ECO INJUSTICE AND THE NIGER DELTA QUESTION

Abstract

The Niger Delta region has long been tension ridden with the issues of environmental challenges resulting from oil exploration activities. The people of the region have suffered immensely from environmental pollution, destruction of the ecosystem and economic mainstay of the people which is predominantly fishing. The arrant disregard of the plight of the Niger Delta region by the multinational oil companies and the Nigerian state has been a highly contentious topic in several academic fora and discourses concerning the environmental degradation in Nigeria and the global sphere. The oil communities seem to have been rendered helpless and voiceless by the continued oppression and suppression of the obnoxious power play that has deprived the oil communities of their right to contribute to the making and application of policies that affect their well-being and that of their environment. The continued subalternisation of the Niger-delta people who are sacrificed on the altar of national politics calls for an investigation of the need for eco-justice concerning the Niger-delta question. This paper therefore examines the ecological problems of the niger-delta region, the responses it attracts and the solutions to the Niger Delta environmental crisis. The work employed the critical analysis method to understand and address the iniquities in Nigeria's fiscal structure. The findings among others posit that the States and Regional Governments should own, control their resources( for example, crude oil etc), maintain the Niger Delta environment and pay taxes to the Federal Government. This will facilitate fair distribution and management of resources and the Niger Delta environmental maintenance that are central to the Eco Injustice and the  Niger Delta question.