Introduction

The extensive oil exploration has resulted in several social and environmental challenges in Nigeria. Apart from oil spills, the discharge of effluents and the inadequate water treatment of oil refineries have led to severe environmental pollution in the Niger Delta, which is the home to three of the four Nigeria’s operational oil refineries. These refineries use water for most of their processes such as water-cooled cooling condensers, generation of steam, product coolers, distillation, and heat exchangers [1]. Indeed, oil exploration generates a substantial amount of revenues for Nigeria. However, the influences of the refinery activities on the environment and the local communities living in the Niger Delta region have raised concerns. The situation calls for the need to evaluate the environmental and social impacts of wastewater, identify the stakeholders involved and interested, and the major constraint of the issue, to recommend ways that can help to improve the livelihood and health of the communities living in Niger Delta.

Environment and Social Impacts Caused by Wastewater

Oil production is the most critical driver of the growth of Nigeria’s economy. Regardless, the production of oil has negatively influenced the Niger Delta region socially and environmentally due to wastewater discharge and oil spillage. Although Nigeria’s environmental protection agency has been consistent in its effort to protect the environment through performing regular checks and setting up discharge standards, recent reports have shown that wastewaters from gas and oil industries do not meet the agency’s policy requirements [1]. The failure to comply with the discharge standards have resulted in wastewater being discharged into rivers and other water bodies. Consequently, the Niger Delta region faces severe environmental damage as the local communities suffer the consequences of pollution.

First and foremost, the wastewater endangers aquatic lives in the region. According to [1], for instance, most of the insufficiently treated effluent contains a high concentration of phenol –a highly toxic pollutant. When the effluent contains phenol at a level in the ranges of 0.1 to 1.0 mg/L, the wastewater kills fish and destroys other aquatic organisms [1]. The chemical is mainly produced during thermal and catalytic cracking processes, which are the most significant sources of phenol in the petroleum refinery process wastewater. Osin, Tianyu, and Sijie explain that the continued discharge of wastewater in the Niger Delta aquatic environmental, which is already fragile, lead to severe detrimental effects to the ecological system as well as individual species in the receiving water bodies [1].

Additionally, the discharge of wastewater that contains chemical contaminants risks the Niger Delta’s ecosystem. For example, [1] explores the results of a research conducted by Marcus and Ekpete in which it was found that the region’s receiving water bodies have significant concentrations of trace metals and other chemical contaminants due to the wastewater discharged from the Port Harcourt Refinery. Thus, the researchers concluded that the future and the sustainability Niger Delta’s ecosystem could at risk due to the unceasing release of oil refinery wastewaters that have pollutants above the recommended levels. Worse, the overall actual burden of toxicity situation could be higher than predicted.

On the other hand, the affluent-containing oil has many social impacts. For example, the chemicals kill animals and plants and make the available water and land resources in the region unsuitable for use. In the coastal environment, for instance, wastewaters have destroyed a large area of the mangrove ecosystem. Consequently, the people in the region live in fear of diseases and deaths that can be caused by contaminated water systems [2].

Moreover, with the continued oil work in the area, oil installations and oil workers brought critical societal changes in the Niger Delta region. Part of the local communities has been forced to migrate from the residences while the rising food prices are causing unpredicted hunger. The temporary employment of workers has equally been destructive socially [1]. For instance, the spending habits of young men, who were highly paid for short working hours has shown a significant change over time.

At the same time, polluted soil, air, and water across the Niger Delta region have destroyed the livelihood of farmers and fishers. This challenge is a significant problem especially considering that farming and fishing are the primary means of living and sources of income for the majority of families living in the area. A large portion of polluted water no longer supports fishing while the productivity of the region’s soil continues to deteriorate due to oil spillages [1]. Overall, a large population of the local communities in the Niger Delta area is affected.

Stakeholders and Their Interest

The social and the environmental challenges caused by oil refinery activities affect a wide range of stakeholders. By extension, the long-term impacts of the unchecked discharge of wastewater and other wastes from oil producing companies have a significant influence on almost every sector in the region. However, the most important stakeholders about the issue include the government, local communities, oil companies, and the country’s Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA).

The Nigerian government, in particular, is concerned with the influence of oil production activities in the Niger Delta. Oil is the primary generator of revenues to the government of Nigeria. Thus, the interest of the state on oil resources is essential. According to [1], the Nigerian government is keen to control oil resources and land as well as oil production activities around the Niger Delta. As a policy, the state of Nigeria owns all the minerals in the country. The regulation has been intensified through the Land Use Decree and the Petroleum Act, which have empowered the Federal State to take ownership of all the lands required for oil exploitation. Moreover, to control the environment, the government has vested power on the country’s environmental protection agency, FEPA, to set policies and standards to regulate how companies manage their wastes.

The local communities, on the other hand, are significant players. The Niger Delta region is mainly occupied by a group called the “Ogoni people.” By population, the Ogoni consists of approximately 50,0000 individuals who lived in six kingdoms [2]. The discovery of oil in the region, however, substantially affected the Ogoni people in different ways. For example, many of the locals depend on farming and fishing as their main economic activity [2]. Thus, with the current destruction on the region’s environment due to oil exploration as well as related extraction activities like building works and phenomenon such as spills and leaks, the majority of the population have been affected both socially and environmentally.

Thirdly, oil companies are the other major stakeholders. In particular, the country has four oil refineries, which are operational. It is estimated that these firms produce at least 445,000 barrels of oil per day [1]. Three of these oil-producing firms are found in the Niger Delta. The refineries use water and dispose wastes on a regular basis. Thus, they are responsible for the escalating pollution problem in the Niger Delta.

The Major Constraint

In Nigeria, the most considerable portion of oil and gas production and exploration is carried out under a joint partnership between a foreign multinational corporation and the Federal Government of Nigeria. The two parties, the government, and foreign firms operate under the umbrella of the Nigerian National Petroleum Commission. Besides, Nigeria’s domestic and gas firms are also significant players in the oil business. However, the local firms control only a small portion of the resources.

In general, Nigeria’s oil industry consists of many foreign firms. By number, there six international companies that explore and produce oil and gas in Nigeria. The companies include Total, Texaco, ExxonMobil, Chevron, Shell, and Agip [3]. These firms are obligated to obey the Nigerian laws regarding oil and gas exploration and production. For example, as per the FEPA Discharge standards, the firms are expected to discharge their wastewater appropriately.

The companies should comply with the set standards. Nevertheless, it has been shown through research that the compliance rate is low [1]. This has led to negative environmental impacts as a result of wastewater discharge and oil spill. However, the responses of the organizations to the proposals could be positive. Organizations such as the Shell acknowledges that there are environmental impacts although they try to link the problem to deforestation, over-population, and industrialization [2].

Recommendation

Policy implementation: In addition to the general accusation of ‘devastating’ the environment, the company stood accused of specific acts of environmental irresponsibility. These included operational oil spills, gas flaring, acid rain, land use, and waste management. The company acknowledged that there were ecological impacts but sought to put these into a broader context of over-population, over-farming, deforestation, and industrialization

Lastly, it should provide recommendations to the government to improve the health and livelihoods of the local communities, and how are my proposal to improve the health and livelihoods of locals.

Conclusion

The ecosystem of the Niger Delta has been affected by pollution, and this has posed a severe threat to the health of the people.

Bibliography

Boele, Richard, Heike Fabig, and David Wheeler. “Shell, Nigeria and the Ogoni. A study in unsustainable development: I. The story of Shell, Nigeria, and the Ogoni people–environment, economy, relationships: conflict and prospects for resolution 1.” Sustainable development 9, no. 2 (2001): 74-86.

Osin, Oluwatomiwa A., Tianyu Yu, and Sijie Lin. “Oil refinery wastewater treatment in the Niger Delta, Nigeria: current practices, challenges, and recommendations.” Environmental Science and Pollution Research 24, no. 28 (2017): 22730-22740.

Yahaya, Abdulahi. The major oil and gas companies in Nigeria presently: Full list. Nigeria Info. https://www.nigerianinfopedia.com/major-oil-gas-companies-in-nigeria-presently-full-list/