- Niger Delta, with its hydrocarbon-rich subsoil, provides Nigeria with most of its dollar revenues.
- But the residents are distressed with the environmental pollution, poverty and sense of neglect that plague the region.
Niger Delta, with its hydrocarbon-rich subsoil, provides Nigeria with most of its dollar revenues. But the residents are distressed with the environmental pollution, poverty and sense of neglect that plague the region. It has seen serious unrest for years, with armed groups kidnapping for ransom and piercing pipelines to plunder crude oil, causing ecological disasters.
The locals who have lost their agricultural and fishing livelihoods due to successive oil spills were hoping that the new oil law will provide for a better distribution of the wealth derived from oil. The new law enacted in mid-August, they feel did not redress the injustices suffered by local communities. The new law requires oil companies to pay them 3% of operating costs which they allege was far less than the 10% claimed as “fair compensation”. The activists claim that the 3% cannot cover the cost of cleaning up the leaks, provide drinking water, roads, hospitals and jobs in the oil communities. President Muhammadu Buhari however is confident that the new oil law will attract more foreign investors to a sector troubled by corruption, inefficiency, high costs and insecurity and will benefit communities in the Niger Delta.
