This paper examined the occurrence of oil spillage and how it is being managed by the oil companies in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Oil exploration which started in the region in 1956 apart from enhancing the revenue base of the Federal Government of Nigeria, has had several negative implications in the host communities. Oil spillage contaminates the region’s water and land, destroys both aquatic and terrestrial lives, thereby rendering fishermen and farmers in the Niger Delta jobless and homeless. Between 1976 and 2001, a total of 6744 spill incidents took place, resulting in approximately 2,369,470 barrels of oil being spilt into the environment. The paper recommended that both the International Oil Companies (IOCs) and the Federal Government of Nigeria should take precautionary and remedial measures that can minimize the negative effects of oil spills by way of immediate spill stoppage when it happens, scientific clean-up exercise, provision of social amenities in the host communities, employment to qualified youths of the communities, and payment of adequate compensation as determined by qualified estate surveyors and valuers to persons affected by oil spills.
Francis P. Udoudoh (2024) studied this question.