Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Oil, Environment, and Lifeworlds in the Niger Delta

Jackson Tamunosaki Jack, Lasisi Raimi, Jabulani Shaba, and Iva Peša

This Special Issue is the product of selected papers from the conference Oil, Environment, and Lifeworlds in the Niger Delta: Environmental History Approaches, held in July 2024 at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. The conference was organised under the research project Environmental Histories of Resource Extraction in Africa (AFREXTRACT), funded by the European Research Council. While more than 30 papers were presented at the conference, the ones included in this Special Issue have been through a rigorous peer review process, ensuring their high quality. They offer significant knowledge on how oil extraction impacts the environment and how the inhabitants of the Niger Delta region recreate their lifeworlds amidst increasingly precarious ecological conditions.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Petro-Aggression and Livelihood Challenges of Women Living with Disabilities in the Niger Delta

Emmanuel Nwakanma

Oil politics and economic violence present distinct challenges for women living with disabilities, amplifying existing vulnerabilities and creating unique forms of marginalisation in communities impacted by environmental degradation. Anecdotal evidence shows that the attendant consequences of ‘petro-aggression’ in the oil-rich Niger Delta region impacts negatively on the populace, particularly women. From environmental degradation to disrupted traditional livelihoods and its attendant socio-economic and health implications, women suffer multidimensional hardship that impacts their lives adversely. This study aims at investigating the complexities faced by women, especially those living with disabilities, in the Niger Delta, as a way to address the interconnected issues of oil politics, economic violence, and livelihood challenges in the region. The study adopts a cross-sectional qualitative research design involving 45 rural women living with disabilities in three Niger Delta States (namely, Rivers, Delta, and Bayelsa States). Relevant data were gathered through interviews and focus group discussions, and the findings were documented verbatim and presented using narrative analysis. Findings of the study reveal that environmental damages and displacements resulting from oil activities destroy traditional livelihoods relied upon by women with disabilities, deepening poverty and dependence. Furthermore, oil-related violence and instability often disrupt support systems and services specifically designed for people with disabilities, leaving them isolated and without essential support. As such, the study recommends, inter alia, that implementing inclusive development models, advocating for better protection, and promoting access to resources are key steps towards mitigating these challenges and ensuring their rights and well-being.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Artisanal Crude Oil Refining and Social Dynamics: Implications for Environmental Sustainability

Clinton Areprekumor and Iti Orugbani

Studies on environmental sustainability in the Niger Delta have drawn considerable attention to the role of artisanal crude oil refining and the adverse effects it has on the environment. However, limited scholarly attention has been paid to the social transformations resulting from this informal economic activity and how it impedes collective action toward sustainability. This study fills this gap by exploring the socio-environmental impacts of artisanal refining—how it reshapes social structures, creates new hierarchies, alters traditional power dynamics, perpetuates pollution, and undermines communal efforts toward environmental protection. Anchored within the Political Ecology framework, the study interrogates how local responses to economic marginalisation and environmental degradation shape the evolution and entrenchment of artisanal refining. The research was conducted in Peremabiri (Southern Ijaw LGA) and Okoroba (Nembe LGA) in Bayelsa State—communities long exposed to artisanal refining. Employing a qualitative historical method within the interpretivist paradigm, the study focused on the period 2001 to 2024. A purposive sampling technique guided the selection of 24 interview participants, including refiners, retailers, community leaders, women, and youths, along with four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) of 5–10 participants each. Data were collected through oral histories and narratives in local dialects and Pidgin English, and analysed using thematic content analysis. Findings reveal that artisanal refining transforms communities by creating new economic elites and informal networks, that weaken traditional authority and impede collective environmental action. The study concludes that sustainability efforts must engage these informal structures rather than bypass them, recommending livelihood alternatives, local empowerment, and stronger regulatory capacity to balance economic survival with environmental goals.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

The Niger Delta Environmental Advocacy Strategy in the Drive for International Oil Companies Divestment: An Empirical Review

Anderson Samasi

The importance of the oil and gas industry to the Nigerian economy cannot be overemphasised, even though ethical and environmentally friendly practices were exchanged for financial gain. Massive oil spills are among the most significant impacts on the ecology and living conditions of the people in the Niger Delta, where the Nigerian oil industry operates. This article aims to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by examining the current state of environmental degradation in the Niger Delta caused by oil exploration and production, assessing the environmental litigation records of international oil companies (IOCs) operating in the region, and highlighting the successful case studies of environmental advocacy that have engendered corporate divestment or significant policy changes. Relying on secondary data, the study concludes that the Niger Delta has suffered decades of environmental degradation, primarily due to recurrent and large-scale oil spills, while remediation efforts have remained relatively slow and inadequate in terms of implementation. The litigation history of IOCs, resulting from the massive degradation of the environment linked to their operations in the region, is known to be a major contributor to the current wave of asset divestment. Ogoni, in Rivers State, stands out as a major example where successful environmental advocacy has led to both asset divestment and meaningful policy changes.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Livelihoods Crisis and Emerging Adaptation Strategies in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region

Joseph Paulinus Ekong

Nigeria’s Niger Delta is currently trapped in a web of environmental pollution and livelihood crisis enabled by decades of crude oil exploration and exploitation by both the international and local oil companies. Limited interventions have been made by business concerns that are directly responsible for the environmental degradation, as well as governments at all levels in restoring and creating alternative sources of livelihoods for the people in the impacted communities. This paper submits that there is a connivance between the Nigerian state and the operators of the country’s petroleum industry to exploit resources in the region, and the people therein, without serious considerations for their lost sources of livelihood, despite pushing the majority of them into multidimensional poverty. Therefore, the paper examines the extent of the livelihood crisis in the Niger Delta caused by oil and gas operations and climate change; investigates the emerging livelihood options in the region; and suggests ways of revamping the ailing local economy. This study employed the sustainable livelihoods theory in explaining the variables herein. Data were derived from secondary sources such as academic journals, publications by non-governmental organisations, government gazettes, and others. The findings reveal that oil and gas activities have constantly truncated the aquatic and mangrove ecosystem in the region, and that citizens’ traditional sources of livelihoods are either on the verge of extinction or already extinct, leading to imminent humanitarian and security crises. To address the existing livelihoods crisis in the region, the study recommends the revival of green, blue, and digital economies to provide alternative sources of livelihoods for the people; the replication of the Ogoni clean-up prototype in other impacted communities in the Niger Delta, and the effective implementation of the Host Communities Development Trusts enshrined in the Petroleum Industry Act, amongst others.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Oil and Emerging Ruling Class in Nigeria’s Niger Delta Region

Amaechi Kelechi Justin

The history of oil extraction in Nigeria cannot be extricated from the sociocultural, economic, and political life of the people of the Niger Delta region, with its attendant multi-dimensional challenges—extreme poverty, environmental degradation, conflict, and cultural change. As a direct response to the vestiges of oil, there seems to be a dramatic change in the nature and character of the ruling class in the region—from orthodox to neo-ruling class. Interestingly, previous studies have focused largely on resource-related inter- and intra-community conflicts, including the quest for self-determination heralded by militancy. However, this study seeks to examine the historical parallels between oil and the dynamics of the ruling class in the region. It argues that the emerging ruling class is both internal and external and largely connected to the control of oil resources. Pertinently, the social actors in the industry, traditional institutions, politics, and civil society are no longer the orthodox, but rather eccentric neo-actors. The study applies the cyclical theory of social change and a qualitative research design as its theoretical and methodological frameworks. This study concludes that members of the neo-ruling class, who now have access to oil wealth and power—just as the previous or orthodox ruling class had control over palm oil and the commercial waterways—are responsible for underdevelopment, as well as the socio-economic and political dynamics driving social inequalities and unrest. It recommends free, fair, and secure elections; the strengthening of socio-cultural values and norms; and the facilitation of equitable wealth redistribution to ensure sustainable development.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Ecological Changes and Emerging Patterns of Consumption in Oil-bearing Communities in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State

Elliot A. Sibiri, Benjamin Joffa, and Endurance Uzobo

While existing studies have examined how anthropogenic activities have engendered environmental changes, relatively little scholarly energy has gone into understanding how these changes are reshaping emerging consumption patterns in oil-bearing communities, which were once characterised by traditional adaptation strategies. This study examines ecological changes and emerging patterns of consumption in oil-bearing communities within Southern Ijaw Local Government Area (LGA), Bayelsa State. The study is anchored on the Ecological Modernisation Theory and the Social-Ecological Systems (SES) framework. A phenomenological qualitative design was employed, using a purposive sample of participants in five selected clans in the study area. 10 key informant interviews (2 from each community) were conducted with community leaders. 10 in-depth interviews (2 from each community) were conducted with farmers and fishermen. Furthermore, hunters and farmer groups participated in focus group discussions (1 for each community). The data gathered were analysed through thematic and content analysis techniques. The results of the study show that ecological changes have led to the contamination of several water resources and reduced soil productivity. This has resulted in the loss of numerous animal species and massive alterations to the environment. Additionally, the study indicates that new consumption patterns have emerged due to these ecological changes. Consequently, most communities now rely on imported goods for their daily survival as a coping mechanism. The study recommends reparations for years of neglect and pollution by both the government and oil companies, to provide broader and more sustainable support to community members.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Artisanal Refining of Crude Oil, Human Security, and Alternative Livelihood Outcomes in Obhan-Emeyal (Kolo Creek) Area of Ogbia LGA in Bayelsa State

Weni Kokinobo Igirigi and Elliot A. Sibiri

This study examines government efforts to curb oil bunkering in the Kolo Creek axis of Ogbia Local Government Area, Bayelsa State. Driven by poverty, unemployment, and marginalisation, artisanal oil refining has persisted despite severe environmental and security risks. Drawing on the assumptions of the Relative Deprivation Theory, this study examines how perceived economic exclusion fuels resistance to government interventions. A descriptive phenomenological methodology was adopted, employing in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and key informant interviews to collect data from participants in Otuegwe II, Ibelebiri, and Oruma communities. Findings reveal that although military interventions disrupt illegal refining, they also exacerbate human insecurity, deepen economic distress, and upscale community distrust. Participants reported increased violence, displacement, and theft following the cessation of oil bunkering, with some youths turning to palm kernel oil production as an alternative means of livelihood. However, the economic hardship and lack of sustainable opportunities have made the allure of illegal refining enduring. The study recommends a shift from militarised responses to community-driven solutions. Government and stakeholders should prioritise sustainable livelihood programmes, such as agriculture, aquaculture, and value chains for palm kernel oil, to address root causes of poverty and unemployment. Meaningful community engagement and infrastructural development are critical for achieving long-term success in eradicating oil bunkering.

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Special Issue No. 3 September 2025

Oil Spills and Community Compensation Claims in Nigeria: The Bodo Community Experience (2008-2015)

Lawrence Barinem Dube

Environmental justice struggles have remained a dominant feature of civic action and political engagement by oil-impacted communities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta, particularly in their interface with the Nigerian state and oil multinational corporations (IOCs). While most of the confrontations between oil communities, NGOs, and community-based social movements have been informed by nonviolent protests and campaigns, efforts to pursue legal avenues in order to make the Nigerian state and oil corporations accountable have been limited. This is as a result of the weak judicial setting and loopholes in Nigerian environmental torts that make it problematic to bring the state and corporations to justice. This trend changed when, with the support of national and international NGOs, the people of Bodo community in Ogoni sued Shell in a United Kingdom court and got compensated for two massive oil spills that ravaged the community in 2008 and 2009. This paper examines the Bodo oil spills, their environmental impacts, and the resilience of the Bodo people in demanding accountability and environmental justice through litigation. It argues that the payment of monetary compensation is not sufficient for the massive environmental losses suffered by the community in the face of two massive oil spills. Hence, the success of the Bodo oil spill case is not sufficient to claim that justice has been procured for the community. Although real justice may not have been achieved from the Bodo oil spill case, the paper argues that it has nonetheless inspired other communities to pursue their environmental justice claims against Shell in foreign jurisdictions.

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