Why Do We Need The Oil Producing Community? Does This Look Like Saudi Arabia? Essay

America's dependency on foreign oil is slowly crippling the average citizen's hard-earned income with outrageous fluctuation in gas prices. The American government seriously needs to step it in gear and start taking action on possible supplemental energy sources to replace foreign oil and actually begin providing those sources to the public without overpricing. Today's foreign oil is polluting our air and crushing we as American's pockets. "Rising U.S. demand for imported oil accounts for more than a third of the U.S.

Niger Delta region, placing the Nigerian oil output down to a third of its capacity” (Klare 3).

Much of the Delta’s violence stems from the decision of government officials to allocate most of the profits from the Deltas oil production to the few ethnic majorities in power. However, the difference between rich and poor in a society is not enough to generate violent conflict within a region. It takes something much more in-depth and personal to generate the level of violence the Niger Delta is experiencing. Therefore, looking at conflict from a vertical inequality perspective, meaning from the lowest socioeconomic groups to Nigeria as a whole, does not do justice for this scenario. Horizontal inequalities is what can be used to explain the degree and ferocity of violence that is generated from the unequal distribution of goods and bads associated with oil production among religion, race, or language (Ostby, G. 2008). This horizontal inequality means that

Oil in the Middle East has a negative impact on countries, wildlife, and people. The Middle East consists of 27 countries and of those countries, ten are rich in oil. Oil is an important aspect in lives of people. Some use Oil to make money, and some use it for necessary purposes such as heating, gas, plastic, and to sustain needs. However, oil in the Middle East does create conflict between countries because some countries aren’t as rich in oil, and want the oil. Oil starts wars, damages the environment, and oil revenue is not properly used on violence and destruction. Oil in the Middle East creates clashes between countries.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the United States and around the world, crude oil has been a hot commodity – and unfortunately, a commodity that is non-renewable. An aspect of globalization has been the increase in the oil industry; with so many buyers for oil – gasoline companies for vehicles and machinery, especially – countries like Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, and other countries have become economic stars in the global economy. Up until recently, Africa had had few major producers of this precious liquid, until the twentieth century, specifically in Nigeria. In the small delta region of Nigeria exist over 40 ethnic groups with 250 distinct dialects, specific traditional religious and cultural practices, and, being first contacted by the Portuguese in the late 1400’s, a long history of western contact (Lagassé 2000). The modern, overarching name for these groups is “Ijaw”, transmuted and then anglicized from “Izon”(also called “Ijon”, “Ijo”, or “Ujo”), meaning “truth” in their language (Ijaw Dictionary Project). They have existed harmoniously and prosperously in the delta region of Nigeria, practicing a vivacious lifestyle for centuries. However, since the 1950’s, when a wealth of natural oil was discovered in that region, these groups have been battling to preserve their health, culture, and peace in the face of a brutal globalization campaign led by oil companies and banking enterprises alike.

At first sight, the viewer will notice the group of three men herding their camels in an environment which looks very hot and arid. By examining the three men more closely, the viewer will notice the style of clothing they are wearing. All three men in the picture are wearing some sort of head piece and a rob-like style of clothing which is similar to a dishdasha and a shalwar kameez that Muslim men wear. In the background of the picture, the viewer will notice a growing city with many infrastructures being built. There are also power lines going across the top of the picture as well all along the background near the city. The contrast between the old and the new is very evident in the picture; therefore, the viewer might conclude that the

Saudi Arabia is a primarily oil-based economy, with oil being the most important component of the nation’s rapid economic development since World War II. U.S. geologists discovered oil in the region in the 1930s, and since exports expanded most notably in the 1960s, production and rich revenues have been seemingly limitless. The amount of oil in Saudi Arabia’s reserves amounts to close to a quarter of the world’s entire oil resources, and today the country produces about 10,000 barrels a day. As a result, the valuable resource currently accounts for 90% of the country’s exports and contributes to 75% of government revenues annually. During the 1970s, following the Arab-Israeli war, Saudi Arabia’s economy was one of the fastest growing in

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.

Niger Delta is one of the top ten largest deltas in the world, to the south of this delta is the Atlantic Ocean and to the north is the famous River Niger. The Niger Delta region in Nigeria is blessed with the natural resource of crude oil. Crude oil was discovered in this region since 1958, this made the Nigerian government to divert their attention from agriculture to oil production due to the excessive wealth they made from this new sector. At that time, many indigenes of the region called the discovery of crude oil in the Niger Delta ‘Black gold’, but with the passage of time, many of them have been proven wrong. This is because the discovery of crude oil has brought more damages to them than benefits. The country Nigeria, is currently ranked as one of the largest crude oil producers in the world. Which makes her inevitable prone to oil spillage and huge investment proposals/projects from large oil TNC’s (Shell, Exon Mobile, and Addax petroleum). Oil spillage due to the exploration and exploitation is the major cause of environmental degradation and pollution in the Niger Delta. However, this does not reduce the importance of other environmental issues like the indiscriminate waste disposal.

The Niger delta region has a population of 28 million people, a coverage of 70,000 square kilometers consisting of 606 fields, 5,284 wells, 7,000 kilometers of pipelines, 10 export terminals, 275 flow stations and a liquefied natural gas sector (Williams 2011). The Niger delta which is Nigeria’s oil belt has been embroiled in conflict and resistance against the government and multinational oil corporations that extract oil in the region. The Niger delta is highly volatile with insurgent groups controlling the area. Years of oil exploitation, environmental degradation and neglecting by the states has created an impoverished, marginalized and exploited region which has produced resistance form the youth in the Niger delta region. A regime of state repression and corporate violence has further generated popular criminal violence, lawlessness, illegal appropriations and insecurity (Williams 2011).

Nigeria is the largest oil producer in Africa, and currently its most populous country. After the oil discovery in the Niger Delta area of Oloibiri in 1956, the country has had oil has its main income producer. Before this, agriculture had the center stage; it accounted for 50% of revenue. Most of the oil exploration is done in the Niger Delta;a region that’s made up of nine states which includes; River, Cross River, AkwaIbom, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Imo, Abia, and Ondo. This region has an estimated population of 28 million, amounting to16.7% of Nigeria population (Emmanuel, 2004). It has however suffered the environmental impact of oil exploration with its attendant environmental degradation for years. Unfortunately, the influx of oil companies and the heightening of their operations in Niger Delta are not matched with an agenda for the development of Nigeria in general and Niger Delta in particular. The oil companies claim to have executed several projects in the host communities as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility. The claims include: construction of hospitals, roads and schools, provision of portable water, electricity, sponsorship, scholarships, and; supporting health campaign programmes among others. However, the host communities in Niger Delta seem not to have acknowledged these acclaimed community development projects by oil companies as they continue in their hostile disposition to the companies. According to Omole (2000), the relationship of

The analysis of the 2007 Mineral and Mining Act demonstrates that the excesses of the environmental damage in the Niger Delta region did not emanate from inadequate legislation. The problem is an ineffective implementation of the Act. As indicated in the first part of the paper, the Nigeria government lacks the political will to implement the appropriate clauses important for the protection of the Niger Delta’s ecosystem because a significant percentage of the government expenditure comes from revenues generated by oil corporations. The government’s incapacity to implement the Mineral and Mining Act results from a fear that strict adherence to the Act might dwindle national revenue, and constrains budget. While this fear is a genuine one, it can however be partly addressed by a diversification of the national economy, from oil based to include other sectors of the economy.

The Niger Delta Region of Nigeria produces a significant portion of the combined oil wealth of Nigeria. Since 1956 when oil was first struck in Oloibiri in Southern Nigeria, the Niger Delta region has accounted for over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s oil income; however, the region has continually suffered from environmental neglect, disintegrating infrastructures, high rate of unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty and widespread conflict. There have been incessant calls for the multi- national corporations(“MNCs”) operating in the area to demonstrate the value of their investments to Nigeria by undertaking increased corporate social responsibility(“CSR”) initiatives that provide for environmental friendly practices as well as direct social benefits such as local employment, new infrastructure, schools and improved health care delivery. In addition, the Nigerian regulatory measures enforcing the adoption of codes and conduct of CSR policies by these companies, their reporting practices and interaction with leading CSR institutions have either been non-existent or inadequately formulated and have therefore failed the entire population. The existing legal frame work needs to be reformulated into one which is fit for purpose. The is a dire need for an effective, independent management and enforcement of the host state’s regulatory exercise to alleviate the current perilous state of the region in particular and the country in general.

• As the land mass within the Niger Delta region gets degraded as a result of oil exploration and

Nigeria is Africa’s leading producer of oil and the seventh largest producer of crude oil in the world, and equally endowed with other numerous natural resources. But rather than utilizing its resources for maximum development, the country is unfortunately bedevilled with how to efficiently and effectively distribute oil revenues in an equitable manner. The revenue allocation phenomenon in Nigeria is basically the issue of distribution of national (resources) revenue, mobilized by the central federal government. And as far as the revenue allocation debacle is concerned, the haggling is between those who bake the national cake (major contributors to national revenue) and those at the helm of affairs to allocate it. There