Environmental Impacts of Oil Exploration and Exploitation in the Niger Delta Region of Nigeria

This paper assessed the environmental impact of oil exploration and exploitation in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The paper adopted the qualitative method of analyzing data which involves the direct use of historical/archival data. The data collected and used for the study was from secondary source. Oil related activities database for a period of thirteen years (1976 - 1998) was collected from the Department of Petroleum Resources. Also, the analogue map of Niger Delta region was obtained from the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs for the purpose of generating other attribute data for the study. Non-statistical method was applied in analysing the data. The findings revealed that there have been a decline in food production due to pollution of land resources and hence, migration of the people to the major urban centres. Coupled with this is oil spillage which leads to the gradual poisoning of the water, destruction of marine ecosystem, destruction of vegetation and agricultural lands. This has also exposed the people of the region to severe hardship and poverty. Gas flaring a common feature in the region has destroyed both the complex biodiversity of the region as well as a major cause of respiratory infection among the Niger Delta people. Oil exploration activities have led to the contamination of streams and rivers through the discharge of various materials into the environment. The invasion of the fresh water habitat by salt water from the sea has altered the ecological balance creating a desert situation in the swamp forest in some part of the region thereby impoverishing the people. This has made access to drinking water a general problem in the region and made infection from water borne diseases prevalent in the area. Youth restiveness and conflict in the region is more or less a way of life owing to the fact that what comes in from the oil companies as compensation for the degraded environment is not enough to go round, hence poverty and frequent conflict between members of the same community on one hand and between communities on the other hand. From the foregoing, it is clear that the negative impact of oil exploration activities outweigh the benefits to the people in terms of compensation and otherwise.