The economic or political economy of conflicts and civil wars in Africa is an expanding field with an increase in research and literature especially in the last few decades. However, less attention has been devoted to the role of political economy in peacebuilding operations/interventions. This dissertation examines the extent to which political economy, specifically its elements in terms of interests, incentives, and institutions shapes the conceptualization, design and implementation of Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) and the prospects for sustainable peace. The Niger Delta Amnesty (NDA) is used as an empirical case study.:CHAPTER ONE GENERAL INTRODUCTION 1 Introduction 1.1 State of the art 1.1.1 The political economy of peacebuilding 1.1.2 Institutions in rentier states 1.1.3 Resource curse discourse and interests 1.1.4 Wealth distribution and incentives 1.2 Research question 1.3 Problem statement 1.4 Overview of research methodology 1.4.1 Structural framework of the political economy approach 1.4.1.1 Neoliberalism Approach 1.4.1.2 Neopatrimonialism approach 1.4.2 Comment on sources 1.4.2.1 Research design 1.4.2.2 Research method 1.4.2.3 Data generation method 1.4.2.4 Method of data analysis 1.5 Challenges in the field 1.6 The structure of the dissertation CHAPTER TWO HISTORICIZING OIL CONFLICT IN THE NIGER DELTA REGION 2 Introduction 2.1 Analyzing the Origins and dynamics of the Niger Delta Conflict 2.1.1 The Geography and People of the Niger Delta 2.1.2 Pre-colonial Niger Delta and the Emergence of European Trade in Nigeria (1444 – 1850) 2.1.3 Colonial Considerations: Increasing Agitations, Palm oil Production and the Discovery of Oil (1851 – 1960) 2.1.4 Independent and Post Independent Nigeria and the Foundations of the Oil Conflict (1960 – Present) 2.1.5 Militant Movements in the Niger Delta in the Recent Past (1990s – Present) 2.2 Nigerian Political Economy, State Policy Response and the Nature of the Nigerian State 2.2.1 A Survey of the Nigerian Political Economy 2.2.2 State-centric Responses to the Niger Delta Oil Conflict (1960 – 2009) 2.2.2.1 Positive “Carrot” Approach 2.2.2.2 Coercive “Stick” Approach 2.2.3 An Explanation of the Nature and character of the Nigerian State 2.3 Conclusion CHAPTER THREE THE POLITICAL ECONOMY OF STATE AND NON-STATE INSTITUTIONS IN NIGERIA 3 Introduction 3.1 Furthering Institutional Scholarship and Debates 3.1.1 The Mainstream Debate 3.1.2 The Critical School 3.2 State-to-State Institutional Interaction 3.2.1 Institutions as “Rules of the Game” 3.2.2 Differential Power Distribution 3.2.3 Formal Institutional Bargaining 3.3 Non-state Driven Institutional Interlinkage 3.3.1 Institutions as socially shared rules/traditional systems 3.4 State and Non-state Institutional Exchange 3.4.1 Institutional Bricolage 3.4.2 Institutional Credibility 3.5 State, Non-state and International Collaboration 3.5.1 Complexities of NDA and DDR Institutions 3.5.2 Complementarity of NDA and DDR Institutions 3.5.3 Limited Access Order in NDA and DDR Institutions 3.6 Implications of Statutory, Non-Statutory and International Institutions to NDA and DDR 3.6.1 Lack of Coordination 3.6.2 Exacerbation of Conflict 3.6.3 Weak Hybridized Institutions 3.7 Conclusion CHAPTER FOUR CONCEPTUALISING INTERESTS AND INCENTIVES IN THE FRAMING OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY AND DDR PROGRAM 4 Introduction 4.1 Mapping Actor Network Analysis in the Niger Delta Conflict 4.1.1 The Nigerian Government 4.1.2 Oil Communities 4.1.3 Multinational Oil Companies (MNOCs) 4.2 Contested Interests: Actors, Encounters and Entanglements in the Niger Delta 4.2.1 Powerful Versus Powerless Encounters 4.2.2 Elitists Entanglements 4.2.3 Intra and Inter Community Contestations 4.2.4 MNOCs and Niger Delta Communities’ Confrontations 4.3 Conclusion CHAPTER FIVE A CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NIGER DELTA AMNESTY, DISARMAMENT, DEMOBILIZATION AND REINTEGRATION PROGRAM 5 Introduction 5.1 Amnesty: A Peacebuilding Practice 5.2 The NDA and DDR Program and the Politics of conceptualization 5.3 NDA and DDR Program and the Art of Negotiation 5.4 NDA and DDR: The Practice of Planning 5.5 The Implementation Process of the Niger Delta Amnesty and DDR Program 5.5.1 The Disarmament Phase 5.5.2 The Demobilisation Phase 5.5.3 The Reintegration Phase 5.6 Niger Delta Amnesty and DDR Process: A Shift from a Neoliberal Integrated Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration Standards (IDDRS) Principles to a Neopatrimonial DDR Practice 5.6.1 From a people centered approach to a patron-client driven approach 5.6.2 From a flexible, transparent and accountable doctrine to a non-transparent and unaccountable DDR process 5.6.3 Nationally Owned 5.6.4 From an Integrated IDDRS Norm to a non-integrated approach 5.6.5 From a well-planned IDDRS to a haphazard DDR 5.7 Conclusion CHAPTER SIX GENERAL CONCLUSION 6 Introduction 6.1 Main Research Questions and Empirical Findings 6.2 Theoretical and Empirical Contribution 6.3 Potential Concerns for Future Research BIBLIOGRAPHY

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Benzene is chemically stable as it has no substituents which can be biochemically attacked and a well-known toxic contaminant whose anaerobic degradation pathway is still not fully resolved. As only a very few anaerobic benzene-mineralizing pure cultures have been described yet, research was usually done with enrichment cultures dominated by specific organisms capable of benzene degradation under different electron acceptor conditions. Remarkable progress has been made in recent years with regard to the initial mechanism of benzene transformation especially on the putative genes that are involved in anaerobic carboxylation of benzene and the benzoyl-CoA central pathway. Many phylotypes described to be primary benzene degraders in anaerobic enrichment cultures at various electron acceptor conditions belong to the Peptococcaceae. Here, the thesis focused on characterizing the structure and function of anaerobic benzene-mineralizing microbial communities enriched from two hydrocarbon-contaminated sites: hydrocarbon-contaminated sediment from Ogoni in Niger Delta of Nigeria and a benzene-contaminated aquifer in Zeitz (Germany). The Niger Delta is one of the world’s most damaged ecosystem mainly due to hydrocarbon exploration accidents. The natural attenuation potential of Niger Delta subsurface sediment for anaerobic hydrocarbon degradation was investigated using benzene as a model compound under iron-reducing, sulfate-reducing, and methanogenic conditions. Benzene was slowly mineralized under iron-reducing conditions using Fe(III) chelated with nitrilotriacetic acid, or poorly crystalline Fe(III) oxyhydroxides as electron acceptors, analyzed by measurement of 13CO2 produced from added 13C-labelled benzene. The highest mineralization rates were observed in microcosms amended with Fe(III) oxyhydroxides while microcosms amended with Fe(III) nitrilotriacetic acid produced methane. Abundant phylotypes were affiliated to Betaproteobacteriales, Ignavibacteriales, Desulfuromonadales, and Methanosarcinales of the genera Methanosarcina and Methanothrix, illustrating that the enriched benzene mineralizing communities were diverse and may contain more than a single benzene degrader. The study underpins the importance of microbial ecosystem services in contaminant degradation as a sustainable environmental means of mitigating harmful chemicals. Benzene degradation pathways in a benzene-mineralizing, nitrate-reducing enrichment culture from Zeitz was investigated. Benzene mineralization was dependent on the presence of nitrate and correlated to enrichment of a Peptococcaceae phylotype only distantly related to known anaerobic benzene degraders of this family. Its relative abundance decreased after benzene mineralization had terminated, while other abundant taxa - Ignavibacteriaceae, Rhodanobacteraceae and Brocadiaceae - slightly increased. Generally, the microbial community remained diverse despite amendment of benzene as single organic carbon source, suggesting complex trophic interactions between different functional groups. A subunit of the putative anaerobic benzene carboxylase (AbcA) previously detected in Peptococcaceae was identified by metaproteomic analysis suggesting that benzene was activated by carboxylation. Detection of proteins involved in anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) indicates that benzene mineralization was accompanied by Anammox, facilitated by nitrite accumulation and the presence of ammonium in the growth medium. The results suggest that benzene was activated by carboxylation and further assimilated by a novel Peptococcaceae phylotype and confirm the hypothesis that Peptococcaceae are important anaerobic benzene degraders. Only a few benzene mineralizing anaerobes have been isolated to date. In an attempt using classical isolation techniques to isolate benzene-mineralizing pure cultures from a benzene-mineralizing nitrate-reducing microbial community, two consortia were gained under nitrate-reducing conditions spiked separately with acetate and benzene as sole sources of carbon and energy with media containing ammonium or without ammonium. Both consortia – Bz4 (with ammonium) and Bz7 (without ammonium) - mineralized 13C-labelled acetate under anoxic conditions at 3.3 and 2.7 µM day-1, respectively, revealed by analysis of evolved 13CO2. However, only Bz4 mineralized 13C-labelled benzene (0.298 µM benzene mineralized day-1) generated up to 960.2 ± 0.3 ‰ ẟ13C-CO2 during 184 days while producing only slight amounts of nitrite (4.60 ± 0.004 µM). By 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing was determined that the isolated cultures were not pure cultures but still contained several different phylotypes. The gained Bz4 consortium that mineralized benzene under anoxic conditions can be further purified and explored for their metabolic potentials.:Acknowledgments ………………………………………………………................. ii Table of Contents …………………………………………………………………… iii Dissertation Summary ……………………………………………………………… vi Dissertation Zusammenfassung …………………………………………………… viii List of Tables ………………………………………………………………………… x List of Figures ……………………………………………………………………….. xi List of Appendices ………………………………………………………………….. xiii Abbreviations .………………………………………………………….................... xv Chapter 1: Introduction and Research Objectives ……………………………… 1 1.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 2 1.2 Aims and Objectives ………………………………………………….... 4 Chapter 2: Anaerobic Benzene Degradation by Microbial Communities and Pure Cultures …… 6 2.1 Anaerobic benzene degradation – a brief introduction ...…………… 7 2.2 Anaerobic benzene degradation under different electron acceptor conditions … 9 2.2.1 Benzene degradation under methanogenic conditions ……… 9 2.2.2 Benzene degradation under sulfate-reducing conditions …… 14 2.2.3 Benzene degradation under nitrate-reducing conditions …… 20 2.2.4 Benzene degradation under iron-reducing conditions ……… 25 2.3 Anaerobic benzene degradation by pure cultures ………………… 26 2.4 Anaerobic benzene activation mechanisms and associated genes……………… 28 2.4.1 Hydroxylation of benzene …………………………………….… 30 2.4.2 Methylation of benzene ………………………………..………… 34 2.4.3 Carboxylation of benzene ……………………………....………. 34 2.5 Benzoyl-CoA central metabolic pathways ………………………… 37 2.6 Syntrophic interactions in benzene-degrading communities ……… 42 2.7 Prospects for the future ……..……………………………………………… 43 Chapter 3: Anaerobic Benzene Mineralization by Natural Microbial Communities from Niger Delta …………………………………………………………………........... 44 3.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………..... 45 3.2 Materials and Methods ……………………………………………….. 46 3.2.1 Chemicals ………………………………………………………... 46 3.2.2 Site description and sampling procedure ……………………… 47 3.2.3 Setup of enrichment cultures …………………………………… 47 3.2.4 Chemical and microscopic analysis …………………………… 48 3.2.5 Microbial community analysis …………………………………… 49 3.3 Results and Discussion …………………………………………………. 50 3.3.1 Mineralization of benzene at different electron-acceptor conditions …………... 50 3.3.2 Microbial community structure at different electron-acceptor conditions ……... 53 3.4 Conclusion ………………………………………….…………………… 61 Chapter 4: Structure and Functional Capacity of a Benzene-mineralizing, and Nitrate-reducing Microbial Community ……………………………………………......... 62 4.1 Introduction …………………………………………………………..... 63 4.2 Materials and methods ……………………………………………..... 64 4.2.1 Chemicals ………………………………………………………... 64 4.2.2 Microcosm setup and sampling ………………………………… 64 4.2.3 Chemical and physiochemical analyses ……………………… 66 4.2.4 Amplicon and metagenome sequencing ……………………… 67 4.2.5 Protein mass spectrometry ……………………………………. 67 4.2.6 Metaproteome analysis ………………………………………… 68 4.2.7 Cloning and sequencing of putative nitric oxide dismutase (nod) genes ………. 68 4.2.8 Data availability …………………………………………………… 69 4.3 Results …………………………………………………………………………. 70 4.3.1 Benzene mineralization under nitrate-reducing conditions …… 70 4.3.2 Changes in microbial diversity during benzene mineralization . 71 4.3.3 Metaproteome composition ……………………………………… 74 4.3.4 Presence of putative nitric oxide dismutase genes (nod) ……. 76 4.4 Discussion ……………………………………………………………... 76 4.4.1 Putative pathways for nitrate reduction coupled with benzene mineralization … 76 4.4.2 Elucidation of the benzene activation step ……………………… 78 4.4.3 Benzoyl-CoA central pathway ……………………………………. 79 4.4.4 Peptococcacea as putative primary benzene degraders ……… 80 4.4.5 Metabolic function of Anammox bacteria in the community …… 81 Chapter 5: Consortia Dominated by Gammaproteobacteria Isolated from a Denitrifying Benzene-degrading Enrichment Culture and their Capacity to Mineralize Benzene...................... 83 5.1 Introduction ……………………………………………………………… 84 5.2 Materials and methods ………………………………………………… 85 5.2.1 Chemicals ………………………………………………………… 85 5.2.2 Isolation procedure …………………………………………………… 85 5.2.3 Mineralization and nitrite analyses ……………………..……… 86 5.2.4 Genomic DNA extraction and 16S rRNA gene sequencing … 87 5.3 Results …………………………………………………………………. 87 5.4 Discussions …………………………………………………………… 91 Chapter 6: General Conclusions and Outlook …..……………………………… 95 6.1 Conclusions and novelty of the research …………………………… 96 6.2 Ignavibacteriales as benzene degrading consortia under iron-reducing conditions 96 6.3 Insights into benzene activation via carboxylation by Peptococcaceae … 97 6.4 Unraveling growth of Anammox bacteria during benzene mineralization … 98 6.5 Study significance ……………………………………………………… 99 6.6 General outlook ………………………………………………………… 100 References ………………………………………………………………………… 101 Appendices ………………………………………………………………………… 120 Contributions of other Authors …………………………………………………… 160

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been a subject of increasing interest among academics and business practitioners globally. This thesis contributes to the discourse on CSR in the context of the Nigerian oil industry with regard to corporate-community relations. Specifically, the thesis constitutes a critique of CSR initiatives by multinational oil companies (MOC) operating in the Niger Delta region and their impact on the traditional livelihoods of local communities. The research attempts to understand the link between CSR and Psychological contract from the perspective of both the host communities and the MOCs. This thesis examines community perceptions, expectations and seeks to interpret the relationship between the host communities and the MOCs. The study provides empirical data through the use of twenty-eight semi-structured interviews and three focus groups. This is significant given that most of the research conducted into CSR in this region has been limited to descriptive and extensive theoretical explanations. Findings from the research suggest that the relationship between the host communities and the MOC is a very complex one and that the impact of the MOCs activities can be interpreted from the host communities’ negative actions. The thesis makes an important contribution to the emerging literature on social license to operate (SLO) and in what manner the local communities seek to enforce it. It also offers an alternative approach to CSR based on need assessment and stakeholder involvement rather than corporate obligations and expectations from society in general. / Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), Cross River State government in Nigeria, and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria, way back in 1950s, the country has invariably suffered some negative environmental consequences such as oil pollution resulting from gas flaring and oil extraction, loss of mangrove trees, which before now was a source of livelihood for the indigenous people and habitat for the area’s biodiversity. Oil production activities have caused contamination of marine life, and habitat, which in turn have had negative consequences on the health of humans, who consume the sea food. Inadequate attention had been paid by the successive Governments of Nigeria and the oil companies to these environmental problems over the years. In this study, an assessment of the effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation on the nearby communities in some of Chevron’s operational areas was carried out using the Ugborodo community as a case study. Furthermore, investigations were carried out on the toxicity effects of the Escravos crude oil on aquatic organisms like Tilapia and a terrestrial organism such as the Earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris,). The study established the effect and the impact of crude oil when exposed to such organisms mentioned above. The rate of death of barbus fingerlings of Tilapia and the Earthworm (Lumbricus Terrestris) at different concentrations of crude oil was determined and reported. The community survey undertaken by polling data shows the dwindling of the natural resources of the area due to oil exploration and the survey indicate the impacts on natural resources from pollution by crude oil and the consequences on the affected communities using the Ugborodo community in the Chevron’s Nigeria Limited Operational base as a case study. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Management)

Thesis (MA (Political Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2010. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Nigeria’s ability to play a regional stabilizing role in the Gulf of Guinea is severely thwarted due to unresolved conflict in the Niger Delta. Stemming from agitation by local communities, it evolved from peaceful rallies into an armed insurgency with the youth as the vanguard, and the conflict has subsequently spread into neighbouring countries like Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, and Benin. The aim of this study was to analyse the conflict in the Niger Delta, southern Nigeria in order to assess its impact on the political risk of the Gulf of Guinea. Taking the form of a political risk analysis, a means of forecasting potential pitfalls for an investing client to mitigate or manage risk, the study postulated that a country specific risk analysis would not be sufficient to analyse an integrated system like the Gulf of Guinea. Many scholars have suggested that regional analysis has become more important than national. In the context of Africa contagion effects, the spill over, positive as well as negative from one country to another, casts doubt on the value of assessing only a country specific risk analysis. Taking this phenomenon into account, a regional risk index was created in order to assess the regional implications of the conflict in the Niger Delta. The index consists of six variables chosen from four political risk frameworks, namely the Economist Intelligence Unit, the Business Environment Risk Intelligence, The Brink Model, and finally the International Country Risk Guide. The variables were chosen on their utility for regional political risk analysis and their status as major risk variables, universal risk variables employed by various risk frameworks. In the subsequent political risk analysis, the first four variables were rated as having a high risk while the latter two garnered a medium risk rating. As such the overall rating for the political risk of the Gulf of Guinea was found to be high. This study finds that conventional country specific risk models are still very much the preferred means of analysing risk, but that regional risk analysis would have to take a larger role in political risk analysis in the future. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Nigerië se vermoë om ‘n streeks-stabiliserende rol in die Golf van Guinea te speel, word ernstig gedwarsboom deur die onopgeloste konflik in die Niger Delta. Die oorsprong van die konflik in vreedsame gemeenskaplike protestaksie vir meer regverdige verdeling van olie inkomste het uitgekring na gewapende konflik, beide in die Delta self en in buurlande Kameroen, Ekwatoriale Guinee en Benin. Hierdie studie het gepoog om die konflik in die Nigeriese Delta te bestudeer om die impak van politieke risiko op die Golf van Guinea te assesseer. Die studie het die vorm van ‘n politieke risiko analise aangeneem, ‘n middel van vooruitskatting om potensiële valstrikke aan ‘n kliënt wat wil belê uit te wys om sodoende konflik te verlig of te beheer. Die studie veronderstel dat ‘n landspesifieke konflik analise onvoldoende is om ‘n geïntegreerde sisteem soos die Golf van Guinea te analiseer. Met menige akademici wat voorstel dat streeksanalise belangriker geword het as die nasionale, word daar in die konteks van die gevolge van Afrika-besmetting, die oorloop daarvan van een land na ‘n ander, positief sowel as negatief, ‘n skaduwee gegooi op die waarde van die assessering van slegs ‘n landspesifieke konflik analise. Met hierdie fenomeen in gedagte, is ‘n streek risiko inhoud geskep om die implikasies vir die konflik in die Niger Deltastreek, te assesseer. Die inhoud is saamgestel uit ‘n verskeidenheid van ses variante gekies uit vier politieke risiko raamwerke, nl die ‘Ekonomist Intelligence Unit’, die ‘Business Environment Risk Intelligence’, die ‘Brink Model’ en ook die ‘International Country Risk Guide’. Die variante is gebruik vir hulle waarde vir streekspolitieke risiko analise, asook die belangrikheid van hulle hoof risiko veranderlikheid, ‘n universele Hoof risiko variant wat gebruik word in verskillende risiko raamwerke. In die gevolglike politieke risiko-analise, is die vier variante beskou as ‘n baie hoë risiko, terwyl die laaste twee as medium risiko beskou word. Dus is die algemene taksering vir die politiese risiko in die Golf van Guinea baie hoog. Die studie vind uiteindelik dat lande se spesifieke risiko modelle steeds die verkose manier is om risiko’s te analiseer, alhoewel politieke risiko analise ‘n groter rol sal speel in toekomstige streek risiko analise.

Le classement des institutions pastorales peules du yaaral et du degal (Delta intérieur du Niger) à la liste des chefs-d’œuvre du patrimoine oral et immatériel de l’humanité de l’UNESCO est au fondement d’une interrogation sur les modalités de l’appropriation et de l’application des politiques internationales du patrimoine culturel immatériel. Dans un contexte de décentralisation politique et de transformations des sociétés agro-pastorales, le croisement des enjeux contemporains du pastoralisme transhumant à l’application du programme de sauvegarde conçu selon les nouvelles normes patrimoniales de la protection de la diversité culturelle, de l’implication des populations et du développement durable, alimente une réflexion sur les pratiques politiques de la tradition et de l’appartenance. Les interactions entre ce système politique et symbolique d’usage du passé et les représentations et pratiques ordinaires, parfois conflictuelles, du bien classé, révèlent les relations de pouvoir relatives à la gestion des identités et à l’exploitation du foncier entre l’État malien et divers acteurs. Le croisement et le recyclage mutuel de stéréotypes sur le pastoralisme peul mobilisés dans des stratégies contradictoires à des échelles locales, nationales et globales produisent une scène originale des fêtes de transhumance. Une lecture continuiste entre tradition et patrimoine dans laquelle celui-ci serait une forme extravertie et institutionnalisée de la tradition rend compte du caractère historique des processus de patrimonialisation et de leur inscription dans une histoire longue marquée par des usages et des reformulations dynamiques des symboles culturels. / The proclamation of the yaaral and degal pastoral institutions (Inner Niger Delta) on the UNESCO’s list of “masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity” is the basis for the study of the forms of appropriation and implementation of international intangible heritage policies. In a context of political decentralization and transformation of agro-pastoral societies, the intersection of contemporary challenges of transhumant pastoralism with the application of a safeguarding program developed according to the new patrimonial standards for the protection of cultural diversity, the involvement of populations and sustainable development, fuels consideration of political practices of tradition and belonging. The interactions between this political and symbolic system of use of the past and ordinary representations and practices of the listed item, sometimes conflicting, reveal power relationships relative to the management of identities and land exploitation, between the Malian State and miscellaneous actors. The intersection and mutual recycling of stereotypes about fulɓe pastoralism mobilized in contradictory strategies at local, national and global scales, produce an original stage for transhumance festivals. Considering the continuum between tradition and heritage, in which heritage would be an extroverted and institutionalized form of tradition, highlights the historical nature of heritagization processes and their inclusion in a long history marked by uses and dynamic reformulations of cultural symbols.

<p>The goal of this study is to examine the environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration and production (E&P), the roles of legislation, and the environmental management strategies in the petroleum industry with respect to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study seeks to suggest sustainable solutions to the endemic economic, social, and environmental problems associated with oil and gas E&P in the region. The focus is on the environmental control in the upstream (E&P) operations of the oil and gas industry as it affects the Niger Delta region of Nigeria with a view to proffering sustainable solutions.</p><p>The heavily polluting activities and environmental impacts of the upstream oil and gas operations in the Niger Delta have over the years taken a routine dimension and are endemic as a result of inadequate environmental legislations and ineffective enforcements. Sequel to these environmental impacts is militancy, adoption of expatriates, communal conflicts, inter-ethnic conflicts, human right abuses, restiveness and other social vices as the study reveals. These social and environmental impacts of oil and gas activities in this region bring impoverishment, abject poverty, hunger, squalor, birth disease, gene mutation, and death while exposing inhabitants of the region to afflictions and diseases as the study explicitly documents.</p><p>The study also reveals that the persistence rate of unrest, restiveness, militancy and other social vices is as a result of non-dialogue status between the different stakeholders, lack of infrastructural development, lack of basic amenities, high rate of unemployment, poor policy construct, federalized mineral right / resource ownership structure, and the monopolistic nature of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earning in petroleum resources.</p><p>In this dissertation, both proactive and corrective measures to curb the menace of the social, economic and environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration & production operations in Nigeria are presented and discussed with suggestions to sustainable solution and development, better environmental legislation, and better resource policy construct while advocating for good industrial practices in the petroleum industry with emphasis on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.</p>

The goal of this study is to examine the environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration and production (E&amp;P), the roles of legislation, and the environmental management strategies in the petroleum industry with respect to the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. The study seeks to suggest sustainable solutions to the endemic economic, social, and environmental problems associated with oil and gas E&amp;P in the region. The focus is on the environmental control in the upstream (E&amp;P) operations of the oil and gas industry as it affects the Niger Delta region of Nigeria with a view to proffering sustainable solutions. The heavily polluting activities and environmental impacts of the upstream oil and gas operations in the Niger Delta have over the years taken a routine dimension and are endemic as a result of inadequate environmental legislations and ineffective enforcements. Sequel to these environmental impacts is militancy, adoption of expatriates, communal conflicts, inter-ethnic conflicts, human right abuses, restiveness and other social vices as the study reveals. These social and environmental impacts of oil and gas activities in this region bring impoverishment, abject poverty, hunger, squalor, birth disease, gene mutation, and death while exposing inhabitants of the region to afflictions and diseases as the study explicitly documents. The study also reveals that the persistence rate of unrest, restiveness, militancy and other social vices is as a result of non-dialogue status between the different stakeholders, lack of infrastructural development, lack of basic amenities, high rate of unemployment, poor policy construct, federalized mineral right / resource ownership structure, and the monopolistic nature of Nigeria’s foreign exchange earning in petroleum resources. In this dissertation, both proactive and corrective measures to curb the menace of the social, economic and environmental impacts of oil and gas exploration &amp; production operations in Nigeria are presented and discussed with suggestions to sustainable solution and development, better environmental legislation, and better resource policy construct while advocating for good industrial practices in the petroleum industry with emphasis on the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.

Since the discovery of oil in Nigeria, way back in 1950s, the country has invariably suffered some negative environmental consequences such as oil pollution resulting from gas flaring and oil extraction, loss of mangrove trees, which before now was a source of livelihood for the indigenous people and habitat for the area’s biodiversity. Oil production activities have caused contamination of marine life, and habitat, which in turn have had negative consequences on the health of humans, who consume the sea food. Inadequate attention had been paid by the successive Governments of Nigeria and the oil companies to these environmental problems over the years. In this study, an assessment of the effects of oil and gas exploration and exploitation on the nearby communities in some of Chevron’s operational areas was carried out using the Ugborodo community as a case study. Furthermore, investigations were carried out on the toxicity effects of the Escravos crude oil on aquatic organisms like Tilapia and a terrestrial organism such as the Earthworms (Lumbricus terrestris,). The study established the effect and the impact of crude oil when exposed to such organisms mentioned above. The rate of death of barbus fingerlings of Tilapia and the Earthworm (Lumbricus Terrestris) at different concentrations of crude oil was determined and reported. The community survey undertaken by polling data shows the dwindling of the natural resources of the area due to oil exploration and the survey indicate the impacts on natural resources from pollution by crude oil and the consequences on the affected communities using the Ugborodo community in the Chevron’s Nigeria Limited Operational base as a case study. / Environmental Sciences / M.Sc. (Environmental Management)