Contending Issues in the Niger Delta Crisis of Nigeria - Journal of ...

Chapter II: The Niger Delta Crisis: The Political Economy of Fossil Fuels in
Nigeria
is the sources of their perpetual exploitation. The complexity in the
activities of the oil companies and their shifting of blames of
environmental degradation on the government remain unresolved. The
people in the oil producing areas are alien in their land as the
operations of the oil multinationals are beyond the comprehension of
the locals. Even the government that claims to be in charge of the
mineral resources only relies on the information provided by the oil
companies. In most cases, as maintained by Bayo Olukoshi (1988,
1989) the complexity of the MNCs in the TWS continues to dwarf the
capacity of the host state to control them.
Another area worth looking into is the need to have holistic look into
the crisis of environmental pollution caused by the activities of the oil
companies in the Niger Delta. Are we looking into the effects on the oil
producing areas, which, according to the derivative allocation of
resources, are always to the advantage of the South-South region (oil
producing states) The negative effects of the green house gases on
the rest of the country are yet to receive academic interrogation. It is
claimed that the effect of oil drilling in the Niger-delta is a major factor
that has brought about a drastic reduction in the size the Lake Chad
in the north-eastern part of Nigeria. This is not only affecting the
livelihood of the farmers in the area, but also the flora and fauna and
the gracing system, hence destabilization of the eco-system. Are we to
call for damages from the federal government for these environmental
effects Or should the state government of the oil producing states
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