Niger Delta
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The Niger Delta, the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, is a densely populated region sometimes called the Oil Rivers because it was once a major producer of palm oil. The area was the British Oil Rivers Protectorate from 1885 until 1893, when it was expanded and became the Niger Coast Protectorate.
The Niger Delta, as defined officially by the Nigerian Government, extends over about 70,000 square kilometres and makes up 7.5% of Nigeria’s land mass. It includes land in Abia State, Akwa Ibom State, Bayelsa State, Cross River State, Delta State, Edo State, Imo State, Ondo State and Rivers State. Some 20 million people of more than 40 ethnic groups, speaking some 250 dialects live in the Delta. Their livelihoods are primarily based on fishing and farming.
Coincidentally, Nigeria has become Africa's biggest producer of petroleum, including many oil wells in the Oil Rivers. Some 2 million barrels a day are extracted in the Niger Delta. Since 1975, the region has accounted for more than 75% of Nigeria's export earnings. Much of the natural gas extracted in oil wells in the Delta is immediately burned, or flared, into the air at a rate of approximately 2.5 billion cubic feet per day. This is equivalent to 40% of African natural gas consumption, and forms the single largest source of greenhouse gas emissions on the planet. The environmental devastation associated with the industry and the lack of distribution of oil wealth have been the source and/or key aggravating factors of numerous environmental movements and inter-ethnic conflicts in the region, including recent guerilla activity by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta.
[edit] Recent Destabilisation
Activities of local indigenous people against commercial oil refineries and pipelines has resulted in the destabilisation of the region. Recently hostages of western oil workers for Shell, the primary corporation in operation in the region, were taken by outraged local people. Such activities has also resulted in greater governmental concern with the area, and the mobilisation of the Nigerian army and coastguard into the region.
It should not be confused with the Inner Niger Delta, also known as the Niger Inland Delta, in Mali.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- American Association for the Advancement of Science, Niger Delta
- Niger-Delta Development Commission, Niger Delta: A Brief History
- Environmental Rights Action
- Climate Justice Programme and Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Human Rights, Environmental and Economic Monstrosity, June 2005.
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