Page:Niger Delta Ecosystems- the ERA Handbook, 1998.djvu/188

Environmental Impact of the Oil Industry *Chromium – 3 times at 44 ppm;
 * Lead - 4 times at 20 ppm;
 * Zinc - 4 times at 119 ppm;
 * Copper - 6 times at 43 ppm;
 * Nickel - 7 times at 7 ppm; and
 * Cadmium - 7 times at 44 ppm.

15.6 THE ECONOMIC COSTS OF OIL PRODUCTION IN THE NIGER DELTA

As a summary of the impact of the oil industry on the Niger Delta it needs to be looked at in cold economic terms.

Oil is THE issue throughout the Niger Delta. As is explained in the last chapter, oil is the basis of Nigeria's wealth, and the export upon which the country is dependent. Oil exports make up over 90% of Nigeria's export income, and the government can expect revenues in the order of US$ 20 million a day.

15.6.1 POLITICAL IMPLICATIONS AND OWNERSHIP.

Because oil is, and will continue to be, the prime source of wealth for Nigeria as a whole, and the revenue base upon which the federal government rests, it is the nucleus of all political strategy. In the Niger Delta all political issues centre around who is to have what proportion of the oil wealth.

Federal legislation is unambiguous about ownership: according to the Land Use Act (originally the Land Use Decree) of 1978 all land is held in trust by the Federal Government, and administered by the governor of each state, who acts as the landlord. Oil companies are granted Oil Mining Leases by the Federal Government, under the Petroleum Decree No. 51 of 1969 and negotiate with the governor of the relevant state, as the Federal Government's representative, about land requirements. Thereafter local governments are effectively only informed about the developments in their areas, and local people are, sometimes, informed about what compensation they will receive for crops lost. In reality they receive no compensation for loss of farmland and very little or nothing is received for crops lost.

Generally the local people are ignored by the oil industry. Except for a few token projects (often replacing facilities lost in the construction of oil industry infrastructure) and ex-gratia payments, sometimes quite large, paid to influential individuals, none of the oil wealth reaches the communities in the oil producing areas in the Niger Delta. On the contrary, they appear to be the net losers, bearing most of the environmental costs of oil extraction.

15.6.2 OIL AND OTHER RESOURCES.

Oil extraction severely conflicts with the exploitation of other resources primarily in the way that it affects water resources. The irony is that if the oil industry took the same care as it takes elsewhere, for instance in North America and in the United Kingdom, there would be much less conflict: despite the pollution caused by the subsequent mis-use of oil products, oil extraction can be a clean industry and there is no reason why it should not be clean in Nigeria and the Niger Delta. Unfortunately it is not, and Nigeria has one of the worst records for on and offshore oil spills in the world. But an oil spill, disastrous 186