Oil Activities, the Environment and Health Insecurity Concerns in the Niger Delta

Abstract

The human security paradigm is concerned with issues such as security from environmental despoliation, poverty, livelihoods, conflict and disease, which singly or collectively enhance human insecurity. The Nigerian state in partnership with the oil multinational companies has carried out oil activities in the Niger Delta since 1956. These activities have been carried out with little regard for the environment and the people. As a result, the Niger Delta has been visited with oil-related "ecological warfare"; polluted environment, large scale displacements and acute poverty. The study examines crude oil exploration and exploitation activities in the Niger Delta and how these have impacted on human security in the region. It examines closely the effects of oil activities on health security of the Niger Delta people, deploying both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies for data collection, analysis and presentation. The data for this study were collected using multiple sources (triangulation), which included; structured close-ended questionnaire schedule, focus group discussions and open-ended target interviews. The study concludes that since the 1990s, human security in the Niger Delta has been stymied and often completely eroded