TITLE:
“Oil Injustice” in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region: A Call for Responsive Governance
AUTHORS:
Theodore Okonkwo, Uzuazo Etemire
KEYWORDS:
Oil and Gas, Petroleum, Injustice, Environmental Degradation, Environmental Protection, Benefit Sharing, Niger Delta, Nigeria
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Environmental Protection,
Vol.8 No.1,
January
22,
2017
ABSTRACT: The injustice and chaos in the Niger Delta region of
Nigeria resulting from the manner in which the oil industry is being run and
regulated have since captured the attention of the world. Importantly, the 2011 UNEP
Report on the Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland (a Niger Delta community)
which revealed shocking levels of ecological degradation has helped to keep the
issue on the front burners of international discussion. In this light, this
article explores the nature of injustice in the oil producing areas of Nigeria; it assesses the regulatory mechanisms that have been set up to prevent
and reverse the injustice in the region; and based on the inadequacies of the present system, it makes recommendations
as to how the mechanisms might be better strengthened, and governance executed,
all in a manner that is more responsive to the plight of the affected people.