Hundreds of billions of dollars has been made from the Niger Delta's oil reserves and many people have gotten very rich. Conversely, the average Nigerian has suffered as a result of the country's oil prosperity. The United States Agency for International Development says more than 70 percent of the country lives on less than a dollar a day -- the population is among the 20 poorest in the world.
Oil companies are only part of the equation. The other is the Nigerian government. Transparency International, a global organization intent on stamping out corruption, has consistently rated Nigeria's government one of the most corrupt in the world.
Over the last few years, a culture of militancy and violence has arisen in the absence of jobs and services. Kidnappings for ransom and robberies happen with regularity.
It has provoked an environmental disaster of monstrous proportions. Since the 1970s, the United Nations estimates there have been more than 6,000 oil spills in the Niger Delta -- that is equal to more than 10 times the amount spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Yet, there is no international outcry and rarely are the spills reported, even to most Nigerians. They are still happening and the consequences are nothing short of devastating.
Communities along the Niger Delta have lived off subsistence fishing and agriculture for decades. Collecting food becomes impossible when a spill happens, like one that occurred in August. The waterways and mangroves are blanketed in thick brown oil sludge that goes on for miles. Toxicity overpowers the air and a sense of lifelessness pervades the landscape. Trash litters its cities. Electricity is sporadic at best. There is no clean water. Medical and educational services are limited. Basic infrastructure is severely lacking. These are not conditions that should plague one of the richest oil states in the world but in the Niger Delta this is life.
- http://cnn.com/
Oil companies are only part of the equation. The other is the Nigerian government. Transparency International, a global organization intent on stamping out corruption, has consistently rated Nigeria's government one of the most corrupt in the world.
Over the last few years, a culture of militancy and violence has arisen in the absence of jobs and services. Kidnappings for ransom and robberies happen with regularity.
It has provoked an environmental disaster of monstrous proportions. Since the 1970s, the United Nations estimates there have been more than 6,000 oil spills in the Niger Delta -- that is equal to more than 10 times the amount spilled from the Exxon Valdez in 1989. Yet, there is no international outcry and rarely are the spills reported, even to most Nigerians. They are still happening and the consequences are nothing short of devastating.
Communities along the Niger Delta have lived off subsistence fishing and agriculture for decades. Collecting food becomes impossible when a spill happens, like one that occurred in August. The waterways and mangroves are blanketed in thick brown oil sludge that goes on for miles. Toxicity overpowers the air and a sense of lifelessness pervades the landscape. Trash litters its cities. Electricity is sporadic at best. There is no clean water. Medical and educational services are limited. Basic infrastructure is severely lacking. These are not conditions that should plague one of the richest oil states in the world but in the Niger Delta this is life.
- http://cnn.com/
MY COMMENT:
Is oil really a curse in Nigeria? Is it a cure? In the war against poverty in Africa, Nigeria being one of the richest oil states should not be counted among the poorest nations in this world. The Niger-Delta region has become a terror zone, cases of kidnapping and robbery is very rampant due to excess poverty. Communities in this region have about 2 or 3 multi-national oil companies drilling on their lands, some even have 4 and yet they cannot even boast of clean water supply or good education. In other countries, oil companies provide certain facilities free of charge to the community they reside in but that is a different case in the Niger-Delta region. Who is responsible, who is to be blamed? The government, whose officials are only interested in looting the nation’s treasury, or the oil companies, whose negligence and sloppiness have cost the lives in various communities, or both? These are some of the questions the Niger-Delta people ask.
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