The Nigerian Oil Boom - Not A Blessing Essay

Situated along the coast of the Gulf of Guinea is a region about the size of South Carolina that offers a land full of sweet, light crude oil, known as the Niger Delta (Delta). The Delta sits within the country of Nigeria in West Africa and is in a constant state of crisis, underpinned by a multitude of key issues. Those issues include severe poverty, soil and water contamination, high infant mortality rates, low life expectancy, depletion of natural resources, corruption, and armed militia groups. These issues have one thing in common: oil.

Instead of focusing on diversifying, the leaders of the country focus on gaining power and standing in the government. “Nigeria’s most daunting challenge lies in overcoming the severe divisions among its competing religious and ethnic groups” . Moreover, once they gain it, their problems do not end, since they must look over their back, never knowing how long they will hold on to the little power they have. Meanwhile, the common person suffers, as he is neglected by his government and must survive on his own. “The standard of living declined even further than before and external debts increased.” This neglect of the common man bodes ill for the government, as it is the common man who votes in the polls. However, the vote does very little, since corruption is rampant in Nigeria.

Currently Saudi Arabia is one of the leading producers of oil in the world. However, it is losing its foothold on the market. Many countries, like North America, are increasing their oil production and are looking for ways to become less dependent on foreign oil. The increased competition has caused oil prices to decrease. By producing their own oil, countries not only will increase their revenues, but will also reduce their need to rely on foreign oil. By reducing their need foreign an oil a country does not have to worry that their oil supply will be cut off if they go to war.

There are many renewable and nonrenewable resources that are being harmed in this world. One resource is oil. In 2010, there happened to be an explosion of oil in the Gulf Of Mexico which killed 11 people. 87 days after that happened, there was an estimate of 3.19 million barrels of oil leaked into the gulf. There were many problems about the Gulf Of Mexico oil spill but solutions are being made to help.

In my country, we know wealth is wasted, but under Islamic policies, there is some balance. Oil wealth is distributed just enough to keep citizens happy. Obviously many of the other oil leaders have not learned this lesson. How can the world ignore the stories here. Most of them have been happening over long periods of time. I have to say, I am ashamed of the citizens of the world right now. We buy and buy and have no concern about where all this “stuff” comes from. But with oil, we do have some idea of the dangers of using it. The BP spill was watched by the world. The Iraq wars were related to oil, especially when Saddam Hussein set the Kuwait oil wells on fire. We know Nigeria has oil, but is a terrible place to live. Where did all the oil go? Where is the World Trade Organization in all of this. The international community goes crazy when there are copyright violations. Why not human rights violations in the name of oil? If Peter Maass is correct and we have less reserves than expected, how violent will people become to control the last bit of oil left? We have put off this dilemma we thought into the future, but this could happen in our lifetime. Let us learn the lesson from Maas, and work harder to change our ways if we

Oil is a resource that we humans need and sometimes the oil is transported in ships and mined from underwater. There have been many cases where the ships that carried the oil have had a leakage. All the oil that was in the ship would be let out into the ocean. This is an issue because oil and water do not mix. It leaves a layer of oil on top of the water and it can affect everything in the area for a very long time. This usually requires human action for the

A prime issue with the oil industry is systematic issues within countries that have an abundance of oil however a low quality of government and economic

For example, Shell Oil, an MNC (Multi National Corporation), extracted 50% of Nigeria’s yearly crude output, and 14% of its own output from the Niger delta region (The Changing Nature of Third World Exploitation, 1995). Though a large number of the local populace was recruited by Shell to serve as the basic labor force, there has been no change in the deplorable conditions the locals were living in. Over a period of 15 years, due to massive and widespread oil spills, heavy land degradation of the alluvial soil has taken place. The locals, who come from an agriculture based society, have in effect, been deprived of their ancestral way of life, their heritage, all due to the greed driven actions of the partly

Nigeria is a country with great history from centuries ago. However it is evident when

By the same token, the movie “Big Men” reveals the deprave business practices in Nigeria and Ghana, labeling Nigeria one of the most corrupt governments in the world. Between 1960 and 1999, the Nigerian government wasted over 440 billion dollars of Nigerian profit, mainly from oil wealth. Despite the majority of the oil being drawn from the Niger Delta, a very impoverished region, the natives of that region have no access to this abundant, valuable resource (00:25). Militant groups began to form in opposition to the oil corporations, intentionally cutting and sabotaging pipelines to get a part of the wealth. In addition to being selfish in their profits, businesses promoted the devastation and intentional deterioration of resident towns to distract from their unjust oil bunkering endeavors (01:05). Natives, specifically those who participate in oil pipe sabotaging, describe their situations as the equivalent of “shooting themselves in the foot”, as they hate that they are destroying their towns and worsening their circumstances, but see no other option for retribution. Fires

Oil spills can happen anywhere and anytime. You don’t really hear about them when they happen, because some people don’t think they’re a big deal. They can be prevented if oil companies didn’t use old pipes that’s been there for years. The state of Peru has brought in this oil company called Petroperu. When they were brought in they told the Indigenous people “with oil, you and Peru will grow.” Since then the Oil company has spilled tons of crude oil in the Amazon river contaminating communities water and food supply.

oil in Nigeria. Nigeria’s large supply of high quality crude oil helped Shell climb to the top,

Nigeria is an Agricultural and oil rich nation but characterised by Political instability, corruption, poor

     Nigeria has been a country in political turmoil for a long time. The country was created in 1914 under British colonial rule and at that time it was considered a protectorate. It was not until 1960 that Nigeria received independence from the United Kingdom. One of Nigeria's problems politically is that it has over three hundred different ethnic groups. The three largest of these are the Hausa-Fulani, Igbo, and Yoruba. At the time of the independence of Nigeria it was split up into three states with each state being under the control of one of the major ethnic groups. The natural resources of the other 297 ethnic groups were exploited for the major three groups,

Most children in the Niger delta have little or no education, due to lack of funds from their parents who have lost their lands and have no jobs because of limited opportunities. The Niger delta government and the oil companies have refused to look into the situation; instead they favor their close relations neglecting the masses. Corruption in the Niger delta has led some youths in taking drastic measure in order to put food on their table. For example, Ikechukwu Efe an indigene of the Niger delta said that some of his friends created their own “oil refinery”, which is made up of crude oil in metal barrels with controlled heat from fire woods. This is a dangerous process in refining crude oil but the degree of poverty in the state left his friends with no choice. If only the government of the Niger delta have created jobs with the wealth of the state Ikechukwu’s friend would not have to put their lives in danger. Until corruption is put to an abrupt the people of the Niger delta will continue to live in poverty.