OIL SPILLAGE IN THE NIGER DELTA

      The Niger Delta area in Nigeria is situated in the gulf of Guinea between Longitude 50 E to 80 E and latitude 40 N to 60 N. It is the largest wetland in Africa and the third largest in the world consisting of flat low lying swampy terrain, that is crossed by rivers and creeks.

     

  It has been observed in recent times that the role the environment plays to a nation's development cannot be relegated to the background. The issue in Niger Delta area of Nigeria where i come from has been a problem for decades now, oil production have contaminated the the land and water in the area but neither the government nor shell corporation has taken effective measures to restore back the eco-system. According to Abudulkareem et al (2011) discharging gases, liquids, and solid waste into the environment threatens the health of the populace and damage the overall quantities of the environment by rending the farmland and water bodies unstable. 

  Also according to Ordinioha and Brisibe (2013) the wild spread constituents of crude oil in the bio-physical environment of the impacted communities are capable of exerting some acute and long-term adverse health effects on the people and animals in this area. The tables below shows some results which was carried out by Ordinioha and Brisibe (2013)

                        Table 1

                    

                         Table 2        
                    
                       Table 3
                   

In any country, this would be a national emergency, but in Nigeria it appears to be a standard operating procedure for the oil industry. The video below highlight how oil spillage in the area have affected the eco-system of the area and how the Nigeria government and Shell corp. neglected the people.

    

                             video by Amensty International

References ;
Abudulkareem,A.S, Odigure,J.O, Otaru,M.D.O, Kuranga M.B and Afolabi,A.S. (2011). Energy Sources, Part A: Recovery, Utilization, and Environmental Effects. A Predictive Model of Crude Oil Dispersion in Water: A Case Study of the Niger-Delta Area of Nigeria. 33 (22), p2089.
Ordinioha,B and Brisibe, S. (2013). The human health implications of crude oil spills in the Niger delta, Nigeria: An interpretation of published studies. Nigeria Medical Journal. 54 (1), p10-16.