Environmentalists demand emergency action for Niger Delta's ecological crisis

Environmental rights advocates are sounding the alarm over the escalating ecological disasters plaguing the Niger Delta, warning that decades of relentless oil and gas exploitation have transformed the region into a landscape of environmental hazards that threaten lives, livelihoods, and ecosystems.

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The Niger Delta is one of the most environmentally devastated regions in the world.

Nnimmo Bassey, Director of the Health of Mother Earth Foundation (HOMEF), delivered a stark address during the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Correspondents’ Week in Rivers State. He described the Niger Delta as one of the world's most environmentally devastated regions, citing nearly seven decades of crude oil and gas extraction, coupled with weak regulation and the persistent failure of both government and multinational oil companies to adequately address the resulting environmental damage.

Bassey traced the industry's origins to colonial interests, noting that the entire country was once designated as a single oil bloc under Shell D’Arcy. This historical pattern of exploitation, he argued, paid little heed to the welfare of host communities or environmental sustainability and has continued into the post-colonial era. Oil-producing territories have effectively become sacrifice zones where profit consistently overrides environmental protection.

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The industry was established primarily to serve colonial interests, creating a legacy of exploitation that paid little attention to the welfare of host communities or environmental sustainability.

The activist warned that the continued expansion of fossil fuel extraction across Africa poses a significant threat to ecologically sensitive regions, including the Niger Delta, the Saloum Delta in Senegal, the Okavango Delta in Namibia, the Virunga region in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda’s Lake Albert basin. He highlighted the Niger Delta as the most alarming example, citing estimates that the equivalent of one Exxon Valdez-scale oil spill occurs annually, releasing approximately 260,000 barrels of crude oil into the environment each year.

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Oil-producing territories have effectively become sacrifice zones where environmental protection is subordinated to profit.

Landmark studies have documented the devastating consequences of oil operations. The Niger Delta Environmental Survey (1991-1997) confirmed extensive soil and water contamination, biodiversity loss, and worsening poverty linked to oil extraction. Furthermore, the 2011 United Nations Environment Programme’s Environmental Assessment of Ogoniland recommended decommissioning obsolete oil infrastructure and conducting comprehensive environmental risk assessments of abandoned facilities. The situation remains dire, with ongoing environmental degradation impacting the region's inhabitants and natural resources.

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The equivalent of one Exxon Valdez-scale oil spill occurs annually in the region, releasing approximately 260,000 barrels of crude oil into the environment every year.