CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of civilization, man has always been motivated by the need to make progress and better the lives of fellow mankind by exploring the natural environment.  It is indisputable that the natural environment before the advent of environmental degradation,[1] created unlimited opportunities for development and economic sufficiency of the inhabitants or the populace, but with the advent of environmental degradation, the inhabitants have been denied these opportunities and made to languish in abject poverty.

In recognition of the dangers posed by environmental degradation[2], the international community and the Nigerian government have put in place various laws to combat environmental degradation, while the various environmental laws in Nigeria and that of the international community (international legal instrument) in combating environmental degradations intended to yield encouraging result by enhancing environmental sustainability.  The recalcitrant attitude of those involved in environmental degradation has continued to attenuate environmental laws with the government and its agency indirectly collaborating in the act of flouting environmental laws.

Unfortunately, the existing law legal mechanism in place have done little or nothing to eradicate this menace of environmental degradation.  Environmental degradation continues to evolve everyday and everywhere with no end in sight of how this crime can be checked.

Thus this thesis intends to appraise how environmental degradation constitutes an indictment to human right and environmental laws.  It also aims to serve as a theoretical framework for the review and harmonization of the relevant municipal and legal instruments.  Similarly international agency/corporation in combating environmental degradation will not be left out.

Hence, it is imperative to give a brief description or definition of environmental degradation.

1.1            Environmental Degradation

Before environmental degradation is considered we must first of all know what is environment or what constitutes the environment.

Environment is the natural world in which people, animals and plants live.[3]  The Black’s Law Dictionary also defines it as the totality of physical, economic, cultural, aesthetic and social circumstances and factors which surround and affect the desirability of value of property and which also affect the quality of life of people’s lives.[4]  Under the Nigeria law, “environment” includes water, air, land and all plants and human beings or animals living therein and the inter-relationship which exist among these or any of them.[5]  Therefore Environmental Degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of the ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife.[6]

Environmental degradation is one of the ten threats officially cautioned by the high level threat panel of the United Nations.[7]  Therefore the importance and relevance of the environment cannot be over-emphasized, the environment is a complex and delicate system that when properly managed and harnessed can be geared to productive domestic, aesthetic and even spiritual benefit but when poorly managed could predictably be hazardous not only to human survival, but the survival of all living things.  It is therefore inferable that the environment is the physical foundation upon which survival rests.

It is however sad to note that over the years, the environment has been greatly threatened with adverse and disastrous effects on human habitation and survival, which has reflected in the World Bank report.  More than 30,000 people die each day globally, short of their predestined life span due to environmental degradation and pollution[8].  In a year, 108 million people die as a result of environmental degradation and pollution.  Further research shows that between 1990 and 2009, which has a period of 19 years, about 7.3 million people died worldwide due to environmental degradation and pollution.[9] Therefore it constitutes a threat to the existence of mankind and needs to be checked by all the countries and organizations in the globe.

The Emergence of Environmental Degradation

Environmental degradation can be traced back to the garden of Eden, Jehovah God created a perfect world and life for man, but due to the disobedience of man (Adam and Eve), Jehovah God sent them out from  the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he (man) was taken.[10]  Noah also in the Holy Bible following God’s instructions constructed a gigantic ark (vessel, and used tar (a product of petroleum) to make it water tight, also the streets of Babylon were paved with bitumen and the walls of Jericho were bonded with it (tar).  Thus, oil, gas and other forms of energy existed before the Christian Era.[11]  It can therefore be gleaned from the above that exploration, exploitation and pollution of the environment also predate the Christian era.

The oil era began when in 1859, Edwin L. Drake, a retired railroad conductor, drilled the first oil wells near Titusville, Pennsylvania, USA.[12]  As a result of the importance of crude oil in the world and the industrial revolution that took place in Europe a lot of multi-national oil companies were formed to prospect for crude oil.  Thus this led to the building of oil wells in virtually all part of the globe as stated by Professor A. L. Atsegbua:[13]

Oil is found and produced in particularly all parts of the world:  in north and south America, the Caribbean, the Middle East, the Far East, Australia, Europe, the Former Soviet Union, North and West Africa.

Environmental degradation result when natural habitats are destroyed or natural resources are depleted, or the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of the ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife.[14]

Flowing from the above it can therefore be gleaned that there cannot be oil exploration or exploitation without environmental degradation, although environmental degradation takes various forms, oil pollution and gas flaring constitute a major threat to the existence of man, flora and fauna and in extension the environment in general.  For example, eighty-plus years after the abandonment of Wallaroo Mines (Kadina, South Australia), Mosses remain the only vegetation at some sports of the site’s grounds.[15]  Thus, environmental degradation and pollution, whether from oil spillages and gas flaring or as a result of exploration or exploitation is a serious threat to the existence of man, flora and fauna and to the entire environment.

Emergence of Environmental Degradation in Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria

The major environmental degradation in Niger-Delta region of Nigeria is a result of oil and gas exploration, though there are other forms of degradation in the country. 

Oil was first discovered in 1956 at Oloibiri in what is now Bayelsa state and Afam, in RiversState.[16]  Since then oil and gas have been discovered and explored in all the states constituting the Niger-delta state and as a result of the large deposition of crude oil in the region.  In accordance with government’s policy of increasing the pace of exploration and ensuring that the country was not over dependent on one oil company, thus a lot of international oil companies were granted exploration licenses about the same time.  Some of the oil companies that benefited from the grant are:  Nigerian Gulf Oil Company, Shell Petroleum, Texaco, Mobil producing, Chevron, Agip, and Elf, etc.

It was rightly stated by Professor L. A. Atsegbua[17] that,

Oil exploration and production has a high environment cost on the oil producing areas of the Niger-Delta.  Oil spills kill fish and agricultural crops and pollute water with serious effects for the communities and families affected.

The exploration and exploitation of the Niger-Delta environment which is one of the world’s largest wetlands, and the largest in Africa by these multinational oil companies and the encouragement offered them by the Nigerian Lax Environmental Laws have made many communities in the Niger-Delta to believe that oil and gas have thus been a curse to many inhabitants of the area.

According to the official estimates of the NNPC, based on the quantities reported by the operating companies, approximately 2,300 cubic metres of oil are spilled in 300 separate incidents annually.  It can be safely assumed that, due to under reporting, the real figure is substantially higher:  conservative estimates place it at up to ten times higher.[18]

It has been reported that most international oil companies, especially the Shell Petroleum, used outmoded and outdated materials in their operations in Ogoniland, thereby endangering the lives of the inhabitant, flora and fauna and the environment at large.

According to the statistics available in the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) indicate that between 1976 and 1996 a total of 4,835 incidents resulted in the spillage of at least 2,446,322 barrels of which an estimated 1,896,930 barrels, that is, 77 percent were lost to the environment.  Nigeria’s largest spill was an offshore well blowout in January 1980 when at least 200,000 barrels of oil, according to oil industry sources, spewed into the Atlantic Ocean from a Texaco facility and destroyed 340 hectares of Mangroves.

The Department of Petroleum Resources estimates were that more than 400,000 barrels were spilled in this incident.  Mangrove forest is particularly vulnerable to oil spills, because the soil soaks up the oil like a sponge and re-releases it every rainy season.

Two serious spills took place in early 1998.  On January 12, 1998, a major spill of more than 40,000 barrels of crude oil leaked from the pipeline linking Mobil’s Idoho platform with its Qua Iboe onshore terminal in AkwaIbomState.  Mobil estimated that more than 90 percent of the oil had dispersed or evaporated naturally, though the spill traveled hundreds of kilometers further than expected, and some 500 barrels washed ashore by the end of February 1998,[19] about 140,000 claims for compensation had been submitted from individuals or groups totaling an estimated US $100 million.  About twenty communities, with a total population of about one million, were considered to be the worst hit, especially at the mouth of the PenningtonRiver.

In October 17, 1998, as a result of the severe scarcity of fuel in Nigeria, the locals of Jesse town in Delta state found an avenue of making quick money from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petroleum pipeline that was left open by vandals, they went in droves to “fetch” petrol for sale, defying all warnings of the danger involved in such activity.  The result was a massive explosion that claimed over 1000 lives including women, children and babies.  The resultant fire burned for days emitting harmful smoke and petroleum gases into the environment and the destruction of all forms of lives in the immediate vicinity of the incident.  It is pertinent to know that until now the Jesse town and its environment is yet to recover from this incident.[20]

Similarly, the local and foreign media widely reported the NNPC pipeline explosion in Ilado village that occurred on Friday, May 12, 2006 leaving over 200 persons dead with some corpses floating in the nearby river.  Environmental degradation whether on the part of the multi-national oil companies or on the part of the Nigeria own oil company (NNPC) has never been reported to have been cleaned.

There have been a lot of oil spillages in Niger Delta and the unreported cases outnumbered the reported once.  A case study has shown that oil spillage had occurred in virtually all parts of the Niger Delta with Lagos not being an exception.[21]  The Nation[22] reported that independent investigators believed that the pipelines gave way due to alleged lack of maintenance, and as a result, the pipelines allegedly emitted crude oil into the environment of the host community and other surrounding communities.

More than twelve years after the 1992 oil spill incident,[23] the people are still alleging that the situation in Opobo community where the spill occurred is still deteriorating.  The inhabitants claimed that the oil industry has never cleaned any of the spills thoroughly as a result the spill affected the occupation of the local people tremendously, they could no longer farm and fish as they used to do.

It is estimated by the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, that between 1976, and 1990, the Niger-Delta Region experienced 2676 reported cases of oil spillages.  Green Peace estimates that between 1976 and 1991, there were almost 3000 oil spills, averaging 700 barrels each.[24]  It can therefore be gleaned from all the above that the Niger-Delta ecosystem and environment have been greatly distorted and basterdised as a result of oil spills that have never been cleaned.

Gas flaring is another source of environmental degradation brought about by the activities of oil corporations.  In Orugbiri a small settlement not larger than 100 metres in length, two flaring sites exist therein.  This location contradicts the rule that flares are to be located far from villages to avoid gas flaring which is dangerous to health.  More especially medical research has confirmed that those living near gas flaring sites stand the risk of developing respiratory diseases.

The Shell Petroleum has also been involved in the practice of canalization in Ogoniland.  Canals are created to drain an area from drilling and pipe laying or to facilitate the access of drilling and other production equipment to mining sites.  These channels alter the ecology of the areas by flooding fresh water with saline water, which destroys plants and aquatic animals which cannot stand the salinity.  It was reported that in Ikoriba, RiversState of Nigeria, a four kilometer canal constructed by Shell Petroleum has been threatening the fresh water forest in that area.

Canalization has generally altered the flood pattern of the Niger-Delta area, resulting in the perennial flood of the plains, which has been well drained before the flooding.

Dogo[25] recounted that in 1995 alone, most communities in Sagbama, Ekeremai, Yenagoa, Southern Ijaw and Brass Local Government Areas of Rivers and BayelsaState were under flood for three months.

Another prominent source of environmental pollution in Ogoniland is oil spillage.  Oil spillage often occurs when some weak and outdated wells and pipelines, which have been under intense pressure blow-out and cause oil to escape in furious speed to adjoining lands, thereby leaving large area

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