By Kelechukwu Iruoma
Boasting the largest oil-producing mines in Africa, Nigeria holds a significant portion of its crude reserves beneath farms and rivers, from which oil companies extract at least 100 million barrels of crude each year.
Yet since the 1970s, oil spills caused by drilling operations of multinational companies such as Shell and Chevron, as well as equipment failures, have repeatedly devastated the oil-rich Niger Delta region.
The results have been rivers and lakes coated with oil slicks, fish trapped in viscous crude and a ripple effect on the entire ecosystem. The spills have also had a huge toll on the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen, who depend on this ecosystem.
Crude oil accounts for more than 75 per cent of Nigeria’s foreign revenue. However, the country has struggled to address the significant environmental challenges that arise from oil-exploration activities.
Between 2003 and 2014, heavy oil spills from the Bomu manifold, a Shell facility at Kegbara Dere (K-Dere) in Gokana local government area of Rivers State, destroyed vast expanses of mangroves and farmlands. In 2015, Amnesty International reported that around 352,000 barrels of crude were spilt between 2007 and 2014 alone.
Since 1993, when activists from Ogoniland protested against Shell’s environmental destruction, the oil company has ceased drilling in Ogoni. However, its pipelines continue to ferry roughly 150,000 barrels of crude oil daily through the region to its export terminal at Bonny Island.
These ageing, poorly maintained pipelines have been blighted by multiple ruptures, causing thousands of barrels of crude oil to be spilt along the way.
Growing up in the Niger Delta, Erabanabari Kobah, an environmental scientist at K-Dere, recalls his father fishing from a particular creek. “On sunny days like this, many of us would come to the creek to cool off,” he told Prime Progress. “There was once luscious vegetation, but they have all been destroyed.”
Amidst the environmental devastation, a beacon of hope is emerging. A community-based mangrove restoration initiative, led by the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), aims to restore destroyed mangroves in Ogoni, Rivers State.
CEHRD helps the communities by training the people to gather mangrove seedlings and raise a nursery for six months before moving them to designated mangrove sites for planting.
With funding from organisations including PADI foundation, Global Greengrants Fund, Agroecology Fund, Global Environment Facility and the Dutch embassy in Abuja, CEHRD has helped to restore 3,500 hectares of mangroves in Ogoniland.
“You can’t talk about the Niger Delta without talking about mangroves. They are quite important,” said Tammy Cookey, head of environment and conservation at CEHRD, in an interview with FairPlanet.
Collins Barineka, a resident of the Kono community in Ogoniland, joined the CEHRD training to revive the depleted mangroves in his community. Since he began planting mangroves daily, Barineka has so far nurtured over 800 mangrove seedlings in his community.
CEHRD’s initiative demonstrates how awareness campaigns can drive land-restoration efforts in the Niger Delta, inspiring collective action and restoring economic opportunities for affected residents.
“We want the people to bounce back to their source of livelihood,” Cookey emphasised.
Nigeria, home to Africa's largest oil-producing mines, relies heavily on crude oil for foreign revenue, with at least 100 million barrels extracted annually. However, since the 1970s, oil spills from multinational companies like Shell and Chevron have repeatedly devastated the Niger Delta region, destroying ecosystems and impacting the livelihoods of farmers and fishermen reliant on the land. Environmental damage is exacerbated by ageing, poorly maintained pipelines that frequently rupture, spilling thousands of barrels of oil.
Despite a cessation of drilling by Shell in Ogoniland since 1993, pipelines continue to transport crude, worsening environmental damage. In response to this devastation, the Center for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD) has initiated a community-based mangrove restoration program in Rivers State, helping communities gather and plant mangrove seedlings. This initiative, funded by various international organizations, has already restored 3,500 hectares of mangroves, contributing to ecosystem recovery and the revival of local livelihoods. This effort exemplifies the potential of awareness campaigns to inspire community-driven environmental restoration and economic resilience.
