent
discharges and unsustainable methods of petroleum
extraction. Amakiri (2005) laments the loss of
biodiversity, alteration of habitats and deforestation
that is associated with petroleum exploitation
related canalization. This canalization which is
quite extensive in the region opens up previously
pristine and inaccessible ecosystems to illegal
logging activities. Ndiokwere and Ezehe (1990),
also report high levels of heavy metals in soils and
plants near the Warri Refinery. Emoyan et al.,
(2006a, 2006b) have also confirmed high levels of
heavy metal contamination of River Ijana - an
effluent receiving stream that flows by the same
refinery. Braide et al., (2004) observed high
concentrations of heavy metals in the Miniweja
stream in the eastern Niger Delta. Furthermore,
Spiff and Horsfall, (2004) reported trace metal
contamination of the intertidal flats of the Upper
New Calabar River in the Niger Delta.
Meanwhile, Rowell (1977), Atuanya (1987),
Anoliefo and Vwioko (1994), Anoliefo(1991), Gill
et al. (1992) and Agbogidi et al. (2006) have
independent studies, that documented the adverse
effects of crude oil, engine oil and spent lubricating
oil on soils and the suppression of germination of
seeds, regeneration as well as stomata
abnormalities in diverse food crops.
The major sources of degradation of forests, land
and water in the region include oil spills, gas leaks,
blowouts, canalization and the discharge of wastes
and effluent from oil and gas operations directly
into surface water bodies and the land surface.
Oil spills in Nigeria occur due to a number of
causes that include corrosion of pipelines and
storage tanks, sabotage, and accidents in oil
production operations. A World Bank survey
(Grevy, 1995) estimated that about 2.3million
cubic metres of crude oil is spilt in about 300
separate incidents in the region each year; observed
that oil companies deliberately understate the
incidents of oil spillage, and that the total volume
of oil spilt might be as much as ten times the
official figures. The official figures of SPDC
(2004) show that between 1976 and 2001, 6,187
incidents in which 3 million barrels were spilled.
Greater than 70 per cent of this volume went
unrecovered (UNDP,2006). Following from
Grevys (1995) assertion, it may be concluded that
The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
32
more than 30 million barrels have been spilled into
the delta environment in the same period. Also, the
Funiwa 5 oil well blowout in 1980 and Jones Creek
oil spillage of 1998. These two spills together
resulted in greatest mangrove devastation ever
recorded worldwide.
In addition to deforestation, spills deplete aquatic
fauna. The spilled oil and indeed untreated oil
industry related effluent are considered priority
pollutants as they interfere with biological life in
surface waters creating unsightly floating matter
and film. This situation is of high ecological
concern as a result of simultaneous transformation
of oily compounds by biochemical, chemical,
microbiological and photochemical processes. The
consumption of dissolved oxygen by bacteria
feeding on the spilled hydrocarbons also
contributes to the death of fishes.
The Niger Delta Environmental Survey (NDES,
1997) attributes some of the reasons for the high
incidence of spills as the very old age of the
pipelines and the lack of regular inspection and
maintenance. Corrosion of equipment which
account for high percentage of all spills could be
related to the small size of the oil fields in the
Niger Delta which has an extensive network of
pipelines, between the fields as well as numerous
small networks of flow lines that carry oil from
wellheads to flow stations, allowing many
opportunities for leaks. These pipelines which were
laid about 50years ago according to the then
prevailing standards and estimated to have a life
span of about fifteen years are old and susceptible
to corrosion. Poor management practices are
common features around oil installations leading to
oil leaks and spills in the region.
Leaks and spills also affect ground water quality.
Preliminary results of ongoing ground water
quality evaluation around the WRPC show elevated
levels of BTEX in shallow boreholes and dug well
water (Akpoborie et al. 2008). This is interesting
because Warri, an oil town of more than forty
years, and arguably the most important industrial
centre in southwestern Nigeria does not have a
reliable public water supply system, and consumers
must rely on private sources, usually shallow
boreholes and hand dug wells. Indeed, this is the
situation in most parts of the delta. Because water
table conditions are prevalent, depth to water is on
average less than a meter in the wet season and the
topography is virtually flat, spills as well as
effluent impact directly on ground water. The
situation is compounded by the fact that there is
neither water quality surveillance nor monitoring
systems anywhere in the region. As it is well
known, unrecovered spilled hydrocarbon could
under these conditions be retained for years in the
vadoze zone as well as on the phreatic surface from
where it would serve as a continuous water supply
contaminant point source.

Legislative Framework and Environmental
Sustainability
Nigerias environmental legislation especially as it
is related to the oil and gas industry is fragmented
as it consists of several legislative acts, regulations
and decrees. Beyond this, several reviews of these
laws have revealed problems that militate against
the achievement of environmental sustainability,
the primary objective of legislation. They also
prevent overlying communities from obtaining
redress when pollution occurs, within the
legislative framework, Babington Ashaye (2005).
First, the emergence of appropriate environmental
laws should ideally reassure all concerned that the
environment is being protected; however there is
such deep seated distrust between government,
regulatory agencies, petroleum industry operators
and communities that even the best intentions are
often misunderstood. In any case, these regulatory
agencies are not independent of government, which
itself is a shareholder in the major upstream oil and
gas companies. This is a fundamental issue, as
amply demonstrated in the Ozoro waste injection
facility (Akpoborie and Diwanbor, 2007) where it
appears that the mandatory environmental impact
assessment process was ignored in the permit
process that authorized the injection of supposedly
oil field wastes brought into the site from
elsewhere. The Ozoro communitys immediate
protest was given relatively shabby treatment by
the regulatory agencies.
In fact, it has been argued that the environmental
statutes as they presently are do not explicitly
recognize the host community as a stakeholder in
environmental management and compliance
monitoring. Because the regulatory agencies that
are mandated with environmental management
have severely limited manpower and financial
resources, therefore with appropriate assistance,
communities and local governments could be
empowered to become responsible for and be
watchdogs of their own environment. A fully
aware community should be an asset and partner to
environmental management agencies.
Adjudication has also revealed difficulties facing
individuals and communities that seek to obtain
remedies, redress and justice from the judicial
process. These problems include the fact that the
rules of evidence place the burden of proof of
pollution or environmental degradation on the
plaintiff community or individual. The oil and gas
companies have always taken advantage of this
fact. Communities are incapable of mustering the
financial resources and expertise required to
provide such proof. On the other hand, the
offending and defendant company has an arsenal of
resources to be deployed and the courts have been
obliged to decide in favour of the defendant in such
cases. It has therefore been suggested (Osipitan,
1990) that the laws be amended to shift the burden
of proof to the polluting firm.
The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
33
Seeking relief in nuisance cases is even more
difficult because the laws are crafted in such a way
that only the Attorney General can initiate
proceedings on behalf the public, or in this case,
the offended community. Experience shows that,
communities have had little success in convincing
the Attorney General to initiate such cases. When
state law officers decline prosecution, the scope of
private prosecution which is by leave of the courts
is severely limited by existing court procedures.
Commenting on this situation, Taiwo Osipitan
poses the following questions:
should a genuinely aggrieved plaintiff, be
prevented from commencing an action to enforce
his legitimate rights to a clean and hazard- free
environment if the Attorney-General is
unconcerned with his plight? Should the
requirement of proof of special damages foreclose
a citizens right to decent environment? (Osipitan,
1990,).
One remedy therefore, is to grant an unrestricted
right of enforcement of environmental laws to
communities and citizens. A sure and simple way
of doing this is the abrogation of the offensive
Land Use Decree of 1976 that has disenfranchised
Nigerians of their rights to land and ceded it to
government. Furthermore, because scientific
evidence in environment problems is multi faceted
and multidisciplinary and can thus be quite
complex, the legal profession admits to a dearth of
interdisciplinary expertise in its ranks which
results in apathy on the part of lawyers to really
appreciate this complexity. As a result, Osibanjo
(1990) has advocated the establishment of special
courts or tribunals with judges and assessors to
handle environmental problems.

DISCUSSION
This review which is far from exhaustive has
shown that there is evidence of the clear and
present danger of environmental degradation of air,
land and water resources from gas and oil
production activities in the delta. What is more,
there are enough resources being generated to
allow for internalization of the environmental costs.
The technology to do this is also available.
Unfortunately, the lack of political will engendered
by selfish and short sighted governance has
precluded the emergence and application of fair
and practical solutions. Aside from the usual
rhetoric, the past two decades have witnessed the
emergence of hard data on the problem. However,
it could be better. For example an innocuous but
fundamental fact that has eluded all commentaries
on the Niger Delta environment is that the most
important piece of legislation on the environment,
Decree 58 of 1988 was enacted a clear 38 years
after the first oil well was spudded in Nigeria. The
question is: what happened to all the degradation
and dumping of waste that occurred pre -Decree
58? It is not as if Nigeria is unaware of the U.S.
Superfund program by which the American
government has committed and still commits
billions of dollars and other resources to clean up
decades of environmental degradation resulting
from industrial activity. That Decree 58 was the
fallout from the illegal dumping of toxic wastes
allegedly imported from overseas at Koko in the
beleaguered delta speaks volumes for the seeming
lethargy of governance in Nigeria with respect to
the environmental problems not only of the region
but of the entire country.
With respect to climate change and air pollution in
the delta, the data is scanty. However, the evidence
of acidity, elevated levels of lead in rainwater and
shallow ground water is unmistakable. Research
and the establishment of data gathering systems are
basic and necessary requirements to determine the
magnitude and extent of the problem as a prelude
to designing solutions. An earlier study by Douglas
et al, (2005) on the effect of deforestation on
tropical basin hydrology has also associated an
increase of 1 per cent basin yield for every 3 per
cent forest loss thereby increasing the probability
of flooding. Efforts at developing the region
through various intervention schemes and agencies
have been dismal failures as a result of insincerity,
dishonesty and lack of commitment on the part of
the federal government that initiated the schemes.
The most recent federal intervention programme is
the Niger Delta Development Commission
(NDDC), which developed a master plan for the
region in 2007. Spread over fifteen years, the plan
is to address among others, the problems of the
natural environment. Plan recommendations in this
regard are as follows:

POLICY EN5 - MANAGEMENT OF
BIOLOGICAL RESOURCES
Efforts shall be made to move the responsibility to
manage biological resources more to the local
level.

One of the major challenges in safeguarding the
natural environment is the lack of interest in the
subject in communities where activities that have a
detrimental impact, such as deforestation are a
necessity for survival. It follows that an important
part of the enabling environment for the
conservation of biodiversity, is meaningful
progress toward the reduction of poverty in the
Region, which is one of the core principles of the
Master Plan.

POLICY EN7 - AIR QUALITY
An air quality strategy will be introduced to
achieve reductions in emissions from all sources. It
will include monitoring mechanisms, regulations
and enforcement measures, and planning policies to
minimize pollution by future development.
The NDDC will collaborate with Government
Agencies to introduce an air quality strategy for the
Region. This will focus on the reduction of
The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
34
pollution levels from vehicles, industry, gas flaring
and domestic burning of timber, to permissible
levels as defined in national and international
standards.
The impact of air pollution from industrial and
vehicular sources on the health of the communities
in the Region and its biodiversity needs to be
thoroughly researched as first step towards the
production of an air quality strategy for the area.
The finding should be widely publicized to create
public interest and an incentive for action.
Existing air quality monitoring programmes will be
examined and new ones introduced to determine
the most effective means of merging national
programmes with Regional projects to improve air
quality. (See also Policies PI 6 and PI 7).
Motor vehicles annual testing and other regulations
have to be created or re-introduced and strictly
enforced.

POLICY EN8 - WATER QUALITY
Invest in institutional structures to support a
programme for supply water resource management
including the provision of rainwater harvesting and
conservation in remote areas.
Provision will be made for creating an institutional
and management framework for water quality
monitoring including the development and
implementation of a system of water quality
assurance consistent with WHO standards. The
NDDC will liaise with State water agencies to
determine the most effective plan of action for the
implementation of a water resources management
and development strategy based on the detailed
research undertaken as part of the Master Plan
As can be seen, these are general statements that
lack specificity, the hallmark of scientific
investigation. A blueprint for defined
geographical areas is what is required as was done
(or is being done) for the Ogoni area by a
UNDP/UNEP collaborative effort. Given the
history of dismal federal interventions in the Niger
Delta, the recommendations of the master plan are
not expected to do much in improving
environmental management in the region. A
specific, agency outside and independent of
existing institutions to specifically address
sustainable environmental management in the
region is a requirement.
If as in the words of President Olusegun Obansanjo
at the presentation of the Master Plan ..the
region is pregnant with great potentials for the
development of the rest of the country (Tell,
2007), should this development be at the expense
of the environmental degradation of the region
where the oil occurs? As has been shown in the
foregoing, existing laws have not only divested the
people and communities in the delta of their natural
title to ownership, control and management of their
land and resources the law also does not provide
avenues for redress. The result is that they remain
poor cousins of their counterparts in other parts of
the world who are also blessed with petroleum
beneath their feet. This is clear from the UNDP
(2006), which compares the Human Development
Index across oil producing countries and the Niger
Delta. The delta region trails in all indices.
Nigeria has indeed been found guilty of violating
Articles 21 and 24 of the African Charter on
Human and Peoples Rights by the African
Commission on Human and Peoples Rights
(ACHPR) sitting in Banjul, Gambia from 13
th
to
27
th
October 2001. Article 21 of the Charter states
in part, that:
1. All peoples shall freely dispose of their wealth
and natural resources. This right shall be
exercised in the exclusive interest of the
people. In no case shall a people be deprived
of it.
2. In case of spoliation the dispossessed people
shall have the right to the lawful recovery of its
property as well as to an adequate
compensation.
Article 24 also states: All peoples shall have the
right to a general satisfactory environment
favorable to their development. Issuing the
Finding in the suit brought against Nigeria by
SERAC a human rights Non Governmental
Organization for human Rights violation in Ogoni
land ( ACHPR, 2001) the Commission also
appealed to the government of Nigeria to
undertake comprehensive clean up of lands and
rivers damaged by oil operations as well as ensure
that appropriate environmental and social impact
assessments are prepared for any future oil
development and that the safe operation of any
further development be guaranteed through
effective and independent oversight bodies for the
petroleum industry (ACHPR, 2001). Nigerias
environmental agencies remain ineffective and are
certainly not independent of government.
Consequently, the agitation for compensation for
oil pollution is a continuous and contentious one in
the Niger Delta, as the question often arises as to
who should be compensated and how much. The
arguments often raised by the industry usually
revolve around the fact that the Federal
Government receives large sums in fees, rents and
royalties and should be responsible for
environmental management as well as
compensation for any degradation. The agitation
for adequate compensation, environmental
protection and conservation and equitable
distribution of oil wealth has recently
metamorphosed into upheavals, seizure of oil
installations and hostage taking resulting in the loss
of lives and property. The recent guerilla/non
violent activity by the Movement for the
Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), Niger
Delta Volunteer Force (NDVF), Niger Delta
Freedom Fighters (NDFF), Movement for the
Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP), Ijaw
Monitoring Group (IMG) etc are typical examples.
It is thus clear, that there are many difficulties with
The Oil and Gas Industry and the Niger Delta: Implications for the Environment
* Corresponding author: *Emoyan, O. O.
35
the existing legislative framework for upstream
regulation of the oil and gas industry.
Enforcement is rendered impossible because
enforcement provisions are weak and the
institutions are ill-equipped and avenues exist for
corruption. Finally, the political will that
engenders good governance is lacking.

CONCLUSIONS AND
RECOMMENDATIONS
Huge revenues are realized from the extraction of
petroleum resources at the expense of the
degradation of air, water, land and forest resources
in the Niger Delta. This degradation has been a
continuous process for nearly forty years before the
enactment of formal environmental legislation.
Previously degraded areas must be identified and
rehabilitated. This is consistent with the a major
goal of the National Policy on Environment(NPE),
(FEPA, 1991) Section 2(c) which is to restore,
maintain and enhance the ecosystems and
ecological processes essential for the functioning of
the biosphere to preserve biological diversity and
the principle of optimum sustainable yield in the
use of living natural resources and ecosystems
It has also been shown in the foregoing that
existing federal environmental legislation is
amorphous in addition to being inequitable with
respect to overlying communities in the delta. In
possible recognition of these shortcomings, the
NPE also stipulates at Section 8b that existing laws
be streamlined into a holistic and integrated
compact in addition to prescribing jurisdictional
boundaries for environmental law making (Section
8c).
Consequently, it is recommended that the Land Use
Decree of 1976 be abrogated and replaced by a
more equitable and less cynical legislation that
recognizes land and natural resource ownership
rights. Special courts or tribunals should then be
set up to adjudicate on environmental disputes in
the delta. In addition, the delta should be declared
an ecological disaster area that is desirous of
special attention and special rehabilitation
measures. Funding for this measure should be
obtained from the huge revenues that have accrued
from the current unprecedented increase in crude
oil prices. A specific agency to manage this
ecological disaster area and which is independent
of existing agencies should manage this problem.
Further funding of the agency would be as
provided for in detail as specified at Section 10 of
the NPE.

REFERENCES
African Commission on Human and Peoples
Rights, (2001), ACHPR Decision 155/96 The
Social and Economic Rights Action Center and
the Center for Economic and Social Rights/
Nigeria.

Agbogidi, O.M., Eruotor, P.G.; Akparobi, S.O.
(2006), Effects of Soil Contaminated with
Crude Oil on the Germination of Maize (Zea
Mays L.), Nig. Jnr. of Sc. and Env., 5:1-10.

Akpoborie, I. A.; Diwanbor, G. U. (2007), Do
Environmental Laws in Nigeria Encourage
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