THE MANAGEMENT OF OIL SPILLAGE IN THE

NIGER DELTA REGION OF NIGERIA

A Dissertation submitted in part fulfilment of

MSc Environmental Management

UGOCHI ELIZABETH, EKWUGHA

12058556
Supervised by
Dr Trevor Price
Shane Galvin

University of South Wales

Faculty of Computer, Engineering and Sciences

May 2014
ABSTRACT
There has been a proliferation in the activities of crude oil exploration across the globe as a
result of increase in high risk of oil spillage and the accompanying environmental hazards. In
Nigeria, this has been the order of the day since the initiation of the first petroleum industry
in countrys Niger delta region. Oil spills have been recurrent and impacting damaging effects
on the environment particularly within the oil-producing region. This research examines oil
spillage and their associative effects on the fauna and flora of the Niger delta region of
Nigeria. It seeks to assess how the federal government and the oil firms manage oil spill
incidents and the degradation of environment brought about by the oil spillage.

The results of the research have identified gaps and need for improvement to manage oil
spills incidents to protect the environment. It has uncovered the need for the Nigerian
environmental laws and policy to be updated. It is proposed that there is need for the
government to set out strict obligation for degradation of the environment. The oil generating
organisations in Nigeria should comply to international best practices in exploitation of oil
and the Nigerian government should go past the limits of directive and control methodology
to contamination abatement and embrace different suitable technology for oil spill control as
well as involving inhabitants of the Niger delta region in the management of oil spill.
DECLARATION
This is to certify that except where specific reference is made, the work contained within this
dissertation is the result of my independent investigation and no part of this work has been
presented in candidature for any award in part or in its entirety. All sources are duly
referenced.

Name/Signature ___________________________________

Date ____________________________________________
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to God Almighty, for guidance,
knowledge and health during my academic time. I would not have achieved my studies
without his love and mercy. Thank you Lord.

I would like to thank the management and employees of the various organisations that
assisted me in this research and many thanks to residents of the Niger delta region of Nigeria
who participated immensely in the field survey aspect of this research.

Furthermore, I am indebted to Nosike Amucheazi for the immense support and timely
information on my studies and during this research. My utmost appreciation to my
supervisor- Dr T Price and Shane Galvin for the guide, direction and advice which were very
useful to achieve this research. I also appreciate all other lecturers in my department for their
effort in preparing me for the research and to my colleague Mr Olayinka Salau for all the
assistance.

This acknowledgement will not be complete without my sincere gratitude to my parent Mr

and Mrs Sunny Ekwugha, my siblings and entire relations for their tremendous
encouragement and support towards my education.

Finally, I would like to thank all my colleagues and friends who were so helpful through the
stages of the research. Thank you all.

Table of Contents
ABSTRACT.............................................................................................................. 2
DECLARATION........................................................................................................ 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS........................................................................................... 4
LIST OF TABLE........................................................................................................ 6
LIST OF FIGURES..................................................................................................... 7
LIST OF ACRONYMS................................................................................................. 7
SECTION 1.0: INTRODUCTION...................................................................................8
1.1 Study Background.......................................................................................... 8
1.2 Statement of Problem...................................................................................... 9
1.3 Aim and Objective........................................................................................ 10
1.4 Significance of the Study................................................................................11
1.5 Scope of Study............................................................................................. 11
SECTION 2.0: LITERATURE REVIEW.........................................................................12
2.1 Crude oil and Oil spillage.................................................................................... 12
2.1.1 Crude Oil.................................................................................................. 13
2.1.2 Crude oil and Nigeria Economy.......................................................................14
2.1.3 Oil spillage................................................................................................ 14
2.2 Causes and Impacts of Oil spill............................................................................. 15
2.2.1 Causes of Oil spill........................................................................................ 15
2.2.2 Oil spill incidents In Niger Delta......................................................................17
2.2.3 Impacts of Oil spill....................................................................................... 18
2.3 Management of Oil spills.................................................................................... 21
2.3.1 Bioremediation approach...............................................................................23
2.3.2 International Co-operation..............................................................................23
2.3.3 Mechanical Containment...............................................................................24
2.3.4 Chemical and biological methods.....................................................................24
2.3.5 Physical methods......................................................................................... 25
SECTION 3: METHODOLOGY............................................................................... 25
3.1. Introduction................................................................................................. 25
3.2. Research Philosophy......................................................................................... 26
3.2.1 Epistemological and Ontological Assumption......................................................26
3.2.2 Phenomenology and Positivism.......................................................................26
3.2.3. Qualitative and Quantitative Research..............................................................27
3.3. Overview about Interview and Questionnaires..........................................................27
3.4 Interviews....................................................................................................... 28
3.5 Survey Questionnaire......................................................................................... 29
3.5.1 Structure and design of questionnaire................................................................29
 3.5.2 Pre-testing Questionnaires.............................................................................. 30
3.5.3 Administering the Questionnaire......................................................................31
3.5.4 Ethics and Analysis...................................................................................... 31
3.6 Research Limitations.......................................................................................... 32
SECTION 4: RESULTS AND ANALYSIS......................................................................32
4.1 Participants description....................................................................................... 33
4.2 Awareness....................................................................................................... 35
4.2.1 Knowledge of oil spill...................................................................................35
4.2.2 Number of Oil spill...................................................................................... 36
4.3 Causes of oil spill.............................................................................................. 38
4.3.1 Causes of Oil spill........................................................................................ 38
4.3.2 Factors responsible for the cause of oil spill........................................................39
4.4 Impact of oil spill.............................................................................................. 40
4.4.1 Amount of Inhabitants affected by oil spill..........................................................40
4.4.2 Main areas affected by oil spill........................................................................40
4.4.3 Degree of oil spill impact............................................................................... 41
4.4.4 Duration of oil spill impact.............................................................................43
4.5 Management of oil spill...................................................................................... 44
4.5.1 Control of oil spill........................................................................................ 44
4.5.2 Approach towards oil spill..............................................................................45
4.5.3 Prevention and response to oil spill...................................................................46
4.5.4 Social responsibility..................................................................................... 48
4.5.5 Oil spill control performance..........................................................................49
4.6 Summary........................................................................................................ 50
5.1 Conclusion...................................................................................................... 52
5.2 Recommendations............................................................................................. 53
5.4 Reflective Analysis............................................................................................ 56
SECTION 6: REFERENCES AND BIBLOGRAPHY.........................................................58
6.1 References...................................................................................................... 58
6.2 Bibliography.................................................................................................... 60

LIST OF TABLE
Table 1: Oil spill category........................................................................................... 15
Table 2: Oil spill incidents in the Niger Delta...................................................................18
Table 3: Respondents{participants} profile......................................................................33

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Knowledge of oil spill............................................................................ 35
Figure 2. Experience of oil spill incident.........................................................................36
Figure 3.Number of oil spill occurrence..........................................................................36
Figure 4. Oil spill incidents.......................................................................................... 37
Figure 5.Causes of oil spill.......................................................................................... 38
Figure 6. Factors responsible for oil spill.........................................................................39
Figure 7. Amount of inhabitants affected by oil spill...........................................................40
Figure 8. Main areas affected by oil spill.........................................................................41
Figure 9.Degree of oil spill impact.................................................................................42
Figure 10. Quantity of oil spilled................................................................................... 43
Figure 11. Duration of oil spill impact............................................................................44
Figure 12.Control of oil spill........................................................................................ 45
Figure 13. Approach towards oil spill............................................................................. 46
Figure 14. Prevented oil spill........................................................................................ 47
Figure 15. response to oil spill incident...........................................................................48
Figure 16. Compensation for oil spill impact....................................................................49
Figure 17. Oil spill control performance..........................................................................50

LIST OF ACRONYMS

CNA CleanNigeriaAssociation

DPR DepartmentofPetroleumResources

EIA EnvironmentalImpactAssessment

FEPA FederalEnvironmentalProtectionAgency
NDDC NigerDeltaDevelopmentCommission

NNPC NigeriaNationalPetroleumCorporation

NOSDRA NationalOilSpillDetection

OPA OilPollutionAct

LPG Liquefied Petroleum Gases

NEST National Environmental Study Team

SPDC Shell Petroleum Development Company

FEPA The Federal Environmental Protection Agency

EVOS Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

SECTION 1.0: INTRODUCTION

1.1 Study Background

In recent years, tremendous attention has been directed towards environmental deterioration
by mans activities which adversely affect the lives of plants and animals on land, water and
air and even livelihood of people (OECD, 1976). One activity that has aroused considerable
interest across the globe and especially in oil producing countries like Nigeria especially in
the Niger Delta region is crude oil exploration. Crude oil exploration is one of such activity
that can affect the environment negatively especially when accidents occur in operations
resulting to spillage of oil. As a result of the impacts of crude oil operations to the
environment, there have been actions in the activities of crude oil exploration across the
globe to prevent the high risk of oil spillage and the accompanying environmental hazards
(Ojakorotu and Gilbert, 2010). However, the exposure to risk has not been helped by the
players in the oil industry who jostle for the liquid gold thereby putting pressure on the oil
producing communities and the surrounding environment. According to Egwu (2012), one of
the factors that cause discharge of oil to the environmental is the unethical engineering
operations practiced by the industries involved.

An example of the catastrophic impact of oil spill is the Exxon Valdez oil spill which
occurred in Prince William Sound, Alaska, on March 24, 1989 with an estimated crude oil
spill of 260,000 to 750,000 barrels and more recently the BP deep-water horizon oil spill on
20 April 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico caused by the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater
Horizon oil rig. It caused an oil discharge for 87 days with an estimated the total discharge at
4.9 million barrels, (Egwu, 2012). As a result of lessons learnt from these and other oil spills,
the prevention, response and management of oil spills is being given top priority worldwide
especially in oil producing countries such as Nigeria in order to circumvent the economic and
environmental hazards of an oil spill. To this end, several initiatives have come to the fore.
One of such initiatives is to make and enforce laws and contingency plans for the prevention
and control of oil spills. It is however curious that in most developing oil producing nations
including Nigeria, the management of oil spill to prevent and respond to unwanted oil
discharge even after so many years of petroleum exploration and production activities have
not seen a reduction in the number of spillage occurrence. This has caused the government to
resolve to grossly inadequate measure of monetary compensation to the victims of oil spill
rather than concerning itself with the more appropriate solution of prevention and
management to safeguard the environment, society and economy from the menace that is an
oil spill.

1.2 Statement of Problem

Spillage of oil from exploration activities in the many parts of the world has lead to massive
environmental degradation in the past decades. Such problems include contamination of
water bodies, danger to aquatic life, destruction of flora and farmlands which includes resort
centers, destruction of properties, loss of lives and many more (Badejo and Nwilo, 2008).

In addition, oil spillage impacts to the environment can lead to unwanted migration of people
from the areas. According to Nwilo and Badejo (2005), the consequences of oil spill is far-
reaching as it impacts negatively on the economy of a region, pollutes water thereby health of
the local community, contaminates soils rendering it useless for farming and the reputation of
the oil companies involved. These environmental consequences are some of the impacts of oil
spillage observed in the Niger delta region of Nigeria but could be more. Therefore the need
for measures to prevent and control oil spillage in Nigeria cannot be overemphasized. The
first step in managing crisis like oil spills would be identifying the factors responsible for the
spillage and similar incidents managements methods. With the outcome, better managerial
approach can be adopted to prevent and respond to oil spills. The question that therefore
arises are;

A) What are the causes of oil spill occurrence in the Niger delta region of Nigeria?
B) What are the impacts of oil Spillage in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria?
C) What are the management systems adopted for control of oil spill in Nigeria?

Investigating these matters can also expose serious gaps in the management system for
control of oil spill in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. This increases demand for suitable
systems to address the issue of oil spill in the Niger-delta region of Nigeria by the
government and oil industries.

1.3 Aim and Objective

1.3.1 Aims
This research aims to investigate the causes and impacts of oil spill in the Niger Delta region
of Nigeria and to identify the suitable management systems for the control of oil spillage so
as to reduce oil spills in the Niger delta region of Nigeria

1.3.2 Objectives
To attain the above stated aim, the objectives stated below will be achieved:

Review of appropriate literatures pertaining to the study

Investigation of the various causes and impacts of oil spills in the Niger delta region.
 Investigation of the management systems used in controlling oil spills in the Niger
delta region.
Analysing acquired data and information of the subject matter.
Identifying the main factors affecting the effectiveness of management systems to
reduce oil spills in the region.
Proffering suitable management systems and providing recommendations to improve
the management of oil spillage in the Niger delta region.

1.4 Significance of the Study

Research has a significant role to play in discovering approaches to prevent, respond, and
manage issues like such presented by oil spillage in oil production activities in The Niger
delta region of Nigeria. This study will critically investigate and analyse the causes, and
provide recommendations for the improvement of the oil spills management in the Niger
delta region of Nigeria, in order to reduce and where possible prevent the occurrence of oil
spillages in the region.

1.5 Scope of Study

This study is focused on oil spillage in the Niger delta region of Nigeria but particularly on
causes and impacts of Oil spillage in the region and the management systems practiced in
controlling oil spills in the area. This study is necessary at the time considering the
increasing environmental deterioration in the Niger delta region and presently the increase of
migration of people from the rural areas to urban area.

The Niger delta region of Nigeria is the source of over 90 per cent of crude oil, which is the
main stay of the Nigerian economy. Oil accounts for over 90 per cent of the countrys export
earnings and some 80 percent of government revenue.

More than four decades of oil exploration and production activities have left a severely
degraded environment in Nigeria's Niger Delta oil region, through uncontrolled discharge of
oil or its by-products including chemicals and wastes, The Niger Delta is located on the
Atlantic Coast of Southern Nigeria. It is the second largest delta in the world with a coastline
spanning about 450 kilometers and it has been described as the largest wetland in Africa and
among the three largest in the world (NDES, 1997).

About 2,370 square kilometers of the Niger Delta area consist of rivers, creeks and estuaries
with stagnant swamp covering about 1900 sq. km. This is largest Mangrove swamp in Africa;
the region also falls within the tropical rain forest zone. The ecosystem of the area is highly
diverse and supportive of numerous species of terrestrial aquatic flora and fauna in addition
to human life. The Niger Delta region cuts across nine states in Southern Nigeria which
includes Bayelsa, Abia, Cross-River, Akwa-Ibom, Imo, Delta, Edo, Rivers, and Ondo States.
The region has emerged as one of the most ecologically sensitive regions in Nigeria.

SECTION 2.0: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Crude oil and Oil spillage

The importance of various resources including crude oil to the economy of a country cannot
be over empathised however some of these resources are dangerous to the environment if not
properly managed. This section provides an in-depth understanding of crude oil natural
resources.

2.1.1 Crude Oil

Crude oil also referred to as Oil is the term for "unprocessed" oil that can be found in porous
rock formations in the upper strata of some areas of the Earths crust (CERA, 2006). It is also
found in semi-solid form mixed with sand and water. Crude oil is a fossil fuel, a natural
resource from decaying plants and animals over millions of years ago (in most places; crude
oil can be found along sea beds). Crude oil varies in colour, from clear to tar-black, and in
viscosity, from water to almost solid (Oil sands-Glossary, 2007). Although, oil was used to
keep fires ablaze in early human history, its importance in the world economy evolved
slowly. Oil is of great importance to the world at large. Oil has become the worlds most
important source of energy since the mid-1950s. This is as a result of its relative abundance,
high energy density and easy transportability to different areas. Generally, oil is vital to
industries and it accounts for a large percentage of the worlds energy consumption (CERA,
2006). The world at large consumes 30 billion barrels (4.8km) of oil per year and top oil
consumers largely consist of developed nations. This makes it one of the worlds most
important commodities (International Energy Annual, (2004), 2008).

Additionally, oil (in the form of petroleum) serves as raw material for many chemical
products, including fertilizers, pharmaceuticals, plastics, pesticides and solvents (Wikipedia,
2009). It is also an energy source powering the vast majority of vehicles. Oil consists of
hydrocarbons, which include mostly various aromatic hydrocarbons, cycloalkanes and
alkanes while other organic compounds contain nitrogen, oxygen and sulphur, as well as trace
amounts of metals such as nickel, iron, vanadium and copper (Speight, 1999). Crude oil
could be classified in various forms such as light crude oil or heavy crude oil. Each crude oil
has unique molecular characteristics, which are understood by the use of crude oil assay
analyses in petroleum laboratories (Wikipedia, 2009).

Crude oil is sent to the refinery after it is removed from the ground, and at the refinery,
different parts of the crude oil are separated into useable petroleum products. The petroleum
Industry is involved in this process, as well as with exploration, extraction, transportation and
marketing of the entire petroleum product. The industry is divided into three major
components, namely the upstream, midstream and downstream. Some of the products of
crude oil include Liquefied Petroleum Gases (LPG), heavy fuel oil, diesel, gasoline, etc (EIA,
2009). The products are stored on-site until they can be delivered to various markets such as
gas stations, airports and chemical plants.
2.1.2 Crude oil and Nigeria Economy

The development of the human environment worldwide has been accompanied by

industrialization. The oil industry has remained the leading sector of the Nigerian economy
for many decades now. According to EIA (2009), the Nigerian economy is heavily dependent
on the oil sector, which accounts for over 95 percent of export earnings and about 85 percent
of government revenues. The oil industry is primarily located in the Niger Delta area of the
country. In addition, Nigeria had an estimated 36.2 billion barrels of proven oil reserves as of
January 2009.

In 2008, Crude oil production in Nigerian reached a mark of about 1.94 million barrels per
day (bbl/d), making it the largest crude oil producer in Africa. And also being an important oil
supplier to most developed countries. Over half of the countrys oil production is exported to
the United States. In 2008, Nigeria exported about 2.17 million bbl/d of oil production of this,
990,000bbl/d (44 percent) was exported to the United States, making Nigeria the fifth largest
foreign oil supplier to the United States. The major foreign producers in Nigeria are Shell,
Chevron, ExxonMobil, Total and Eni/Agip (Experts column, 2010).

Nigeria is greatly endowed with abundant natural resources and the weather supports year
round agricultural production. In the past, Nigeria has depended largely on industrial and
manufacturing sectors, as well as agricultural production and the export of cash crops like
groundnut, millets, maize, cocoa and palm oil, which had a positive growth rate for its
income, until oil was discovered in Nigeria. However the activities of oil exploration are not
without some undesirable spin offs on the environment such as oil spills. This is the case in
the Niger delta region of Nigeria where majority of the crude oil exploration activities are
conducted.

2.1.3 Oil spillage

Oil spills are discharges of oil (crude or refined) into the environment which normally occurs
as a result of accident caused by the malfunctioning of equipment or through human error.
According to U.S Environmental Protection agency (2004), oil spill can be defined as
discrete event in which oil is discharged through neglect, by accident or with intent over a
relatively short time. It does not include operational spillages allowed or permitted by
international or national regulations (such as MARPOL discharges from tankers) or that,
which occur over a relatively long period of time (such as above >5 ppm oil discharge in
refinery effluents) even if those discharges violate pollution regulations. According to
Ifunanya (2010), Oil spillages are forms of industrial pollution caused by the unwanted
release of crude oil associated with exploration and transportation of petroleum. Considering
oil spillage as oil pollution, the United Nations Convention defined pollution as the
introduction by man, directly to indirectly of substances or energy into the environment
which results or is likely to result in such deleterious effects as harm to living resources and
marine life, hazards to human health, hindrance to marine activities and other impairment of
quality for the use of sea water and reduction of amenities (Islam and Tanaka, 2004).
Considering these views, oil spill is quantified and categorized as follows to represent degree
of spills.

Table 1: Oil spill category

CATEGORY QUANTITY ENVIRONMENT
Minor Less than 25 barrels Inland waters
Less than 250 barrels Onshore, offshore or coastal regions

Medium Between 25-250 barrels Inland waters

Between 250-2500 barrels Onshore, offshore or coastal regions

Major Over 250 barrels Inland waters

Over 2500 barrels Onshore, offshore or coastal regions

Source: Ifeadi and Nwankwo, (1987)

2.2 Causes and Impacts of Oil spill

The following sections will outline further the causes and impacts of Oil spill.

2.2.1 Causes of Oil spill

Since the discovery of oil in the 1950s in the Niger delta region of Nigeria, there have been
varying adverse environmental implications brought about by oil production activities in the
region. The rapid development and production of its newly discovered resources in terms of
crude oil coupled with an explosive increase in population have resulted in environmental
degradation in oil producing states in Nigeria, particularly in the Niger Delta which
comprises of nine states and being the region with the most oil reserves (Badejo and Nwilo,
2004)

Earlier surveys in Nigeria have shown an increasing number of recorded oil spills leading to
the damage of environment. According to the National Environmental Study Team (NEST)
(1991), the greatest single environmental problem connected with petroleum exploitation in
Nigeria is oil spillage, both onshore and offshore. The rate of spills has been rising with the
increasing operations of petroleum production. In the Niger delta region, due to the rise in
energy consumption around the world, oil exploration in the region has seen a rise and in turn
a increase in the number of oil spills. In 1970, only one spill of 150bbl was reported in the
country, whereas a year later the number shot up to 15 incidents involving 15, 110bbl. In
1974, there were 105 spills, another 154 in 1978, 241 in 1980 and 216 in 1982. In the 13th
year period a total of 1,581 spills involving nearly two million barrels of oil were reported in
Nigeria (NEST, 1991: 440). According to the department of petroleum resources, from the
period of 1976 to 1996 around 2.4million barrels of oil have been spilled in Nigeria in 4,835
episodes.

The period 1976-1996 witnessed a great number of oil spillage which (Nwilo and Badejo
2005a, 2005b, 2004) have suggested being in the figure of 4647 and thus lead to an estimate
of 2,369,470 barrels of oil liberated and polluting the resulting environment. A greater part of
these oil spill episodes according to (Twamasi and Merem, 2006; Uyigue and Agho 2007)
transpired on land within the Niger Delta region and the prevailing offshore environment.

In order words, the highest quantity of spilled oil was recorded between the year 1978 to
1980 and of these spillages three were of major magnitude firstly in 1978, there was the
GUCONS Escravos spill resulting in a loss of approximately 300,000 barrels, the second in
the same year which was of greater magnitude was as a result of a terminal tank failure at
SPDC Forcades with a loss of about 580,000 barrels and lastly in 1980, a blow out from one
of Texacos unit specifically Texaco Funiwa 5 resulted in an oil spillage of approximately
400,000 barrels of oil (Nwilo and Badejo (2005b).

Oil spills ravages the livelihood of many inhabitants in the oil producing areas in general and
Niger Delta in particular. Most spillages occur as a result of corrosion in the pipelines used
for oil production. Spillages could sometimes be quite devastating on people and
environment. Egbe and Thompson (2010) grouped the various causes of oil spills under eight
headings as follow:

1. Blow Outs: Oil well blow out occurs when the well is not kept under control that is to
behave in such a way that the hydrostatic mud head counter balances the formation
 pressure and prevents the formation fluid from entering the well formation during
drilling operations.
2. Sabotage: When the cause of spill is mischievously deliberate and not accidental.

3. Corrosion: When the cause of leakage is rusty equipment.

4. Equipment Malfunction: Breakdown and failure of equipment are often the most
frequent causes of separator and tank over-flow
5. Operations / Maintenance Error: Bad oil operation practices like untrained personnel
and lack of maintenance of the equipment
6. Natural causes: Oil spillage: Oil spill could occur as a result of natural causes; they
are causes which are not manmade or induced thus, occurring without any fault of
man (Examples motion of tectonic plates, rain, flood, etc.)
7. Accident from third party

8. Unknown Causes.

2.2.2 Oil spill incidents In Niger Delta

Different parts of the world have experienced oil spill incidents due to varying circumstances
on different occasions and the Niger Delta region of Nigeria is no exception. The Department
of Petroleum Resources (DPR) suggested that a total of 4647 oil spill incidents occurred
between 1976 and 1996 in the Niger delta region of Nigeria and these incidents contributed to
oil spill in the amount of 2,369,470 barrels in which only about (23%) was recovered.

Prominent Oil spill incidents of note in the Niger delta region include the GOCONs Escravos
spill in 1978 spilling out approximately 300,000 barrels of oil, the 580,000 barrels of oil
spilled in 1978 as well from SPDCs Forcados Terminal tank failure (Cited in Okoroji, L.I et
all, 2005), and the 1980 blow out from Texaco Funiwa-5 with an estimated 400,000 barrels
spilled (Tolulope, 2004, Ukoli, 2005). A few other oil spill incidents of far less impact include
the 1982 episode resulting in 18,818 barrels of oil spilled from the Abudu pipeline, the
January 1998 Idoho Oil Spill with a loss of approximately 40,000 barrels and the fire episode
which lead to the death of over a thousand lives in Jesse. Inarguably, the year between 1979
and 1980 recorded the most excessive oil spill having lost about 694,117.13 barrels and
600,511.02 barrels of oil apiece to the environment (Nwilo and Badejo (2005b).

According to (International, 2008) oil spill incidents in the Niger delta region of Nigeria have
become a matter of regular occurrence with an appraisal from the United Kingdom World
Wildfire Federation in 2006 citing that the Niger delta has experienced oil spilled in the
region for decades and within this period the quantity of oil spilled has been suggested to be
roughly 50 times the quantity (10.7million gallons) spilled by Exxon Valdez in Alaska in
1989. A huge amount, specifically 2405 oil spill episodes were recorded by the federal
government between the year 2000 and 2006, bringing the average annual oil spill incidents
to 600 per year (Punch Newspaper, 2010). Another 2,405 spill was recorded by the National
Oil Spill Detention Agency (NOSDRA) between 2006 and mid-2010, with an expanding
pattern year-on-year: 252 in 2006, 598 in 2007, 927 in 2008 and 628 in 2009(Ezigbo, 2010a).
According to Egwu (2012) it is only through government fulfilling its responsibilities of
protecting life and creating gainful means of livelihood as being effected in other major oil
producing countries will the amount of oil spill in the Niger-Delta diminish.

Below are the recent significant spills that occurred in the Niger Delta:

Table 2: Oil spill incidents in the Niger Delta

Date Location Gallons (quantity) Company Vessels/oil
01/5/2001 Ogoniland Unknown (but significant) Shell
25/08/2001 Ogbodo 2,926,000 Shell
11/2008 Ogoniland 1,640 Shell
2/2009 Ogoniland 311,000 Shell
01/05/2010 Niger delta 29,414,000 Exxon Mobil
21/12/2011 Bonga field 1,694,000 Shell
21/06/2012 Bonga field Unknown (but significant) Shell

(Source: Tim cocks, 2012), (The Guardian, 2012).

2.2.3 Impacts of Oil spill

Oil spills have leads to adverse environmental impact on the soil, forest and water of oil
producing communities. According to Worgu (2000), Oil spills from Oil exploration and
production activities affect the physical, biological and aesthetic value of the environment
and the economic life and health of the local people and even distant environment. Some of
the adverse impacts of oil spill are; Environment, Socio economic and health impact.

2.2.3.1 Environment

According to Worgu (2000), oil spill in rural communities such as Niger delta region can
have serious effects on the lives of residents in that community. He highlighted that oil spill
ultimately affects land fertility, thereby agriculture in a variety of ways. Chindah (2000) went
further ahead to say that Oil spill contamination of the topsoil has rendered the soil in the
surrounding areas unsuitable for plant growth by reducing the availability of nutrients or by
increasing toxic contents in the soil. Apart from soil infertility, the oil spills have also
smothered economic trees and food crops, out rightly killing them or reducing their yield.
This has caused a reduction in household food security. The predominant occupation of the
people in the Niger delta includes: trading (17%), education and health (7%), agricultural and
fishing (48%), services (10%) (Badejo and Nwilo, 2005).

In a case where the community residents rely on farming, most farmers are likely to migrate
to more fertile lands in other communities, putting pressure on scarce fertile lands. While
some of the displaced farmers out-migrate to the urban areas in search of other means of
livelihood. Hassan et al (2002) added that in farming communities the most severe problem
of such communities are poor quality soils and other serious problems related to their farming
operations which are found to be lack of inputs, insufficient capital and inadequate extension
services. As such, if the community should experience oil spills with the already existing
problems to farming, the situation becomes even worst.

Various harmful and toxic organic compounds when introduced into the natural environment
as result of oil spill changes the geo-chemical composition of the soil, river and other
components of the environment leading to deforestation and erosion of the top soil. This in
turn affects agriculture and leads to a drastic decline in output in both farming and fishing
activities.

Stanley (1990) identified from conducted interviews on oil spill in several communities in
developing nations that farmland pollution was a major problem. The peasants were very
reactive to farmland pollution because of the unavailability of modern farming techniques to
meet the challenges of declining soil resources. Additionally, the drastic fall in output of the
agricultural product means they cannot meet their needs, leading to intensive exploitation of
other fertile land. The long run effect of the oil spill is land degradation and out-migration to
other rural and urban areas, where pressure is exerted on the often inadequate and dilapidated
infrastructure, leading to increased poverty and penury as more displaced inhabitants move to
other particular areas in search of non-existent jobs.

2.2.3.2 Socio-economic impact

(Gbadegesin.A, 1997) stated that apart from loss of farms, oil can seriously affect the socio-
economic state of a locality. He highlighted that the main socio-economic impact of oil spill
commences from the farmers and fishers but extends to affect the society at large. ITOPE
(2009) stated that oil spill pollution of land and water leads to interference and loss of
recreational activities such as diving and sporting events. Businesses that make use of the
rivers and sea for their normal operations can also be adversely affected by the oil spill.

Another negative effect caused by oil spills includes the loss of tourism such as polluted
beach and reserves. This leads to decreased resident and non-resident vacation/pleasures
visitors in the spill affected areas in turn affecting businesses such as restaurants, hotels or
charter boats. According to Owabukeruyele (2009), oil spill impacts disastrously on the socio
physical environment as it threatens the fragile subsistent peasant economy and biodiversity
and hence the social livelihood and very survival of the people. He buttressed further that oil-
producing communities along coastal area basically remained dependent on these businesses
as means of survival. Hence the deteriorating standards of living, some of which include lack
of clean water, social amenities and loss of jobs results to chaos in the locality. This is
because numerous oil spills have devastated some of the businesses of the community
members, which is their main source of income. Without better alternatives, the people are
left to drink contaminated water and live in polluted environments. For this reason, the oil
producing community members conducts protests, demanding compensation from the oil
companies located in and around their communities and if not managed properly results to
insecurity in the area (Stepping Stone Nigeria, 2009).

2.2.3.3 Health

According to Izeogu (1986), crude oil is a toxic substance, which is harmful to most species
of flora and fauna, and when oil spills, it contaminates the environment, affects the health and
general living conditions of the affected locality. Evidence of health situations of
communities that experienced oil spillage has been attributed to the direct consequences of
the oil. Some of the health problems arise from both environmental negative impacts such as
pollution of water sources upon which communities depend. The pollution of rivers which
exposes the locality inhabitants to water borne related diseases such as; typhoid and malaria
with the creation of standing waters, diarrhoea and other skin diseases. For instance, in some
communities, the pipeline traverses the village stream, which serves as water source for the
inhabitants. Also, when oil spill occurs, the community as well as the oil company workers
can be exposed to it through inhalation, dermal or direct impact. The dermal and inhalational
routes of exposure tend to produce exposures to different components of crude oil. In other
words, people may be dermally exposed to both volatile and non-volatile components, some
of which are capable of being absorbed through the skin causing skin irritations or dermatitis.
The obvious source of inhalation exposure is volatile chemicals, of which the main classes
are alkanes, aromatics and sulphur compounds (Park and Holliday). The health effects
associated with the exposure of crude oil includes the overt signs of acute intoxication in
humans dizziness, nausea, shortness of breath, headaches, fatigue in coordination, as well
as irritation of the eyes. It has also been found that prolonged exposure to high doses of these
compounds leads to irreversible bone marrow damage causing aplastic anaemia and leukemic
diseases (Park and Holliday, 1999).

2.3 Management of Oil spills

A number of management measures to prevent and respond to oil spill already exist in
various countries including Nigeria. Different policies and mechanics are being put in place
to avert or react to oil spill episodes with the policies usually aimed at giving structure to oil
production and exploration activities of organisations laying ground rules with regards to oil
spill incidents (Salu, 1999). A few of the communal laws and universal understandings in
place suggested by the Federal Environmental Protection Agency of Nigeria (FEPA) to help
protect the environment particularly from activities resulting in pollution by oil companies
include:
a. Endangered Species Decree Cap 108 LFN 1990, b. Federal Environmental protection
Agency Act Cap 131 LFN 1990, c. Harmful Waste Cap 165 LFN 1990, d. Petroleum (Drilling
and Production) Regulations, 1969, e. Mineral Oil (Safety) Regulations, 1963, f. International
Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for Compensation for Oil Pollution
Damage, 1971, g. Convention on the Prevention of Marine pollution Damage, 1972, h.
African Convention on the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,1968, i.
International Convention on the Establishment of an International Fund for the Compensation
for Oil Pollution Damage, 1971.

Other acts and regulations in line with controlling oil spillage as suggested by (Oshineye,
2000) include:
 i) The Mineral Oil (Safety) Regulations 1963, focuses on safety in the emission of
inflammable gases and impose punishments for violation and defiance.

ii) Petroleum Regulations 1967, that is against the emission of fossil oil into waters within
port areas and makes available precautionary measures in the conveyance of petroleum and
guidelines for safe operation of lines.

iii) Petroleum Drilling and Production Regulation 1969, that requires holders of production
licence to safety, including the provision of current approved equipment to prevent
contamination of midland waters, river water courses, the territorial waters of the Federal
Republic of Nigeria or the high seas by oil or other fluids.

iv) Oil in Navigable Waters Act 1968, which prohibits the emission of petroleum or any
mixture containing oil into the territorial reserve or navigable inland waters.

v) Oil Terminal Dues Act 1969, that precludes the emission of oil to regions in the mainland
where oil terminals are located.

vi) Petroleum Refining Regulations 1974, which besides other activities deals with necessary
development requirements for stockpiling oil tanks to reduce harm from spillage.

vii) Associated Gas Re-Injection Act 1979 that enforces the re-infusion of such cohorted gas
or oil not used in a streamlined venture. This is to eliminate gas flaring.

viii) Oil Pipeline Act 1956 (as amended by Oil pipelines Act 1965) which kicks against the
contamination of all areas including waters bodies.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency (FEPA), which in addition is an arm of the
Ministry of the Environment is legitimately vested with the obligation of ensuring and
maintaining the Nigerian environment through definition and usage of administrative
policies. The National Policy on the Environment contains one of the instruments created by
the body to accomplish its tasks, depicting the rules and methods for attaining the objective of
ecological assurance (Ntukekpo, 1996).

Because of the rate of oil spill episodes and need to forestall and react to oil slicks in Nigeria,
the Clean Nigeria Associates (C.N.A.) came into existence in November 1981. The C.N.A. is
an association of eleven oil producing organizations working in Nigeria, including N.N.P.C.
The basic role of making the C.N.A is to keep up competence in the battle against spilling of
liquid hydrocarbons or toxins by and large. The Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)
decree No 86 of 1992 was declared to secure and manage the biological community. This
decree makes EIA obligatory for any extensive oil venture that may have antagonistic
consequences on the environment (Ntukekpo, 1996; Olagoke, 1996).

The decree came into existence to oversee production activities of organisations that may
distort the natural existence of environments inhabited by people, encouraging and
implementing laid down policies. It endeavours to survey the presumable or potential
ecological effects of proposed exercises, including their immediate or collateral, combined,
fleeting and long haul impacts, and to distinguish the measures accessible to alleviate
antagonistic natural effects of proposed exercises, and evaluation of these measures. The
rules made accommodation for seaward operations, security measures, fulfilling obligations
and required payments (Ozekhome, 2001).

Additionally in the situation of overseeing oil slick incidents, the Federal Government of
Nigeria has noted that future boring rights will be "strictly decided by" organizations'
ecological consistence, notwithstanding their producing a natural environmental effect
appraisal for the proposed site. In July 2002, the Nigerian government requested oil
organizations working in the nation to follow the Environmental Guidelines and Standards
for the Oil Industry, distributed by the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), the
screening arm of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), or face the
consequence of paying a fine. The rules brought about standards to reducing contamination
from oil spills and methods for ecological protection. Also, new innovation are being utilized
in managing incidents of oil slicks. A few of the engineering solutions used in overseeing oil
slick in addition to other bylaws include;

2.3.1 Bioremediation approach

Bioremediation is an approach that may be helpful in evacuating spilled oil under certain
geographic and climatic conditions. Bioremediation is a demonstrated elective management
apparatus that could be utilized to treat certain vigorous oil-defiled situations. Ordinarily, it is
utilized as a cleaning agent after routine mechanical clean-up alternatives have been carried
out. It is a moderately abate methodology, taking weeks or months to complete clean up. In
the event that its done appropriately, it might be exceptionally savvy, in spite of the fact that
an in-profundity budgetary examination has not been led to date. It has the upper hand that
the dangerous hydrocarbon mixtures are obliterated instead of basically moving them to a
different area of the environment. (Nwilo and Badejo, 2004)

2.3.2 International Co-operation

Apprehending smugglers has remained nearly impossible, since numerous individuals blame
the central government for pocketing a significant part of the oil fortune, and the oil
organizations of looting indigenous resources while forsaking the Delta people to
contamination, destitution, unemployment and malady. To shore up the battle against illegal
oil dealers in Nigeria, the US has given three 56 meter (180ft) refitted World War two-time
watch oats to the naval force with another alternate four vessels to be conveyed by December,
as stated by the United Nations. The Pentagon is financing the restoration each vessel to the
tune of $3.5m. (Nwilo and Badejo, 2004)

2.3.3 Mechanical Containment

There are several instruments used as response mechanisms to control oil spills and minimize
their impacts on human health and environment. These instruments include booms and
barriers, skimmers, natural and synthetic sorbents materials. (Badejo et al 2003)

Booms: Booms are used in the clean-up process and are constructed as solid-
floatation unit. There are containment booms and storage reels for quick response and
containment after a spill. Booms are built from a variety of marine grade materials
that can handle constant exposure and use in water locations. Oil absorbent booms are
designed to specifically absorb oil in both land and water based locations. (Badejo et
al 2003)

Skimmers: Skimmers are items that are designed for the recovery of oil and can be
used for both clean up in both inshore and offshore areas. Skimmers are often used in
conjunction with booms. A skimmer is a device that collects and removes oil from the
surface of the water. Skimmers can be towed, self-propelled, moored in river currents,
or even used from shore. Many types of skimmers are available for use, depending on
the kind of oil spilled and the weather conditions. (Adelana, Adeosun, Adesina, &
Ojuroye 2011)
2.3.4 Chemical and biological methods

These are methods that are used together with the mechanical means for containment and
clean up of oil. These include dispersing and gelling agents that are useful in preventing oil
from reaching shorelines and sensitive habitats. The biological agents that are used help in the
recovery of shorelines, marshes and wetlands.(Egberongbe Nwilo & Badejo 2006)

2.3.5 Physical methods

These are applied to clean up shorelines when oil spills spread over. There is the application
of natural methods such as evaporation, oxidation and biodegradation that can be used to start
up the clean-up process. However, these methods are mainly too slow for environmental
recovery therefore there is application of physical processes applied to assist the natural
processes. These include; wiping with sorbent materials, pressure washing, and raking and
bulldozing can be used to assist these natural processes. (Adelana et al 2011).

Remediation is a longer-term process aimed at returning the site to its previous state. There
are several ways to achieve international standards of restoration depending on whether the
spill is on Land or Swamp terrain. Three methods of Remediation are in use on Land-
Remediation by Enhanced Natural Attenuation (RENA), Remediation by Stabilization/
Solidification and Low Temperature Thermal Desorption. The RENA technique is the
predominant method in use and may be applied in-situ, which implies treating the soil on site
or ex-situ; removing the soil to be cleaned elsewhere and returned site. After completion of
the remediation process, the site is handed over for closeout inspection and certification by the
relevant Government agencies. The entire spill response process is governed by performance
standards, as prescribed by Nigerian Law, in particular as defined in the DPR EGASPIN
2002. This standard is applied to all spills, regardless of the cause. (Shell International 2014)
SECTION 3: METHODOLOGY
3.1. Introduction

This segment shall take into consideration the different underlying methodological point of
view and logic for the research project. The segment begins with the illustration of the
different suppositions (Epistemology and cosmology). On the off chance it further identified
and examined particular information accumulation strategy and afterward finished by
exploring the research limitations

In a research exercise, there is need for an efficient and systematic method for obtaining,
recording and breaking down information and after that settle on an update choice focused
around the effect and conclusion of the exploration. Yin (1994) suggests that research
methodology ought to be picked with a focus around the exploration point and goal. In line
with this view, this study adopts a legitimate venture to accomplish the examination objective
and the mode of exploration chosen with a focus around the suitability to the examination
point and destination while also demonstrating the limits of the technique.

An overview of the different underlying methodological point of view and logic for the
examination venture is provided in this segment, including stages involved in creating an
examination approach and likewise gives sufficient illustrations to the exploration technique
utilized. As stated by Whisker (2008) the embracing of the pertinent exploration technique is
the way to leading excellent and honest to goodness research.

This section gives an outline on the stages included in creating an examination approach and
likewise gave a sufficient illustration to the exploration technique utilized. As stated by
Whisker (2008) utilizing a pertinent exploration technique is the best way to achieving an
excellent and good research quality. Therefore, to determine the appropriate method to be
used for this research, it is crucial to examine different exploration procedures, particularly
those that have been utilized within comparable situations.

3.2. Research Philosophy

Research philosophy is the development of a research or research knowledge and its nature.
(Saunders and Thornhill, 2007). It is a term relating to the development of knowledge and the
nature of that knowledge in a basic set of beliefs that guide action such as individual different
perception, beliefs and understanding towards reality.

3.2.1 Epistemological and Ontological Assumption

The theory of the method used in a research is known as the Epistemological consideration,
which is one of the core areas of philosophy underling, any research. As stated by (Blaikie,
2000) and (Eldabi, 2002), the creators concludes that epistemology is a case relating to
conceivable methods for gaining learning. It bears three fundamental areas in the approach
they are the Structure, the source and the constraint of the information. It doubts the
likelihood of distinguishing and imparting the way of learning as being genuine. Yet then
again, Ontodology manages the way of actuality (i.e. presence of actuality in a topic,
particularly in a natural domain) these two presumptions have positions or methodologies to
be specific; Positivism and Phenomenology, both of which have an alternate point of view in
every standard.

3.2.2 Phenomenology and Positivism

According to Hines (2000), researchers usually consider two basic diametrical opposing
philosophical positions. Phenomenology and positivism may be viewed as unlike positions in
a methodological continuum. Phenomenology, which is also known as interpretivism, is
interested in the perception of people about the world. It is assumed that individuals initiate
their own subject as they view the world around them interact. This in all makes
interpretivism subjective (Orlikowski and Baroudi, 1991) because its epistemological root is
constructive allowing the individual to interpret observation and meanings in a subjective
manner (Saunders et al, 2000). On the other hand, Positivism is of the belief that real life is
independent of humans and seeks to find theories from observation and experiment carried
out (Collins and Hussey, 2009). With these views, Crilly et al (2004) noted that a shift from
the positivist approach to scientific enquiry and towards the interpretive science, some
scholars now suggest phenomenology as suitable in the act of knowledge development.
Heidegger (1998) added in support that phenomenology allows proper focus of the researcher
as an individual and not as a tool in obtaining data as integral part of the study field

3.2.3. Qualitative and Quantitative Research

All qualitative research use words and perception to express actuality and endeavours to
depict individuals in characteristic circumstance while then again, quantitative exploration
adopt the use of numbers to represent notions or ideas (Amaratunga, 2002). Qualitative
examination looks to comprehend distinct recognitions about issues or subject and profound
knowledge into it rather than Quantitative research that reflects on measurable statistical parts
of the research (Strauss and Corbin, 1990)
The applied model in this research implements both qualitative and quantitative data. This
model was used in light of the fact that the research included exploring participants' opinion
towards issues of oil spill considering the causes and impact as well as the management of oil
spill in the region. Qualitative data gathered were broken down and the quantitative
information investigation comprised of enlightening details including associations amongst
variables. The fusion of both research strategies gives a clearer understanding of the subject
matter such as the causes, impacts and management of oil spillage in the Niger delta region of
Nigeria.

3.3. Overview about Interview and Questionnaires

One of the greatest advantages of an interview is that it gives the researcher an avenue to
meet with the subjects of the research. However the structure fluctuates, in the sense that in
an organized meeting, there are predefined inquiries that are presented one after the other,
while an unstructured meeting involves concentrating on a predefined range of inquiries and
gives room for discussion to occur between the analyst and the interviewee on the specified
subject (Davies, 2007). Most interviews are a mixture of both organized and unstructured. On
the other hand, to achieve the goals of this research, an unstructured method of interview was
embraced, to expand the views of issues of the research problem which are causes and impact
of oil spills and the effectiveness of the management approach being applied. Questionnaires
acquire data specifically by asking individuals questions and utilizing the responses as
analysed information (Wisker, 2008). They are frequently used to accumulate data about
uncertainties, dispositions, practices, exercises and reactions to situations, and typically
comprise of a rundown of composed inquiries (Wisker, 2008). The questions need to be clear,
concise and easily understandable.

After several considerations into the different types of research methodology that can be used
in obtaining data, the researcher concluded that both interviews and questionnaires will be the
most appropriate method for gathering data for this research. The researcher collected both
theoretical data from the articles and practical data from the targeted community population.

The research is focused on the Niger delta region of Nigeria, investigating the causes and
impacts of oil spill within the Niger delta region in order to recommend solution for
improvement for adopted management approach of oil spill in the area. The population of
interest covered in the research involved affected community population both male and
females and oil company workers with work place in the region.

3.4 Interviews

Interviews permit current circumstance to be affirmed and detailed reactions to be acquired

from the intended interest group (Dennis et al 2009). Two (2) employees top position officers
who work for the oil industries were interviewed. Issues concerning the management of oil
spillage in the Niger delta region of Nigeria were quite compelling. The inquiries of the
interview were intended to run across the effectiveness of management approaches to oil spill
in Nigeria such as training, technologies and policies set up for overseeing oil spill. Because
of time stipulations not every enquiry was delved into within the target group. All processes
however considered the methodology to directing the interview which allowed the
interviewee to help perspectives and support in exact recording of data. They were
guaranteed that data given will remain anonymous and they were additionally given different
ways of contacting the researcher if they have other data with respect to the subject.

3.5 Survey Questionnaire

Utilizing questionnaire is one of the immediate strategies for gathering valuable data
(Saunders et al, 2000). Moreover, with cautious planning, checking and testing, the flaws of a
questionnaire could be significantly decreased. Questionnaires are frequently utilized when
there are numerous individuals from whom data is required. Data accumulated from the
interviews, audit reports and information picked up from prior studies were the structure
applied to forming the questionnaire on the grounds that it had proved to be the best system
of approach in achieving the research objectives.

Advantages;
It provides an efficient way of collecting responses from a large sample prior to
analysis because each respondent was asked to respond to the same set of questions;
It is comprehensive and has a wide coverage;
Cheap and easy to administer; and
Suitable for workplace based research
 Disadvantages;
Accuracy of responses cannot be guaranteed;
Design and piloting are crucial for success; and
Limited length.
Lower turnover

The aim of the questionnaire was to understand and determine the factors responsible for oil
spills within the Niger delta region and the impacts of oil spill as well as effectiveness of the
management of oil spill by the responsible authorities. The questionnaire explored; Causes of
oil spill, Impacts of oil spill and Management of oil spill in the Niger delta region

3.5.1 Structure and design of questionnaire

The questionnaire has been designed to meet the research objectives and the requirements
stated above. In order to develop an effective and appropriate questionnaire, the questions
were easily comprehensible and laid out in a proper sequence. The questionnaire consisted of
the following sections:

1. Individual and occupation details - this was the opening section, easy and non
threatening general questions of the individuals brief history and job experience;

2. Oil spill Awareness: these questions were designed to know the knowledge of oil spill
(participant)

3. Causes and impact of oil spill: this aspect of the questionnaire is designed to identify the
causes of oil spill and the impacts to the community

4. Management of oil spill: the questions of this aspect was to identify the effectiveness of
the management approach of oil spill by the locality

5. Comments: this section is designed for respondents to make any comment or

contribution for the research

The questions were mainly closed questions, for easy coding of the questionnaire results
while other categories were included appropriate areas. The advantages of using closed
questions are as follows:

Easy and quick to fill in;

 Minimise discrimination against the less literate (in self administered questionnaire)
or the less articulate (in interview questionnaire);
Easy to code, record, and analyse results quantitatively; and
Easy to report results.

3.5.2 Pre-testing Questionnaires

During the research work, a draft copy of the questionnaire was shown to the supervisor in
charge, Dr Trevor Price. This was done in order to get his views on the questionnaire. He
gave several comments during those sessions and those comments were incorporated into the
final draft. Several individual were selected for pre-testing of the questionnaire and it was
successfully carried out. The pre-testing stage was carried out to find out how clear the
instructions on the questionnaires were and determine how long it will take to complete each
questionnaire and then find the aggregate for all. It also showed how clear and attractive or
how unclear and ambiguous its will have appear to the respondent. After this stage was
completed, it was found at that responded found it engaging and educational. It took twelve
minutes to fill and complete. The draft questionnaire was eventually left unedited after the
pre-testing stage. . A copy of the final questionnaire used is shown in Appendix.

3.5.3 Administering the Questionnaire

The questionnaire was distributed to respondents utilizing the stratified arbitrary testing
methodology between community member and authorities and oil company workers. The
method allows for the stratification of population sampling into stratum (Kumar, 2005). The
strategy for stratified random sampling was exclusively embraced, so all groups in the district
will be properly spoken to in the study to avoid predisposition.

A written request explaining the purpose of the research was sent to the community
inhabitants, oil workers and authorities; the participants were further briefed about the reason
for the research and their verbal consent was gained. Immediately a written consent was
gained from the responsible authorities, the data collection process followed. In addition,
individuals who took part in the activity were apprized on the fact that the information
received would be kept classified and it was recommended that they finish the survey at their
own convenience. Five days was given to participants to finish the questionnaire and after
that gathered by the researcher.
However, the conveying technique made it troublesome to figure any type of reaction rate
from this figure on the grounds that the questionnaires were likewise distributed to other
participants through emails accordingly and a few other existing sources. All the information
were gathered between April 1th and April 20th 2014.

3.5.4 Ethics and Analysis

As suggested by Mackey and Gass, (2005) the manner through which data is passed on is as
essential as the data itself. The researcher recognizes the obligation of educating potential
participants to enable them to make cognizant opinions. The participants were not constrained
into partaking in the questionnaire neither was there any kind of prize to be won which could
prompt an inclined outcome and subsequently, influence the research. Consequently, the
respondents support in the survey were voluntary and without undue weight or intimidation.
Participants were guaranteed that they would not be recognized by through their notions and
this cultivated trust between the participants and the researcher. Voluntary cooperation,
confidentiality and anonymity were the most paramount moral standards for this research.

For analyses of the data from the questionnaires, the results were grouped and entered into
the computer. A spreadsheet package (Microsoft Office Excel, 2007 edition) was utilized to
investigate the information because it is generally easy to use and understand; good for
organising and analysing data; and can analyse a large volume of data.

Additionally, a detailed review of existing literature was undertaken to establish the focus of
the research, to formulate specific research question and to obtain background information
from the interview in order to have an understanding grounded in reality and a feel for the
issue. The Secondary data were gathered from a wide range of sources; Articles, Textbooks,
scholarly Articles, Web database, oil spill management authority.

3.6 Research Limitations

Some limitations to this dissertation include:

The sample size was limited due to time constraints. The interview and questionnaire
survey to be conducted for the various location of impacted by oil spill lacked
 sufficient time to cover the majority of populace in the communities. However the
findings are satisfactory to make recommendations and build subsequent work on.
Challenges identifying with making arrangements for interviews with organization
senior officers and representatives came about, however fruitful in the long run.
Difficulty in obtaining secondary information from companies because of
nondisclosure agreements as they don't give sufficient access and data to third parties
because of nature of their business.

SECTION 4: RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

In order to identify the causes and impacts of oil spill in the Niger delta region of Nigeria, it
is necessary to assess the feedbacks from the questionnaires dispensed to the region
inhabitants and oil company workers and government authority responsible for oil spills in
the Nigeria. This section seeks to identify the causes of oil spill incidents in the Niger delta
region, determine the impact to the environment and also the effectiveness of the
management approaches for oil spill occurrences in the Niger delta region. The discussions
are based on the analysis of the collective feedbacks from the distributed questionnaires
supported with interviews conducted on the subject matter.
4.1 Participants description

This section of the questionnaire deals with general enquiries of the respondents. Questions in
this section include: age, duration of stay in the Niger delta region and work status in the
region.

A total of 400 questionnaires were dispensed to the inhabitants of the Niger delta region in
Nigeria. Out of the 400 questionnaires that were distributed, 376 were returned. Out of the
amount returned, 6 were incomplete and 20 were blank indicating that the individual might
have decided not to participate while 350 were fully completed. The characteristics of the 350
participants are as detailed below in Table 3:

Table 3: Respondents{participants} profile

Categories Number of respondents (N) %

Gender
Female 98 28
Male 252 72
Age
18-25 112 32
26-35 210 60
36-45 28 8
46+ 0 0
Duration of stay in region
2-3years 28 8
3-4years 42 12
4+ Years 280 80
Job Type
Fishing/farming 231 66
Trading/Business 49 14
Wage earner 35 10
Other 35 10
Work status
Permanent 49 14
Temporarily 126 36
Unemployed 175 50
Education qualification
Primary 91 26
Secondary 77 22
Tertiary 42 12
Others 140 40

Table 3, gives a description of the attributes of the participants. The profile of the 350
individuals demonstrates that all respondents have stayed in the Niger delta region for at least
two years.

72% (n=252) out of the aggregate respondents were male and 28% (n=28) were female. 32%
(n=112) were matured individuals between 18 and 25 years of age; 60% (n=210) were
between 26 and 35 years of age; 8% (n=28) were between 36 and 45 years of age; none was
recorded for 46 years and over. As shown in table 3, a large volume of response obtained
shows that 66%(n=231) of the total respondents fishers and farmers. This is closely followed
by the trading/business with 14%(n=49), while wage earners are 10%(n=35) and other types
of jobs 10%(n=35) respectively. These identified job types are in accordance with the
literature as common job types of majority of the Niger delta region inhabitants. The table
also shows the education qualification and current work status of the respondents.

4.2 Awareness

The question in this sub sub-section is to ascertain the knowledge or understanding of oil spill
incidents of the respondents. This is to identify whether the respondent is qualified to
complete the survey for the research.

4.2.1 Knowledge of oil spill

From the survey responses gathered, all respondents have knowledge of oil spill. 70% of the
respondents indicated that they have a good knowledge of oil spill, while 20% have average
knowledge of oil spill and 10% have just basic knowledge of oil spill as can be seen in figure
1 below. This was necessary as to justify that the respondent have understanding of the
subject and questions in the survey to be answered.

70%

20%

10%

0%
Good Average Basic No

Figure 1. Knowledge of oil spill.

Additionally, the survey went further to find out how many respondents have experienced or
witnessed oil spill incident. The outcome of this particular question was shocking as all
respondents (100%) indicated that they have experienced oil spill occurrence. The interviews
confirmed this as normal to the inhabitants in the region. This is because most of the
pipelines for transporting extracted crude oil are suited along residential areas or beside the
roads that can be easily sighted by people. As such it is easy for one to see oil spill occurring
when incidents such as pipeline leakage occurs.
 Yes
No
1

Figure 2. Experience of oil spill incident

4.2.2 Number of Oil spill

This section seeks to identify the amount and then the rate of oil spill occurrence in the
Nigger delta region.
 90%

90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
4% 6%
10%
0%
0%
0 1 to 10 11 to 20 21 above

Figure 3.Number of oil spill occurrence

From the graph above 4% of the respondents indicated they have experienced 1 to 10
incidents since their stay in the Niger delta region, 6% indicated that they have experienced
about 11 to 20 oil spill incidents in their period in the Niger delta region while an enormous
percentage of 90% indicated that they have experienced above 21 oil spill incidents since
their stay in the Niger delta. These results from the questionnaire survey can be verified from
a data obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria as can be seen below
in (Figure 4) indicating the amount of oil spill occurrence in the Niger delta region in a
particular period from 1997 to 2013. The data shows that oil spill incidents in the region
exceed 100 incidents in a particular year since 1997 to 2013. The outcome corresponds with
finding in this research as respondents noted that oil spill incidents are enormous from the
survey. The interview section also obtained same finding as the interviewees concluded that
the rate of oil spill incidents in the region can be classified as high.
 Spill Incidents 1976-2013

Figure 4. Oil spill incidents

This enormous occurring event of oil spill over the years is of great concern. Generally from
this section, it means majority of the inhabitants have sufficient knowledge of oil spill
occurrence in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. From the field survey, the interviewed
participants admitted that majority of the inhabitants of the Niger delta region of Nigeria have
knowledge of oil spill as many of them have experienced the occurrences.

4.3 Causes of oil spill

4.3.1 Causes of Oil spill

As noted in the literature, there are eight major causes of oil spill (). The research on this note
seeks to identify the cause of oil spill in the Niger delta region especially regarding the
amount and rate of oil spill occurrence in the region as gathered from the previous section.
 58%

15%
7% 6% 6% 6%
2%

0%

Figure 5.Causes of oil spill

From Figure 4 above, it was gathered that the major cause of oil spill in the Niger delta
region is the act of pipe sabotage. 58% of the respondents attributed the major cause of oil
spill incident to Sabotage on a scale of 1 to 8 where 1 is the least cause of oil spill incident
and 8 is the highest cause of oil spill incident in the region. The result also agreed with the
literature as Egbe and Thompson (2010) grouped sabotage as one of the causes of oil spillage
in Nigeria oil producing area. The result from the respondents also coincides with the data
obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria (2014) showing the causes
of oil spillage from 2011 to 2013 (see in APPENDIX F). Sabotage was identified to be the
major cause of oil spill incident in the region.

4.3.2 Factors responsible for the cause of oil spill

As gathered from the literature, the causes of oil spill are due to several reasons as such the
survey seeks to identify the reasons for control where possible. The question for this section
was grouped into 7 subjects to identify the reason or factors responsible for the cause of oil
spill in the Niger delta region.
 43%

16%
14%
10%
7%
5% 5%

Figure 6. Factors responsible for oil spill

From figure 6, the research gathered poverty to be the major factor responsible for the cause
of oil spill. 45% of the respondents of the region inhabitants attributed the cause of oil spill to
poverty while 16% and 14% of the respondents respectively indicated policy and technology
as responsible factors leading to the cause of oil spillage. 4% of the respondents indicated
competency in terms of personnel to conduct oil and gas operations in the area, while 5%
indicated Negligence by responsible parties of the oil and gas sector in the region, and 10%
attributed the cause to Orientation of people. From the interview section, Poverty was also
gathered as the leading factor responsible for oil spill.

This is due to destruction of farmland and water by oil which majority of the inhabitant rely
on for their livelihood such as farming, fishing and other form of businesses. This is also in
accordance with the literature as highlighted by Worgu (200) that oil spill ultimately affects
land fertility. When pollution of farm land and water occurs in such region, the inhabitants
have little or no means of income which then results to other means of survival such as
sabotage of pipes to extort and sell oil for income or to get back parties involved in oil and
gas operation in the area.

4.4 Impact of oil spill

As detailed in the literature, oil spill cause pollution to the environment in several ways such
as contamination of water or land pollution and can also lead to illness due to its chemical
composition. This section of the questionnaire seeks to find out the impact of oil spill in the
region, how it affects the inhabitants of the region and to what degree.

4.4.1 Amount of Inhabitants affected by oil spill

From the survey as detailed below in figure 7, all respondents indicated that they have been
affected by oil spill. This goes to mean that majority of the region inhabitants feels the
consequence of oil spill in the region.

Yes
No
100%

Figure 7. Amount of inhabitants affected by oil spill

As seen from Figure 7, the survey went further ahead to find out if the region has been
affected in one way or the other by oil spillage.100% of the respondents indicated that there
have been in one way or the other affected by oil spillage incident.

4.4.2 Main areas affected by oil spill

As gathered from the above sub-section in figure 7, all respondents indicated to they felt the
consequence of oil spill. The survey then went further to find out what has been affected
mainly in the area and life of the inhabitants. The outcome is detailed in the graph below (see
figure 8)
 45%
43%

12%

0%
Health Environment Socio-economic None

Figure 8. Main areas affected by oil spill

From Figure 8, majority of the respondents indicated that the environment has been mainly
affected. This is obvious as majority of the habitants in the Niger delta region are farmers and
fishermen. More so this is evident in the literature review where Badejo and Nwilo stated
48% of the occupation in the Niger delta is agriculture and fishing, this in turn affects the
economy of the region. Businesses like restaurants and hotels face decline in profits as oil
spill incidents leads to low turn up of tourists. This is due to the pollution of the beaches and
reserves from the oil spill. This coincides with the literature research from ITOPE (2009),
which noted that oil spill pollution of land and water leads to interference and loss of
recreational activities such as diving and sporting events. Businesses that make use of the
rivers and sea for their normal operations can also be adversely affected by the oil spill.
Health of the inhabitants was also indicated as been affected by oil spill but not as the major
concern as discovered by this research.

4.4.3 Degree of oil spill impact

From this question it was identified that majority of the oil spill incident in the region are
high oil spill incidents. 95% of the respondents rated the impact of the oil spill incidents in
the region as high while only 5% rated it as low but none indicated the impacts as low
experienced as low impact. These rates can be associated with the amount of barrels of the oil
spilled into the environment when the occurrence takes place.
 95

0
High Medium Low

Figure 9.Degree of oil spill impact

These results gathered from the questionnaire agreed with the interview section as majority of
the interviewee noted that not only is oil spill high in terms of the quantity of oil barrels
spilled into the environment but the rate of occurrence is also alarming. This section
corresponds with data obtained from the Department of Petroleum Resources of Nigeria (see
below in Figure10) indicating the rate of oil spill incidents and barrels of oil spilled in a
particular year in the region which is identified as high going by the classification of oil spill
incident.

Quantity of Oil Spilled (bbls) from 1976-2013

Figure 10. Quantity of oil spilled

4.4.4 Duration of oil spill impact

Oil spill impact can be quite devastating to the environment, economy and health of persons
in a particular region. In this section, the research seeks to find out the duration of the oil spill
impacts to the Niger delta region for management improvements. From the survey, it was
gathered from majority of respondents that the consequence of oil spill incidents in the region
can take above six months in most occasion before controlled while only 1% indicated it
takes between three (3) to six (6) months to stop or control oil spill impacts and none
indicated less than 3 months.
 99%

1%

0%
0-3months 3-6months Above 6months

Figure 11. Duration of oil spill impact

From this section, it can generally be seen that majority of the respondents have been affected
by the impacts of oil spill and these impacts can be rated high due to the quantity of barrels
spilled and rate of oil spill incidents and even more the duration it takes to control majority of
incident/impact. The oil spill incident has affected the environment, socio-economy and
health of person residents in the region, but has mainly affected the regions environment.

4.5 Management of oil spill

In this section, the research took a different approach to find out the perception of the
respondents towards the management of oil spill in the region in order to close gaps for
improvement of the management of oil spill in the region.

4.5.1 Control of oil spill

This question seeks to identify how serious the responsible oil and gas-operating parties take
the management of oil spill. From the questionnaire survey, the perception of the inhabitants
of the region is that the responsible party are not doing enough to address the matter of oil
spill. An overwhelming majority of the respondents (96%) indicated that enough is not being
done to manage oil spill in the region while only 4% indicate that the management of oil spill
in the region as average. From the interview section, similar outcome was gathered as
management of oil spill was perceived low in the region while also noting that so much more
needs to be done regarding oil spill management in the Niger delta region.

96%

4%

0%
High Average Low

Figure 12.Control of oil spill

4.5.2 Approach towards oil spill

The management of oil spill can be proactive or reactive. While proactive management of oil
spill are measure taken to prevent oil spill occurrence, reactive management are control
measures to respond to oil spill occurrence. Hence the research took a step to identify which
approach is practiced mainly in management of oil spill in Nigeria through the inhabitants of
the region. From the gathered results, it was discovered that the reactive approach is practiced
more than the proactive as 2% out of all respondents indicated that the responsible parties are
more proactive to the situation of oil spill than reactive while 98% indicated the responsible
parties are more reactive.
 2%

Proactive
Reactive
98%

Figure 13. Approach towards oil spill

Same outcome was also gathered from the interview as one of the interviewee stated that
although there are existing management systems in place, the responsible parties are more
reactive in terms of tackling oil spill incidence that proactive.

4.5.3 Prevention and response to oil spill

To verify the outcome of the management approach mainly adopted for oil spill in the Niger
delta region, a question was put through to find out the amount of oil spill any of the
respondents could recall that have been prevented. From the results, 94% of the respondents
indicated that of all oil spill incidents they have experienced, non have been prevented while
4% indicated that of all experienced oil spill incident that one has been prevent and 2% of the
respondents indicated that they can recall 2 oil spill incident prevented but none indicated 3
prevented oil spill incidents as can be seen in figure 14 below;
 94%

4% 2%

0%
0prevented 1prevented 2prevented 3prevented

Figure 14. Prevented oil spill

For the response of oil spill, a different approach was taken to discover the response to oil
spill incident from the inhabitants participating in the survey. The outcome showed that
despite the responsive approach adopted for oil spill incidents, majority of the incidents take
so long to address. From the questionnaire it 2% indicated of knowing about oil spills that
have been controlled in 1 to 7days, 4% indicated of controlled oil spill incidents in 7 to
14days but a majority of the respondents indicated that most of the spills take more than 2
weeks to be addressed (see figure 15 below). This is in accordance with the interview section
of this research survey as the interviewees noted that most of the oil spill incidents in the
region take months or years to address. However, it was interesting to discover some
challenges responsible for the management standard of oil spill in this region. The
interviewees have noted in addition to the time taken to respond to oil spill incident that some
of the factors responsible for these response delay are due to resistance from the inhabitants
of the region when repair or clean up is to take place while another major challenge is the
swampy terrain.
 94%

2% 4%

1-7days 7-14days More

Figure 15. Response to oil spill incident

4.5.4 Social responsibility

According to Smith 2003, social responsibility is a vital tool and an obligation of an

organisation to the society or stakeholders (those affected by the organisations policies and
practices). This covers responsibility such as protecting the society or environment of the
company operations. However, from the survey, it was identified that most of the region
inhabitants are not being compensated due to damages caused by the oil spill. 90% out of the
total respondents indicated that they have not received any form of compensation from the
responsible parties involved in oil and gas activities in the area due to damage of the
environment from the oil spill incidents emanating from the activity while 10% admitted to
have been compensated for the damage
 10%

Yes
No
90%

Figure 16. Compensation for oil spill impact

This was supported by the interviewee section, however with more detail regarding the
results obtained about the subject in the questionnaire. From the interview section, it was
gathered that most compensation are in funds for the inhabitants affected through authorities
in the localities. But in most situations, the funds do not get across to the affected person or it
is inadequate or insufficient for the amount affected or damaged caused.

4.5.5 Oil spill control performance

In general to find out how the management of oil spilled is being practiced, response was
gathered from the regarding the performance of managing oil spill incident in the region.
From the outcome of the survey by the respondents, 90% rated the performance of managing
oil spill incidents in the Niger delta region as poor while 10% rated it as average and no
rating was received for high (see figure 17 below).
 94%
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%
High Average Low

Figure 17. Oil spill control performance

This outcome is an agreement with the interview section with the interviewees suggesting
that the management of oil spill incident in the Niger delta region is poor. However, they
attributed the poor performance to terrain and violence they encounter from the habitants and
in some occasion illegitimate tax they are asked to pay before an oil spill clean up or
prevention activity. It was also gathered from the interview that many environmental agencies
exist leading up to misappropriation of funds and in turn poor management of oil spill in the
Niger delta region of Nigeria.

4.6 Summary

From the results, it can be seen that the issue of oil spill management in the Niger delta
region of Nigeria is poor. From the outcomes of the questionnaire survey, interview and data
obtained from responsible party, the highlights of the findings regarding the oil spill issue in
the Niger delta region are:

Causes of oil spill in the Niger delta region: the major cause of oil spill in the Niger
delta region is sabotage and the responsible factor can be attributed to poverty.
Impact of oil spill in the Niger delta region: The impact of oil spill in the Niger delta
region is so devastating and the main area that has been affected is the environment
(farm land, and water) which is the main source of income as majority of the
inhabitants of the region are farmers
 Management of oil spill in the Niger delta region: The management of oil spill in the
Niger delta region was identified as poor but due to challenges such as terrain,
misappropriation of funds, too many agencies, policy and even more the violence
towards the responsible parties to control incidents in event of oil spill.

A positive aspect of this research finding is the fact that all participants in this survey are
habitants in the Niger delta region and have knowledge of oil spillage. This signifies that they
have understanding of the subject matter in responding to the question. Another impressive
aspect from the survey is the detail obtained from the interview section. The interview part of
the survey has been quite revealing and informative. It provided in-depth details of the
challenges confronting the management of oil spill, the causes and impacts of oil spill
incidents in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. These have been very helpful in achieving the
aim and objectives of this research work. The implication of all findings in this research
considering the rate of oil spill incidents, the adverse impact and the management challenges
of oil spillage in the Niger delta region is troubling. Based on these findings, conclusion and
recommendation for this research are made.
SECTION 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION

5.1 Conclusion

Oil spillage has had a major negative impact on the citizens of Nigeria, and the economy as a
whole. An illustration of this can be seen in the friction caused between the oil
producing/servicing companies and resident communities resulting in frustrations, finger
pointing, clashes, general resentment and mistrust. Management and control of spills have
been handled poorly and this has directly contributed to an escalation of the negative impacts
on all involved. Central to the poor state of affairs are the largely obsolete laws and
regulations in the Nigerian oil industry which have been outpaced by the prevailing
technology for crude oil development and use. There is therefore an urgent need to review the
existing oil industry laws and create new ones. The new laws to be promulgated must be
relevant to the current state of affairs and strictly enforced to deal with every aspect of the
industry, and very importantly, oil spillage.

The cause of oil spill can lead to very disastrous situation as such should be treated as
national emergency by the Nigerian government whenever it occurs. Not just because this is
the case in other oil producing zones of the world but because it is the responsible thing to do.
The government needs to provide effective capacity building at all levels by acquiring basic
oil spill response assets and equipment, in addition to recruiting trained personnel to manage
and control oil spills. At the moment, the Nigerian oil industry is to a large extent dependent
on foreign experts, international oil companies and other foreign organizations for spill
management. This approach cannot add local content value with regards to the development
and transfer of relevant technology and only degrades the countrys ability to promptly and
effectively deal with oil spills. Well-developed spill management must involve expanded
local knowledge of spills and a clear national spill contingency plan, provision of trained
personnel and massive investment in response/clean up assets, equipment and technology.

Effective public and private sector partnership is crucial to deal with the occurrence of oil
spills in Nigeria with the government playing a major role. The private companies cannot be
left out and so far have not demonstrated commendable corporate social responsibilities in
either their operations or their relationship with host communities regarding the effects of
their activities on the environment. Decades of operations in Nigeria Niger Delta oil
producing areas have not translated into necessary development of the operating communities
and several grievances exist between involved parties. With regards to oil spills, the offending
companies have a responsibility to ensure that oil spills are cleaned up within the little
window of opportunity. Companies must be held accountable for their actions and host
communities cannot continue to be taken for granted.

The Nigerian government have for their reference several oil spillage cases that were handled
appropriately and with the best interests of the citizens in mind. Classical examples are the
Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and BP Deep water Horizon oil spill disasters both of which have
given insights on how to deal with spills of enormous magnitudes. At the peak of the EVOS
crisis, the United States government provided response of 11,000 personnel, 85 aircrafts, and
1,400 vessels for cleanup operations. Within 3 weeks of the BP Deep water Horizon Oil Spill,
it provided 520 vessels and other equipment and personnel to contain and stem the spill.
Exxon Mobil within 3 years of the crisis spent over $2billion and in the BP deep Horizon
case, $32billion was set aside for cleanup and compensation. Nigeria should copy
compensation processes of the United States with regard to EVOS and Deep-water Horizon
experiences.

5.2 Recommendations

Based on the research findings, the following recommendations encompassing the

government, oil companies and the public are hereby rendered:

The public or inhabitants (Farmers, Traders, women groups, school children and the
youths) of the Niger delta should be enlightened on the negative effects of pipeline
sabotage on the environment and the issues of health and safety hazards of oil when it
spills by communicating with them through various seminars, conferences and
workshops and engaging them in security and surveillance activities and duties.

Adequate technologies for oil spill should be embraced without delay by oil operators
in the Niger delta region and the Nigerian government and also resources should be
put into the rehabilitation of infrastructure/facilities used in oil production.
Responsive measures such as bioremediation should be maintained and encouraged
however proactive measures of managing oil spill such as using technology should be
imbibed to prevent oil spill incidents, (for example, Pipes with high resistance to
corrosion, pipe leak detective gadgets, etc.)
 Training of personnel for oil spill management should be improved to meet up to
modern approaches. The Nigerian government should continuously employ and train
personnel at all levels for oil spill emergencies. Additionally the Department of
Petroleum Resources responsible for petroleum activities should be properly and
adequately staffed so as to be able to play its inspectorate and enforcement role to
achieve the competency standard for oil spill management.

The oil organization should have free emergency national numbers in place this way
the habitants in the region can call when there is an event of an oil spill and also when
any individual is seen digging a pipeline route, These calls are very important as they
play a role to aid fasten emergency response and also help avoid bursting or breaking
of pipelines arising from digging.

The emergency responses procedures should be designed to swiftly take measures to

protect the safety of the public, employees and the environment. The various
environmental agencies in Nigeria should be reduced and given a clearer regulation
and objectives in order to manage oil spill events and cleanup more quickly and
effectively. There should be in charge of oil spill clean up while the oil organization
(polluter) should play a secondary role by drawing resources for the clean up.
Additionally the government and the oil organizations should incorporate the fire
services, air marshals and the police into the emergency response plan, and regional
spill response centers should be created along coastlines, this will help in overseeing
oil spill problems.

Without delay the Nigerian Government should implement effective national oil spill
contingency plan at State and Federal levels for effective control of oil spill incidents
in the Niger delta region. The oil spill contingency plan should take into
consideration, the nature of the terrain in the Niger delta region to carry out the plans.

Stiff penalty should be provided in the new petroleum industry legislation for
saboteurs and polluter. Oil spill incidents should prompt Fines, penalties, and payment
of compensation due at all times and should be set out for the operators and
inhabitants of the Niger delta region.
.

The Nigerian government must be proactive in both regards to control of oil pollution,
management and biodiversity conservation by enforcing existing regulation, laws and
policies in place, this can be achieved by enormous political support - the
determination to enforce the regulations and strengthening the judiciary system
especially in oil spill related cases.

The implementation of the following recommendation will bring about the following benefits
to the management of oil spill in the Niger delta region; reduction of causes of oil spill in the
region which results mainly from sabotage based on factors such as poverty due to loss of
jobs, saving the environment on time from spilled oil when it occurs as a result reducing the
impact to the inhabitants of the region and most importantly enabling proper management of
oil spill in the Niger delta region such as being proactive to prevent oil spill or responding to
it as the case may be, saving cost as agencies are reduced and allowing sufficient
compensation to affected inhabitants, responsible parties will in turn gain good reputation and
in all the Improvement of economy around the region and Nigeria as a whole

5.3 Further research

Due to certain limitation in the course of this research work, further research is needed to deal
with some of the issues that will aid in addressing the challenges confronted by the
responsible parties in managing oil spillage in the Niger delta region. The future research
concerning oil spill in the Niger delta region of Nigeria should consider addressing the
following;

The challenges of managing oil spill in difficult terrain in the Niger delta region of
Nigeria.
The challenges of oil pipe corrosion by using new advance technology in the Niger
Delta region.

Research in this areas will address some of the potential challenges in the near future as oil
exploration activities expands with the increasing demand of energy across the country and
around the world.
5.4 Reflective Analysis

Moon, (1999) stated that we reflect in order to: consider the process of our own learning and
improvement; make decisions and resolve issues. Hence, reflecting on and learning from
personal experiences and mistakes during this research process, can help the researcher avoid
repeated mistakes and, at the same time, identify successful aspects of experiences and useful
principles which might usefully be applied in other or similar situation.
For the research, the Niger delta region of Nigeria was chosen as the case study because the
researcher has worked in an organisation in the area. During the time of employment, the
researcher became familiar with lots of issues concerning the management of oil spill in the
region. And most these have resulted to the high rate of oil spill incidents occurrence in the
Niger delta region.

Due to this personal experience the researcher was able to establish good relationship with
the affected and responsible parties in this region; this enabled the researcher to acquire the
information and materials needed to accomplish the research.

However, executing this research was not problem-free for the researcher. The researcher
encountered various challenges particularly during the field survey (interview). The
researcher encountered challenges when interviewing some of the participants on the subject
of the research due to language barrier. This is due to diverse tribe and nationality of
inhabitants and workers in the oil producing Niger delta region of Nigeria. What would be
done differently next time would be to provide the various tribes and nationalities with a
translated copy of the question for their different languages to obtain a more satisfying result
without any doubt as to lack of understanding by the participant unless he/she is proficient in
the use of English.

As Gibbs (1998) reported, the feeling and thought that emerge from reflection allow
generalisation, which allow new situations to be tackled effectively. The researcher is very
much convinced that this research will benefit all responsible parties in oil and gas activity in
the Niger delta region (Region inhabitants, companies and government) if implemented.

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Nigeria. Journal of sustainable development in Nigeria. 11(2) 1520-5509.
Cowell, E.B (1971) Ecological effects of marine oil pollution, London; Institute of petroleum.
Smith, L.A and Loza, L. (1994) Texas Turn to GIS for oil spill management. Geo info system.
Pg 48.
Department of petroleum resources (2014) The 14th international HSE biennial oil and gas
industry in Nigeria.
Bukola Sakari, (2012) Oil spills in the Niger delta: The way forward
Eweje, Gabriel, (2006) Environment costs and responsibilities resulting from Oil exploitation
in developing countries: The case of the Niger Delta of Nigeria. Journal of Business Ethnic,
volume 69 27-56.
Aprioku,I.M, (2003) Oil-spill Disasters and The Rural Hazardscape of Eastern Nigeria.
Geoforum. 34 (1) pp. 99-112.
Neuparth,T. et all, (2012) Review of Oil and NHS Accidental Spills in Europe: Identifying
Major Environmental Monitoring Gaps and Drawing Priorities. Marine Pollution Bulletin. 64
(6) 1085-1095.
Inoni, O.E et all (2006) The Effect of Oil Spillage on Crop Yield and Farm Income in Delta
State, Nigeria. Journal of Central European agriculture, 7(1) 44-48.

APPENDIX A: Data Collection Letter

University of South wales,

 Faculty of computing, engineering
and science,
Treffrorest, Wales.
United Kingdom.
Date............................

Sir/Ma,

My name is Elizabeth Ekwugha, I am a student of the University of South wales

undergoing a masters programme in Environmental Management. I am presently carrying
out a research on The management of oil spill in the Niger delta region of Nigeria. I am here
by appealing to you to participate in a survey which will be beneficial to make the research a
success. The results will be used to identify areas for improvement.
I will appreciate if you answer the questions honestly and accurately as possible. The
information provided will be treated and respected as strictly confidential. Thanks for the
time you will make out to complete the questionnaire.
Instructions: When responding to the questionnaire, please tick the box that is most
appropriate to you or write your answers in the spaces that have been provided. On
completion, please return the questionnaires to the address below:
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If you have any queries pertaining to the questions, please contact the researcher via Email:
meetekwughaelizabeth@yahoo.com.

SECTION 1: ABOUT YOU (Please tick all that apply to you)

1. Are you? Female [ ] Male [ ]

2. Age? 18-25 [ ] 26-35 [ ] 36-45 [ ] 46+ [ ]

3. Do you reside in the Niger delta region? Yes [ ] No [ ]
If Yes- How long? 2 3yrs [ ], 34yrs [ ], 4+ yrs [ ]

4. Which of the option best describes your job type? --(Please tick all that applies to you)
Fishing/Faming [ ] Trading/ Business [ ] Wage-earner [ ] other.....................

5. What is your work status? Permanent [ ] Temporarily [ ] Unemployed [ ]

6. Education Qualification? Primary [ ] Secondary [ ] Tertiary [ ] Others........................

SECTION 2: AWARENESS (Please tick only the box that most apply)

7. Do you have knowledge of oil spill? Good [ ] Average [ ] Basic [ ] No [ ]

8. Have you experienced an oil spill incident? Yes [ ] No [ ]

9. How many oil spill incident(s) can you recall since your stay in the Niger-delta region?
0 [ ] 1-10[ ] 11-20 [ ] 21above [ ]

SECTION 3: CAUSES OF OIL SPILL (Please tick only the box that most apply)

10. Which of these are the causes of oil spill in your area? Fixing numbers 1 to 8 in the boxes. Where
1 is the main cause and 8 is the least cause
Blow out [ ] Sabotage [ ] Corrosion [ ] Equipment malfunction [ ]
Operation/maintenance error [ ] Natural causes [ ] Accidents [ ]
Unknown [ ]

11. What do you consider as responsible for the oil spill incidents? Fixing numbers 1 to 7 in the
boxes. Where 1 is the main issue and 7 is the least issue

Poverty [ ] Policy [ ] Technology [ ] Competency [ ] Negligence [ ] Orientation [ ]

Dont Know

SECTION 4: IMPACT OF OIL SPILL (Please tick only the box that most apply)

12. Have you been affected by oil spill incident? Yes [ ] No [ ]

13. In what way have oil spill incident affected you mainly?
Health (illness) [ ]
Environment (land or water pollution) [ ]
Socio-Economy (finance, style of living) [ ]
None [ ]

14. How would you rate the impacts of all the oil spill incidents you have experienced?
High [ ] Medium [ ] low [ ]

15. In the past 2 years, how long did the impact of the oil spill affect you?
0-3months [ ] 3-6months [ ] Above 6 months [ ]
SECTION 5: MANAGEMENT OF OIL SPILL (Please tick only the box that most apply)

16. How do you consider the responsible parties (Government, companies etc) as doing enough to
stop oil spill incident?
High [ ] Average [ ] Low [ ]

17. How do you view the actions towards oil spillage? Proactive [ ] Reactive [ ]

18. How many prevented oil spill incidents can you recall?
0 [ ] 1 [ ] 2 [ ] 3 [ ] Enter number...............

19. Based on oil spill incidents you have witnessed, how long on average does it take to stop the
spillage?
1-7 day [ ] 7-14 days [ ] More...................

20. Have you been compensated for oil spill pollution? Yes [ ] No [ ]

21. How would you rate the performance of management of oil spill incident?
High [ ] Average [ ] Low [ ]

SECTION 6: COMMENTS

22. Please feel free to add any further comments

........................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................

APPENDIX B: Interview Questions

What do you know about oil spill?

Who is responsible for the oil spill
 What is responsible for the oil spill incidents
What is the priority management approach for oil spill between proactive and reactive
approach
What challenges are you experiencing in carrying out the approach?
Are community members involved?
Do they receive same training as the company workers?
Do you view indigene involvement as a good option to reducing oil spill?
How would you rate the management of oil spill
Do you compensate the area for oil spill incident
What approaches have you applied mostly in managing oil spill
What would you do differently knowing the amount of oil spill over some years

APPENDIX C: Completed Questionnaire Sample

APPENDIX D: Completed Questionnaire Sample.
APPENDIX E: Completed Questionnaire Sample.
APPENDIX F: Causes of Oil Spill

70%

60%

50%

40%

30% 2011
2012
20% 2013

10%

0%

Source: (Department of petroleum resources, 2014)

APPENDIX G: A Table Showing the Yearly Spill From 1976 to 2013

Yearly Spill Data- 1976 to 2013
YEA QTY SPILLED
S/NO. NO. OF SPILLS
R (BARRELS)
1 1976 128 26157.00
2 1977 104 32879.00
3 1978 154 489294.00
4 1979 157 694170.00
5 1980 241 600511.00
6 1981 238 42722.00
7 1982 252 42841.00
8 1983 173 48351.30
9 1984 151 40209.00
10 1985 187 11876.60
11 1986 155 12905.00
12 1987 129 31866.00
13 1988 208 9172.00
14 1989 195 7628.16
15 1990 160 14940.82
16 1991 201 106827.98
17 1992 378 51187.96
18 1993 428 9752.22
19 1994 515 30282.67
20 1995 417 63677.17
21 1996 435 46353.12
22 1997 339 81727.85
23 1998 399 99885.35
24 1999 225 16903.96
25 2000 637 84071.91
26 2001 412 120976.16
27 2002 446 241617.55
28 2003 609 35284.43
29 2004 543 17104.00
30 2005 496 10734.59
31 2006 461 13772.92
32 2007 482 10848.00
33 2008 740 49524.80
34 2009 849 43648.82
35 2010 537 17658.10
36 2011 582 28210.95
37 2012 871 15552.18

38 2013 998 4,783.53

APPENDIX H: Oil Spill Effect on Mangroves
APPENDIX I: Loss of Potable and Industrial Water Resources
Source: (Chris Pleasance, 2013)

A river can be seen with fluorescent trickles of oil and by the side Precious
Mangrove Destroyed and Blackened by oil spill.

APPENDIX J: Oil Spill Effect on Marine